Valérie Magar (Mexico), Rohit Jigyasu (India) and Anait Abramyan (Russian Federation) have joined ICCROM as staff members.
Valérie Magar – Project Manager – Conservation of Immovable Cultural Heritage
Dr Valérie Magar will work under the supervision of Joseph King, Director of the Sites Unit. Valérie was a staff member at ICCROM between 2004 and 2010, working as archaeological sites conservation specialist in the Sites Unit, as well as member of ICCROM’s Council between 2013 and 2017. During 2016 and 2017, Valérie served as ICCROM Bureau member, under the chairwomanship of Mme Marie Lavandier.
Valérie will be working with the ICCROM team to implement ICCROM's work on the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. She will also be actively involved in the design and implementation of the follow-up to the Conservation of the Built Heritage Course, and in the implementation of training partnerships focused on the conversation of stone and wood. She will also be involved in efforts to align the programme to the UN Sustainable Development Goals as foreseen in the Programme and Budget 2018 - 2019.
Valérie holds a BA in conservation of movable cultural heritage from the National School of Conservation, Restoration and Museography in Mexico, and a MA in archaeology and environment from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, France. She obtained a PhD in prehistory, ethnology and anthropology from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne in 2001.
Rohit Jigyasu – Programme Officer – ICCROM-Sharjah
Dr Rohit Jigyasu will work under the supervision of Zaki Aslan, Regional Representative of ICCROM for the Arab States and Director of the Centre. Rohit is a conservation architect and risk management professional, who has served as a UNESCO Chair at the Institute for Disaster Mitigation of Urban Cultural Heritage at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan, and Senior Advisor at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS). He was the elected President of ICOMOS-India in 2014 and of ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Risk Preparedness (ICORP) in 2010. Rohit also was an elected Member of the Executive Committee of ICOMOS in 2011.
While managing, monitoring and implementing programmes led by ICCROM-Sharjah, Rohit’s main responsibilities will include liaising with ICCROM Headquarters to achieve ICCROM strategic directions, providing specialized knowledge in the areas of disaster risk management for cultural heritage, devising and contributing to implementation reports, and working closely with ICCROM project associates and consultants in Sharjah and in Rome.
After undertaking his post-graduate degree in Architectural Conservation from the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, Rohit obtained his doctoral degree from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway. His multidisciplinary research focused on the role of traditional knowledge in disaster mitigation, especially in the South Asian context. A past ICCROM consultant, Rohit has also worked as consultant with organizations such as the Archaeological Survey of India, the Indian National Institute, UNESCO, and the Getty Conservation Institute, where he delivered training on Disaster Risk Management of Cultural Heritage. He has contributed to several international publications.
Anait Abramyan – Library and Document Delivery Clerk
Anait Abramyan will work under the supervision of Paul Arenson, Manager, Knowledge and Communication. She worked as a consultant at ICCROM from June 2017 to September 2018.
Anait will support ICCROM's Library and knowledge activities by filling Document Delivery and bookstore requests, sharing in reference desk service and collections cataloguing, and addressing inventory and processing requests, including labelling and small book/journal repairs. Her native command of Russian means that the Library will be in a position to actively pursue collection development of Russian language materials in conservation.
Anait holds a Bachelor of Arts in art history from Sapienza University, Rome and a Master in Law from Lomonosov Moscow State University Faculty of Law.
We look forward to working with Valérie, Rohit and Anait and welcome them to ICCROM.