Forming ties together

Looking@Libya works to establish close ties with Libya and other North African
countries during this change of Government.

Bringing Libya’s past into the twenty-first century

11.02.13
A group of top international archaeologists and heritage professionals are currently in Tripoli for a series of workshops on how to protect and preserve five UNESCO world heritage sites and numerous archaeological remains which are synonymous with the country.

It is important that Libya now develops a framework for promoting, protecting and managing its heritage. However, these need not be carried out at Government level alone, local communities should also be encouraged to look after their own culture.

The four-day visit brought together a number of selected professionals willing to exchange knowledge and ideas on the way forward in order to protect and digitalise Libyan culture and history. The country’s heritage sites have sustained only limited damage during the revolution, however, Libya has recently also witnessed, post-war “clandestine excavations” at Algalaa and Umm Shuga, where people have used industrial machines to look for Qaddafi-era gold.

Aside from attending workshops, the delegation was also given a chance to visit both the photographic archives and the map room at the Department of Antiquities at the Red Castle. There, participants were shown priceless photographs and valuable maps, which are unfortunately kept in storage conditions which are not conducive to proper preservation and leave them vulnerable to decay. It has therefore, been decided that a digital database would help preserve the collection, although some of the oversized maps would be extremely difficult to copy.

The event is being sponsored by the World Bank.

(Source: Libya Herald)