Arab Museums and Monitoring Threatened Cultural Heritage

Shadia AbdRabo (ITP 2006)

Senior curator, Sudan National Museum

The International Council of Museums Arab Countries Alliance is the official representative of the International Council of Museums in Arab regions, and represents Arab interests in museums and all matters relating to moveable heritage.

Organised by ICOM ARAB, I attended and spoke at a workshop in  May  2016 in Tunisia, with more than 28 professionals from over twelve states to talk about the challenges and current situation of museums in the Arabic world, which are often threatened by civil wars, extremist groups and natural disasters.

This meeting led to the establishment of a group to monitor and manage risks to cultural heritage throughout the region. One of the most important achievements of these kinds of workshops is the creation and updating of the Red List of Threatened Cultural Objects.