Category: Culture

The Islamic World Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) is delighted to celebrate the Islamic World Heritage Day and expresses its wishes for this day to be an occasion to consolidate the importance of human heritage in nations’ memories.
The celebration of this day is the culmination of ICESCO’s ardent interest in heritage. The Organization was the one to propose celebrating the Islamic World Heritage Day, which was approved by the 11th Islamic Conference of Culture Ministers, held in Tunis on 17 December 2020.
This day has become an annual opportunity to show the world at large the richness and diversity of the cultural heritage of the Islamic world countries. It is also an opportunity to highlight the remarkable efforts exerted to maintain and preserve this heritage.
The exceptional circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic forced more than half the world’s population to stay at home and led to the closure of most heritage sites, historic landmarks, and museums for more than six months.
Against this backdrop, ICESCO reiterates its great interest in safeguarding the human cultural heritage, raising awareness of its importance, and sounding the alarm to the risks of its destruction during crises. ICESCO translated this interest into support and assistance to its Member States, and outstanding efforts to publicize, restore, and rehabilitate the Islamic world heritage.
These efforts include launching several initiatives and issuing declarations that aim to safeguard the Islamic world heritage. Chief among these are the initiative to proclaim the year 2019 as the “Islamic World Heritage Year” and “The Islamic Declaration on Safeguarding Human Heritage in the Islamic World”.
Both the initiative and the declaration underlined the importance of integrating the governmental sectors, international and regional organizations, and civil society bodies as a joint front to pool efforts to safeguard the cultural heritage of the Islamic World.
By the end of 2019, ICESCO launched a new strategy that features a more comprehensive and realistic approach to safeguarding heritage in the Islamic world. Concrete outcomes of this new approach consist of the Islamic World Heritage Center’s variety of programs and virtual activities in the field of heritage preservation.
The Center organized several virtual training sessions for professionals working in different heritage fields such as underwater cultural heritage, intangible heritage, and museums. The Center also organized webinars that brought together experts and heritage directors from Member and non-Member States, and representatives of international organizations active in the field of heritage. These activities discussed heritage-related issues and the losses this field endured in light of the current health emergency.
The organization of the International Virtual Conference on Countering Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property” culminated ICESCO’s heritage efforts.
In light of the current serious and extraordinary circumstances, ICESCO calls on world countries, international and regional organizations, government institutions, and competent parties in charge of heritage to exert more efforts to promote tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
The Organization also urges them to sustain their roles, even after the current crisis, to publicize and maintain this heritage. Stakeholders must employ virtual exhibition mechanisms and AI applications to safeguard heritage and highlight its richness and diversity. They must also take the necessary precautions to reopen heritage sites and raise peoples’ awareness of their significance.
Our heritage is our identity. Let us join efforts to safeguard it.

#OurHeritageOurFuture

His Excellency President Idriss Deby Itno of the Republic of Chad will take part at the high-level Virtual International Forum, to be held tomorrow by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), in cooperation with the Muslim World League (MWL) and the International Muslim Communities Council, under the theme “Role of Religious Leaderships in the Face of Crises,” with the participation of a large number of religious bodies and institutions, and renowned intellectuals.

H.E. President Idriss Deby Itno will give an address at the opening session of the Forum, which will kick off at 08:00 GMT (09:00 Rabat local time), under the theme “Towards Global Moral Solidarity of Religious Leaderships.” The agenda also features three working sessions: the first one tackles the best initiatives and practices o religious institutions throughout the COVID-19 crisis; the second session covers regenerative and future features of religious thought and working mechanisms to capitalize on crisis gains and address their adverse repercussions; while the third session explores prospects of joint action between the different religious leaderships and institutions across the world. The closing session and the Forum’s declaration set the guidelines of global ethical solidarity in the face of crises. The declaration would contribute to the development of the aspects of a new human developmental model that depicts the functional roles of religious and university leaderships and institutions.

