The 18th of December coincides with the 47th anniversary of Arabic becoming a United Nations official language.
This day is an opportunity to celebrate the richness and global importance of the Arabic language, which has played a catalytic role in culture, science and the arts throughout history. Nowadays, Arabic is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and it represents a true pillar of diversity, spoken in its varying forms by over 400 million people in 25 countries.
The Arabic Language Day is also a chance to promote the place of Arabic in academia, and expand accessibility to knowledge. ICCROM and its Regional Office in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, are proud to showcase some of the initiatives that have taken place during 2020 in Arabic:
- First of its kind Master Degree in Conservation Management of Cultural Heritage, taught completely in Arabic
- Production of publications in Arabic this year:
- Readings in the Conservation of Mosaics. As part of the MOSAIKON programme, essential texts spanning the last 30 years of knowledge development on the conservation of mosaics were translated and compiled into a detailed volume.
- Warsaw Recommendations on Recovery and Reconstruction of Cultural Heritage. A comprehensive set of principles concerning the process of urban reconstruction and rebuilding of historic buildings or complexes of buildings destroyed as a result of armed conflicts or natural disasters.
- The proceedings of the First Arab Forum for Cultural Heritage held in 2018: a collection of articles covering various of themes from cultural heritage experts of the Arab region
- ICCROM Sharjah Award for Good Practices in Cultural Heritage Conservation in the Arab Region
- ICOMOS Charters (to be finished by the end of the year)
- Public lectures held on topics pertinent to the Arabic-speaking region and available in their original language:
- Medina webinars, to address the need of assessment on the protection and management of historic cities and sustainable development in the Arab region
- Sudan Webinar, to recover of cultural heritage in museums in Sudan
- Arab Forum Webinar (available soon)
As we at ICCROM aim to make conservation knowledge widely available within our Member States, part of this is ensuring that resources are multilingual. Further, we believe that promoting languages goes together with promoting intercultural dialogue and understanding, necessary for facing today’s challenges.