5 Years of ALIPH! by ALIPH Foundation

YEARS

ALIPH

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Foreword by Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan, Chair of the ALIPH Foundation Board The ALIPH Way: Five Years and Counting

Milestones

Five Years of ALIPH

ALIPH in the World

Focus on Beirut: To the Rescue of Beiruti Heritage

Focus on COVID-19: Helping Protect Cultural Heritage Workers During the Pandemic

A Spotlight on Completed Projects

Shewaki: Conservation of Buddhist-era Built Heritage

Hatra: Protecting and Restoring a Parthian City Damaged by Daesh

Taq Kasra: Emergency Measures to Prevent the Collapse of the Monumental Arch of Ctesiphon

Agadez: Rehabilitation of the Old City, the Pearl of Niger

North-East Syria, Al-Hasakah Governorate: Stabilizing the Site of the Historical Tell Beydar Palace and Improving Conservation Conditions of Artifacts Seized at the Border

From the Archives: Articles, 2020-2021

Rehabilitating Iraq’s Memory: The Mosul Museum

A Symbol of Unity: The Rehabilitation of the Mar Behnam Monastery in Iraq

The Past at the Service of the Future: The Raqqa Museum

Prevention over Cure: The Museum of Civilization of Côte d’Ivoire

The Restoration of Yazidi Heritage: Supporting Stability and the Return of Inhabitants to Sinjar

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Timbuktu: The Manuscripts of Al-Aqib and the Preservation of Knowledge

124

The People Behind ALIPH

133

Foundation Board

134

Scientific Committee

136

Finance and Development Committee

137

Audit Committee

137

Ethics, Governance, and Remuneration Committee

137

Secretariat

137

Our ethics

138

How to Support ALIPH

140

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Fiv e Years o f A LI P H

INTRODUCTION

6 FOREWORD THE ALIPH WAY: FIVE YEARS AND COUNTING DR. THOMAS S. KAPLAN

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Fiv e Years o f A LI P H

FOREWORD

The ALIPH Way: Five Years and Counting… “La reconnaissance est la mémoire du cœur” Jean Massieu

Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan

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And so, we did. Temperamentally entrepreneurial rather than process driven, I will confess that the early days had their challenges and frustrations. In short order, however, the drive that prompted the “action, action, action” narrative kicked in and engendered a way of thinking that was crystallized in the

Intro ductio n

The great dedications of adulthood tend to be imprinted at an early age, when one’s place on the trajectory of life is in the absorbing, learning phases. For myself, frequent youthful contacts with the antiquities’ wings of the British Museum, the Louvre, and The Metropolitan played such a role. Transported in my imagination to Lachish, Nineveh, and Ctesiphon, I was hooked, somehow convinced that my own personal destiny would be enveloped in an abiding fascination for classical history. If one is blessed with deepening passion as a child for the stories of civilization, these flashbacks not only enrich our formative years but indeed re-emerge later to engage with the subject even more profoundly — and, if fortunate, in being handed the means of giving back to one’s enthusiasms by promoting and protecting humanity’s shared birthright. As the French educator Jean Massieu put it so beautifully, “gratitude is the memory of the heart”. And so it was for me when, shortly before ALIPH’s first donors conference in the spring of 2017, I was asked to assume the newly established Foundation’s chairmanship. As I promised the co-founders of this extraordinary initiative, François Hollande, then President of France, and H.H. Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi — and later reiterated personally to President Emmanuel Macron — my Board colleagues, the Secretariat’s team and I would see to it that ALIPH would be characterized by a simple motto: “action, action, action.”

Chair of the ALIPH Foundation Board

brilliantly inspired — and continually inspiring — exhortation of H.E. Mohamed Al Mubarak, the driven and driving tip of the spear for so many of the UAE’s cultural initiatives, to do things “The ALIPH Way.” The ALIPH Way became shorthand for getting things done through deeds, not words. It combines a special sauce of strategic vision in implementing a plan; a refreshingly nimble response to surprises that require tactical flexibility; and a laser-focus execution of both these strategies and tactics. It is, moreover, a recipe that has yielded splendid results.