Among the international, religious, and intellectual institutions and bodies taking part in the Forum are Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, Higher Council of Ulemas in the Kingdom of Morocco, the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, the Vatican, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, the Interreligious Dialogue Department in the American Jewish Committee (AJC), King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue, International Islamic Fiqh Academy, Dar al-Ifta of Azerbaijan and Caucasus, Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah, University of al-Qarawiyyin, Globethics, Muslim Elders Council, Lebanese University and the National University of Singapore.

You can follow the live streaming of the Forum on our Facebook page via the link below:
https://www.facebook.com/ICESCO.Ar/live

Under the patronage of H.E. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in the Arab Republic of Egypt, will hold, on 28 July 2020, an international virtual conference on the fight against illegal trafficking of cultural property. The Conference will bring together ministers in charge of heritage from all over the world, along with international experts in the fight against the theft and illegal trafficking of artifacts.

The Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Khaled al-Anany, will represent President El-Sisi in the Conference and read out an address on his behalf at the opening session.

On this occasion, Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, stated that the Organization is pleased with the Egyptian President’s patronage of the Conference, while noting that Egypt is one of the most affected countries on artifact theft throughout ages and that it has deployed considerable efforts to restitute its stolen artifacts. He also stated that many countries in the Islamic world suffer from attempts of the destruction or theft of their antiquities.

In addition, Dr. AlMalik underlined that the Conference comes at a juncture marked by the upsurge in illegal trafficking of cultural property as this crime has soared in the past several years. In this vein, he explained that this criminal act does not only constitute an assault on the cultural aspect alone but also destroys peoples heritage, strips them of their treasures, weakens their capacities and sets back their sustainable development efforts and that relevant international instruments are inadequate to stop or eliminate this crime.

The Conference will explore the following topics:

1. Current situation in Illegal Trafficking of Cultural Property in the Islamic World providing statistics on the theft, trafficking and transport of artifacts, the experiences of some of ICESCO Member States in the fight against this crime and the new trafficking modus.
2. Challenges to anti-trafficking in cultural property, namely the emergence of new markets and techniques such as e-commerce on social media and the complexity and insufficiency of international agreements and local legislations to address this phenomenon.
3. Role of ICESCO in building the capacities of Member States in anti-trafficking of cultural property.

The Conference will issue ICESCO Declaration on the Protection and the Fight against the Theft and Illegal Trafficking of Cultural Property.

At the close of the Extraordinary Virtual Conference of Culture Ministers of the Member States of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO); held today with the participation of 50 countries and 22 international organizations, under the theme “Sustainability of cultural action in the face of crises (Covid-19)”, the Ministers of Culture and the heads and representatives of the participating regional and international organizations undertook to promote the position of culture in tomorrow’s societies to face future challenges, support and develop digital culture, raise awareness of the importance of cultural heritage, and encourage the culture of solidarity and cultural synergy.

In the final statement read out by Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, ICESCO Director-General, the participants reiterated their support to ICESCO’s vision which is based on conserving, protecting, supporting and rehabilitating the cultural and civilizational heritage of the Islamic world to preserve the Islamic world’s cultural identity and anchor human rights, most notably the cultural rights which ICESCO seeks to sustain, particularly during crises and disasters.

Moreover, the statement stressed the importance of the Digital Cultural Strategic Project, prepared by ICESCO as a proactive initiative for the management of cultural affairs and as a sustainable anticipatory programme for future cultural action.

The participants also called for developing cultural projects and programmes to bring culture closer to citizens in the urban and rural areas, promote the reality of cultural action and figures by anchoring a new vision which is more creative, developed ad consistent with the major trends which strongly impose themselves on the international scene such as the promotion of cultural diversity, the protection of the tangible and intangible heritage, and the use of AI applications.

The statement also underlined the importance of developing cultural tourism and promoting the complementary relationship between the sectors of culture and sports in building human beings by developing an integrated system of programmes for the benefit of various social groups.

