Director General Noticias

The Italian association Incontro di Civiltà has drafted an appeal to counter the destruction of cultural heritage in Syria and Iraq and to support its preservation and restoration.The appeal is the result of considerable reflection which has brought together scholars, archaeologists, legal experts and cultural representatives in order to arrive at a set of challenging, but achievable proposals...

“Rovine. La forza delle rovine” (“Ruins: the power of ruins”), is the title of a wonderful exhibition that has recently opened at Palazzo Altemps, Roman National Museums. Curated by Marcello Barbanera, who also edited the exhibition catalogue (Electa, 2015) with Alessandra Capodiferro, the exhibition portrays the fascination aroused by physical remains of past civilization, whether sculpture...

On 11 October, H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah met with ICCROM Director-General, Dr. Stefano De Caro in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The objective was to discuss programmes and plans being implemented in the Arab region through the recently-established ICCROM-ATHAR Regional Conservation Centre in Sharjah. Established in 2012 by the...

On 13 July, Stefano De Caro, Director-General of ICCROM was invited to a public hearing on “Destruction and trafficking of cultural heritage”, organized by the European Parliament’s Culture and Education Committee.

On 12 June the Director-General signed a framework agreement with the Secretary General of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT), Mr José Angelo Estrella Faria. The UNIDROIT is an independent intergovernmental organization (IGO) founded in 1926 as an auxiliary organ of the League of Nations and re-established in 1940 on the basis of multilateral agreement. It...

Stefano De Caro, Director-General of ICCROM met with His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah at the Ruler’s Office. The two parties exchanged views on multiple issues regarding ICCROM’s international and regional projects, especially programmes related to the Arab region to be implemented through its ICCROM-ATHAR Regional Conservation...

ICCROM shares and supports the strong statement of UNESCO’s Director-General, Dr Irina Bokova, condemning the destruction of archaeological heritage as videotaped at the Mosul Museum and at the site of the Nergal Gate by ISIL militants.

The ICCROM community is shocked and saddened by news of the weekend blaze that consumed an estimated 1 million historic titles belonging to the Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences (INION) in Moscow, the principal Russian library for humanities and Slavic languages, founded in 1918.

A newspaper is part of the cultural heritage of a people and a sanctuary of freedom of expression. The terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo is tantamount to an attack on the foundations of human civilization. ICCROM strongly deplores the Paris massacre and expresses its condolences to the people of France. Stefano De Caro, Director-General