On 16 January 2024, the Director-General of ICCROM, Aruna Francesca Maria Gujral, received a courtesy visit from H.E. Mirta Granda Averhoff, Ambassador of Cuba to Italy.
The meeting focused on discussing potential heritage conservation initiatives for both tangible and intangible heritage in Cuba and in the broader Latin America and Caribbean region. These include reducing risks to cultural heritage, especially in rapidly urbanizing cities in the region due to higher frequency and intensity of disasters that are exacerbated by climate change.
The meeting also included sharing images and videos from ICCROM archives about the courses held in Cuba since the 1980s, examples of built heritage restoration (such as Castillo del Morro, La Habana), or the architectural typology in Valle de los Ingenios (Sugar-Mills Valley), along with archival documents related to Cuba's accession to the Organization. These historical references served to highlight the longstanding collaboration between ICCROM and Cuba in the field of heritage preservation.
We thank the Ambassador for visiting and look forward to continuing our broad efforts to preserve and promote heritage in LAC.