Besides, the participants lauded the initiative of “ICESCO Digital Home” as a knowledge platform in the fields of education, science, innovation and human sciences, including the programme of “Distance Culture,” which they committed to support and enrich its digital contents as well as the contents of the Portal of the Islamic World Heritage and the digital libraries.

Furthermore, they reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate with ICESCO Heritage Center and the Islamic World Heritage Committee in highlighting the richness of the cultural and civilizational heritage of Member States and inscribing the largest number possible of heritage sites. The statement also commended the efforts of ICESCO and its Director-General in developing and implementing innovative projects based on the digital culture in the management and sustainability of cultural activities, particularly during crises and disasters.

In conclusion, the participants thanked ICESCO and its Director-General for calling to this Conference amid these difficult global circumstances triggered by the spread of Covid-19. They also thanked the State of the United Arab Emirates for chairing the Conference.

The Conference’s sessions witnessed considerable interaction from the ministers and the heads of the participating international organizations. During the interactive session, the participants explored the future of cultural actions and the need to develop it through modern technologies and promote the digital culture. The Conference concluded with an address by Dr. AlMalik wherein he thanked the ministers and the heads of the international organizations for their participation in the Conference and support to ICESCO’s initiatives.

**Ministers review the initiatives of their countries to face the repercussions of Covid-19 on cultural action

The Ministers of Culture taking part in the Extraordinary Virtual Conference of Culture Ministers of Member States of ICESCO, held by the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), under the theme “Sustainability of cultural action in the face of crises (Covid-19)”, reviewed the initiatives and experiences of their countries to ensure the continuity of cultural action. The ministers and the heads of the participating regional and international organizations lauded the cultural initiatives of ICESCO, most notably “ICESCO Digital Home” and “Distance Culture,” as well as the incentive awards of creativity.

During the first session, H.H. Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, Minister of Culture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, highlighted the importance of strengthening awareness of culture as well as its concerted efforts in reducing its effects caused by the pandemic, while commending the initiatives of the Kingdom to promote the part it plays in society through innovative models and its awareness that culture continuously evolves and able to adapt to the changing reality in all its transformations.

In her address, Dr. Ines Abdel-Dayem, Minister of Culture of the Arab Republic of Egypt, referred to the initiative of “Stay Home… Culture is in your hands” to provide cultural content on the Ministry’s channel on YouTube, which achieved great success and received significant attention with 27 million views until now.

On his part, Mr. Ozodbek Nazarbekov, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Uzbekistan, stated that the Ministry provided virtual lessons and presentations as well as 3-D visits to heritage sites, explaining that his Ministry adapted to the circumstances caused by the pandemic to ensure the continuity of the cultural action.

Afterward, Ms. Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development of the United Arab Emirates, reviewed the cultural vision of the United Arab Emirates during the coming period, including the ways to provide support to independent innovators and develop a standardized guide to digital policies to protect the intellectual property on digital platforms.

Mr. Othman El Ferdaous, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports of the Kingdom of Morocco, highlighted several cultural initiatives launched by the Kingdom to reduce the repercussions of Covid-19 on the cultural sector. It includes the support programme for the producers of cultural contents with a budget of MAD100 million, in addition to partnerships with the national cultural institutions.

Ms. Raymonde Michèle Goudou Coffie, Minister of Culture and the Francophonie of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire underscored the efforts geared towards facing the impacts of Covid-19 on the cultural activities and the initiatives to support the artists who were influenced by the closure of cultural institutions.

Moreover, Ms. Malika Bendouda, Minister of Culture of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, pointed out to the initiatives of organizing virtual cultural contests, distance drawing workshops, and displaying documentaries and historical movies on the digital platforms, as well as organizing Virtual Days of Short Films.

In his address, Mr. Salem bin Mohammed Al Mahrouqi, Minister of Heritage and Culture of the Sultanate of Oman, highlighted that the Ministry formed a committee concerned with the economic issues during the crisis and reducing its repercussions on various fields, including culture and tourism.

