Yesterday marked the London launch of the book The Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Iraq, edited by Peter Stone and Joanne Farchakh Bajjaly.
The book is being released on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the looting of the Iraq Museum with the sad acknowledgment that cultural heritage in Iraq is still in a dire state. The book is highly personal, representing the intimate and varied experiences of a number of individuals who were involved at different levels. The contributor list reads like a who's who of the cultural heritage field.
Though the book's spotlight is on Iraq, the issues and lessons brought up can be applied to any number of conflict areas. The discussion that followed Prof Stone's presentation of the book highlighted the need to learn from the mistakes of Iraq and look forward to new solutions and attitudes in order to safeguard the world's cultural heritage in times of conflict.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Iraq
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For bibliographic information:
http://worldcat.org/oclc/179786422.
Also coming out at this time are at least two more books on the subject:
Antiquities under Siege: Cultural Heritage Protection after the Iraq War by Lawrence Rothfield
Description:
As Saddam Hussein's government fell in April 2003, news accounts detailed the pillage of Iraq's National Museum. Less dramatic, though far more devastating, was the subsequent epidemic of looting at thousands of archaeological sites around the country, which continues on a massive scale to this day. This book details the disasters that have befallen Iraq's cultural heritage, analyzes why all efforts to protect it have failed, and identifies new mechanisms and strategies to prevent the mistakes of Iraq from being replicated in other war-torn regions.
and
Catastrophe! The Looting and Destruction of Iraq’s Past edited by Geoff Emberling and Katharyn Hanson, 2008
Description:
With an introduction by Professor McGuire Gibson, this up-to-date account describes the state of the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad and chronicles the damage done to archaeological sites by illicit digging.
Contributors include Donny George, John M. Russell, Katharyn Hanson, Clemens Reichel, Elizabeth C. Stone, and Patty Gerstenblith. Published in conjunction with the exhibit of the same name opening at the Oriental Institute April 10, 2008, this book commemorates the fifth anniversary of the looting of the Iraq National Museum.
Read review in Times Online by Mary Beard on May 9.
Read Eleanor Robson's review here
Another review in Al Ahram by David Tresilian
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