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Fiv e Years o f A LI P H

Five years ago, ALIPH simply did not exist on the map. Today, the ALIPH flag has been planted in some 30 countries on nearly 150 projects. These ventures — and, all too often in light of the circumstances, adventures — represent epic undertakings that should conjure a sense of gratitude for all believers in the imperative of preserving humanity’s greatest cultural heritage treasures for future generations. They include the protection and rehabilitation of the museums of Mosul (Iraq), Raqqa (North-East Syria), Dhamar (Yemen), and Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire); the restoration of the Tomb of Askia in Gao (Mali), the Mar Behnam Monastery (Iraq), the Minaret of Jam in partnership with UNESCO, and Afghanistan’s Bala Hissar Citadel, in partnership with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC). Yet ALIPH’s footprints go far beyond, reaching Sondondo Valley (Peru), Agadez (Niger), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Ghadames (Libya), Adulis (Eritrea), Gori (Georgia), Koh Ker (Cambodia), or just recently Maluku (Indonesia), to name but a few. These reference points are mere snapshots of the tops of the waves of ALIPH’s work. And that is just what one can see. Many more interventions beneath the surface are in the works, being nurtured by what is now an entire ecosystem of activity and support to those on the front lines. In these noble efforts to protect vital heritage that is both tangible and intangible, I wish to salute the signal role played by the Secretariat, the Scientific Committee, and our network of over 200 experts who provide the Foundation with extraordinary knowledge, passion, and skill. I am also immensely grateful to each of the operators, local and international, with whom ALIPH works daily in the field. These women and men remain the true unsung heroes of our collective enterprise. Fortunately, both excellent results and the passage of time have provided these brave souls with the greater recognition they merit. In many guises, the senior leadership of our benefactors have themselves heard from those on the front lines — from their presidential and princely counterparts and senior government officials, all the way through to archeologists, our NGO partners, museum curators and security guards — that ALIPH has become something of a Gold Standard in carrying out its mandate.

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For those less familiar with ALIPH’s origins, it is important to acknowledge that, while the validation and standing the Foundation now enjoys seems so inevitable, so foreordained… it really wasn’t. From the outset, the ALIPH enterprise faced multiple headwinds. While everyone could see that something outrageous was taking place on our generation’s watch — the 2010s were marked by wartime attacks on patrimony that were simply unprecedented in their scope, systematic nature, and media coverage — despite howls of horror, the assaults kept on coming. From Timbuktu and Gao to Palmyra and Aleppo, Mosul, and Hatra, invaluable sites were being vandalized and gutted in plain sight of the international community.

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Words would then need to be translated into deeds. What was proposed was the establishment of a new type of vehicle: a Geneva-based foundation governed by Swiss law and benefitting from a headquarters agreement with the Swiss Federal Council — a unique status allowing for the development of a publicprivate partnership, flexible governance, and startup-like operations. Such an enterprise, which in 2017 received an extraordinary formal endorsement from the United Nations itself, constituted a fresh approach in harnessing goodwill around a targeted issue, as well as a novel contribution to multilateralism and leveraging the comity of nations. Thanks to the commitment of my predecessor and dear friend Jack Lang, President of the Institut du monde arabe (IMA), and with steadfast support from ALIPH’s vibrant and insightful Vice-Chairs, H.E. Mohamed Al Mubarak and Bariza Khiari, as well as H.H. Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al Saud, our esteemed representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we rapidly installed our Secretariat, empowered a wonderfully diverse and talented Board of Directors, and appointed our Executive Director, Valéry Freland, in Geneva.

I ntrod uctio n

This called for a highly focused riposte. The first challenge was to mobilize a very distracted international community to respond to the barbarity. The visionaries who cried out for action needed to harness the outrage and channel it coherently into an action plan. This was accomplished with the release of the 2015 report “Fifty French proposals to protect the world’s heritage”, authored by Jean-Luc Martinez, President-Director of the Musée du Louvre (20132021), which proved critical to setting the stage for the 2016 International Conference on Safeguarding Cultural Heritage in Conflict Areas held in Abu Dhabi. This assembly, in turn, triggered in 2017 the Franco-Emirati initiative that, with the support of UNESCO, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Morocco, China, and several private donors created the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas — ALIPH.

