International conference dedicated to the 70-th annivarsery on the 1954 Hague Convention

From 13 to 14 May, an international conference dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the “Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property during Armed Conflicts” (The Hague, 1954) was held in The Hague, Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was organized by UNESCO, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and various international organizations. Hundreds of delegates from dozens of countries, dozens of experts and organizations in the field of heritage studies participated in the conference.
The Armenian delegation also participated in the conference, represented by Khachik Harutyunyan, director of the Historical and Cultural Heritage Research Centre, and Garnik Momjyan, head of the Cultural Heritage Preservation and Development Department of the ESCS Ministry of the RA.
In 2021-2023, thanks to the successful and high-level implementation of the “World Heritage Management in Armenia” program jointly with UNESCO, the Research Centre of Historical and Cultural Heritage received an invitation and had its separate pavilion next to renowned international organizations (ICOMOS, IKROM, IKONEM, ALIF, Blue Shield, Hong Kong University) in the hall adjacent to the main conference hall. The joint program of the scientific research centre and UNESCO, digitalization of monuments, three-dimensional modelling, as well as other research works carried out with the latest equipment, educational programs and other projects were presented there for three days. The pavilion of the research centre was visited by delegates from various countries, ambassadors of UNESCO member states, representatives of international research organizations, with some of whom agreements were reached on the implementation of joint projects in the near future.
The Armenian pavilion also presented a project for the digitization and restoration of manuscripts from the manuscript centre of the Iraqi city of Erbil, implemented jointly with UNESCO, the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Mashtots Matenadaran, as a result of which the Matenadaran staff conducted experience exchange and retraining courses for the staff of the Erbil centre.
During the conference, among other things, issues related to the need for new legal mechanisms for the protection of cultural heritage (tangible and intangible) in armed conflicts, as well as the role of modern technology in this process, were discussed. In this context, the director of the Historical and Cultural Heritage Research Centre Khachik Harutyunyan reminded the attendees about the destruction and expropriation of the Armenian historical and cultural heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as emphasized the need for possible new mechanisms in the direction of monitoring and preserving the Armenian (i.e. universal) heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Let’s remind that the Historical and Cultural Heritage Research Centre has been cooperating with UNESCO since 2021. A new two-year project will start in just a few weeks, about which we will inform you further.