Mr. Bidoung Mkpatt Ismaël, Minister of Arts and Culture of the Republic of Cameroon, also reviewed the efforts of his country in the cultural field, including the launch of the platform “Mirror of Cameroon” to virtually visit tourism and cultural monuments, as well as another platform to coordinate the efforts exerted in the fields of tourism and culture.

Furthermore, Ms. Yumna Maumoon, Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage of the Republic of Maldives, reaffirmed that her government cooperated with and supported artists to present virtual works, and used technologies to make culture accessible to people at Home.

Mr. Faisal Mohamed Saleh, Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of the Sudan, also highlighted the importance of promoting the digital culture and encouraging businesses and the private sector to contribute to upgrading digital culture.

In addition, Mr. Shafqat Mahmood, Federal Minister of National Heritage and Heritage Literacy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, revealed that his country allocated a fund of one billion rupees to support artists, establish virtual music platforms and organize theater shows and virtual drama lessons.

Dr. Salim M. AlMalik, Director-General of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), reaffirmed that digital culture is the new face of future cultural action, adding that this makes it imperative to adopt a firm working method to sustain the cultural action, develop cultural tourism and empower the sporting culture by using AI applications in cultural action and making recourse to innovators in these fields.

This was an excerpt from Dr. AlMalik’s address at the opening session of the Extraordinary Virtual Conference of Culture Ministers of Member States of ICESCO, held today under the presidency of the State of the Unit Arab Emirates, under the theme “Sustainability of cultural action in the face of crises (Covid-19)”, with the participation of 50 countries and 22 international organizations.

In the same vein, Dr. AlMalik stated that ICESCO’s call to hold this Extraordinary Conference of Culture Ministers emanates from the responsibility assumed by all Member States in supporting the cultural policies and programmes, and from ICESCO’s position as a house of expertise and an open institutional space for dialogue and the dissemination of successful experiences and innovative solutions for cultural action management. “ICESCO is also the competent party in charge of coordinating the joint cultural action, which requires developing a global cultural project likely to ensure the right to culture, keep up with future changes and its ties with vital sectors such as tourism and sports, and open new prospects for promoting the values and mechanisms of intercultural and inter-civilizational dialogue,” he stressed.

Besides, ICESCO Director-General said that culture is a cornerstone for building the human future and civilization. There is a need to develop a robust cultural capital likely to contribute to the efforts in facing future cultural challenges. Against this backdrop, the Conference chooses the topics to be discussed during its session, including the significant cultural problems during crises; anticipating the future of culture after Covid-19 crisis; exploring the new trends of cultural tourism; publicizing the Digital Strategic Cultural Project, prepared by ICESCO as a basis for future joint cultural action for the Member States; and, the Portal of Islamic World Heritage, established by ICESCO based on the rich Islamic World heritage, of which 80% is endangered. This Portal will help inscribe the heritage sites and intangible heritage elements on the Islamic World Heritage List.

Moreover, Dr. AlMalik underscored that the concept of cultural tourism, which was adopted by the United Nations 57 years ago, requires promotion to put culture, tourism, and sports back in the forefront of States economies, stressing that the relationship between culture and sports is worthy of development given their rich activities, and highlighting that ICESCO is honored to explore new prospects in this field which will hopefully yield further results very soon.

Dr. AlMalik also stated that the distance cultural programmes during the lockdown period mitigated the psychosocial distress, and reduced the repercussions caused by the closure of over 95% of cultural institutions while commending the leading initiatives launched by ICESCO during these exceptional circumstances, most notably “ICESCO Digital Home,” which is knowledge, cultural, educational and scientific platform that received great interest through its programme “Distance Culture” and initiatives “Comprehensive Humanitarian Coalition” and “The Societies We Need”.

In closing, Dr. AlMalik stressed that the current global transitions in various fields make it imperative for the Member States to proactively lead the march of the new cultural movement with confidence and foresight ability to build a bright future and safe societies.