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Fi v e Years o f A LI PH

This proved to be a tipping point, and we never looked back. Uniting ALIPH around that guiding spirit of “action, action, action!”, the results from Team Freland were quick to materialize. In just a few months, ALIPH was able to move to the forefront of securing heritage protection in conflict areas, assisting both ambitious projects and, thanks to a multitude of partnerships around the world, more modest initiatives geared towards the protection and rehabilitation of the world’s cultural endowment. Of course, even fairy tales have plot twists. COVID-19 emerged, disrupting the course of world events not to mention personal lives — including those whose work the Foundation was supporting. Yet together, we stood strong and adapted, like it or not, to videoconferencing and remote working, without ever giving up on concrete projects or field visits: from Gao to Beirut, Kabul, and Mosul — because at the core of ALIPH’s DNA lies the imperative to work for and with local populations and communities, without whom there can be no sustainable heritage protection in crisis-stricken countries. In several respects, the exigencies of the pandemic resulted in what proved to be perhaps our finest hour — not just as an organization, but indeed as a mission. Realizing that the landscape was irreparably altered, in the very first weeks following the outbreak, we launched an ambitious multimilliondollar action plan of rapidly approved small grants in support of local heritage operators (museums, NGOs and groups of artisans, among others) to help them surmount, with minimal bureaucracy and maximum speed, the existential turmoil of COVID-19. Ultimately, some 100 actors in 37 countries benefitted from this initiative — a prime example of the ALIPH Way in action. The pandemic would reveal yet another example of ALIPH’s extraordinary flexibility. In addition to the small grants that were literally live savers from those stranded in the field, we responded with similar alacrity and efficiency to larger funding requests too. Thus, the Foundation was able to tackle the threat of impending collapse of remarkable national legacies on numerous occasions. This includes, for instance, an emergency stabilization project of the Arch of Ctesiphon, south of Baghdad, as well as the rapid rehabilitation of museums, libraries, religious buildings, and historical houses in Beirut following the devastating explosion in the Lebanese capital of 4 August 2020. We were present on the ground — alongside local institutions, NGOs, and international stakeholders — helping to find synergies and accompanying the efforts of Beirutis to preserve their society’s shared history and legacy, without which there can be no future.

ALIPH’s “battle-proven” ability to respond to crises in turn shaped our own organization even further. In weathering these various storms, the Foundation has shown itself to be exceptionally agile and displayed a rare capacity to quickly adapt to emerging needs, expectations, and challenges, thanks to its relatively small size, consensual style of governance, and fluid operating mode. These virtues provide the solid foundation on which to build our next chapter, firmly dedicated as we are to our mission of protecting humanity’s shared narrative — one that inspires as well as brings us together, beyond borders and cultural differences, and one that still represents an important source of both livelihood and meaning to populations who everyday face the trauma of war, terrorism, and the injustice of sacrificed memories.

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I ntrod uctio n

And while dark threats continue to loom over this common inheritance of mankind, as in the case of terrorism and international conflicts, we and our partners shall remain — proudly and unwaveringly — by the side of these brave women and men, as humble yet critical enablers of reconciliation and peace through the preservation, sharing, and transmission of the epic phenomenon of human civilization.

FIVE YEARS OF ALIPH

ALIPH IN THE WORLD

FOCUS ON BEIRUT: TO THE RESCUE OF BEIRUTI HERITAGE

MILESTONES

40 FOCUS ON COVID-19: HELPING PROTECT CULTURAL HERITAGE WORKERS DURING THE PANDEMIC

FIVE YEARS OF ALIPH

2016

EARLY

2-3 DECEMBER

2010s

Massive destruction of cultural heritage in several countries in the Sahel and the Middle East due to conflict and terrorism

2017

8 MARCH International conference on Safeguarding Cultural Heritage in Conflict Areas and the adoption of the Declaration on heritage at risk in the context of armed conflicts in Abu Dhabi

The International alliance for the protection of heritage in conflict areas (ALIPH) is created in Geneva

20 MARCH

The first International Donors’ Conference is held at the Musée du Louvre, Paris

2015 NOVEMBER

Publication of “50 French proposals to protect the heritage of humanity” by Jean-Luc Martinez, President-Director of the Musée du Louvre (2013-2021)

24 MARCH

UN Security Council adopts Resolution 2347 on the protection of heritage

11 OCTOBER

ALIPH headquarter agreement is signed with the Swiss Federal Council

2018

2019 24 JUNE

15 JANUARY 18 JUNE

First Call for Projects is announced and the ALIPH website is launched

Fourteen new projects are adopted by the Foundation Board under the First Call for Projects, including the rehabilitation of Tutunji House and several religious sites in Mosul (known collectively as the “Mosul Mosaic”), the protection of the Minaret of Jam (UNESCO) in Afghanistan, and the restoration of the Raqqa Museum in North-East Syria

First five heritage protection projects in conflict zones are adopted by the Foundation Board, including the rehabilitation of the Mosul Museum, the Mar Behnam Monastery (Iraq), and the Tomb of Askia in Gao (Mali)

11 OCTOBER

UNESCO and ALIPH sign a Memorandum of Understanding to develop their cooperation

JUNE

First mission to Mosul, Iraq is conducted by ALIPH Secretariat

SEPTEMBER

ALIPH Secretariat is established in Geneva

NOVEMBER

First mission to Baghdad, Iraq is conducted by ALIPH Secretariat

17 DECEMBER

Twenty new projects are adopted by the Foundation Board under the Second Call for Projects, including the preservation of the written heritage of the Khalidi Library in Jerusalem, the rehabilitation of the Dhamar Museum in Yemen, and the protection of several iconic archaeological sites in Sudan

2020

FEBRUARY

APRIL

SEPTEMBER

MARCH

AUGUST

OCTOBER

An emergency measure financed by ALIPH to secure the scultpures of Hatra, an ancient city in Iraq, is completed

First mission to Mali undertaken by the ALIPH Secretariat to launch the rehabilitation of the Tomb of Askia in Gao alongside Malian authorities and the local community

COVID-19 Emergency Plan is announced, allocating an initial USD 1 million to protect cultural heritage workers, which is then increased to USD 2 million

Several days after the Beirut Blast, USD 5 million is allocated to stabilize and rehabilitate the cultural heritage damaged in the Lebanese capital

Mission to Beirut undertaken by the ALIPH Secretariat alongside teams from ICOM and ICOMOS

An emergency project financed by ALIPH to protect the collection of the Museum of Civilization of Côte d’Ivoire in Abidjan is completed

2021

22 OCTOBER

Twenty-nine new projects are adopted by the Foundation Board under the Third Call for Projects, including the protection of collections of several museums in Yemen, the combat against illicit trafficking of cultural goods in North-East Syria, and the rehabilitation of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo

JANUARY

An emergency project to stabilize the Arch of Ctesiphon, south of Baghdad, is adopted by ALIPH’s Foundation Board, upon the request of the Iraqi Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities

23 APRIL

Expansion of Scientific Committee from six to ten members, all experts in the cultural heritage sector

14 DECEMBER

Twenty projects are adopted by the Foundation Board under the Fourth Call for Projects, including the fight against illicit trafficking and the reinforcement of several museums’ security in the Sahel region, support for emergency interventions in Yemen, and the development of the Palestinian Museum’s collections

MARCH

First mission to Afghanistan undertaken by the ALIPH Secretaiat and launch of a project financed by ALIPH to rehabilitate Kabul’s Bala Hissar Citadel

10 DECEMBER

United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and ALIPH sign a Memorandum of Understanding to develop their cooperation

2022 ALIPH TURNS FIVE

Libya Mauritania Mali

Colombia

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Fi v e Years o f A LI PH

Peru

Chile

Côte d’Ivoire Burkina Faso

ALIPH IN THE WORLD

In five years, ALIPH has grown from an idea into a global fund supporting nearly 150 projects in some 30 countries.

Mozambique

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Somalia

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Yemen

Indonesia

Palestine

Cambodia

Lebanon

Sudan

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Niger

Turkey

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Armenia

Georgia

On Syrian heritage and North-East Syria

Afghanistan

Iraq

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Eritrea

Ethiopia

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FOCUS ON BEIRUT

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On 4 August 2020, a large quantity of ammonium nitrate stored in a warehouse in the port of Beirut ignited, triggering a devastating double explosion. These violent explosions killed many people and injured thousands. They caused extensive structural damage throughout the Lebanese capital, including in its oldest neighborhoods, damaging historical buildings that line its unique streets. Many museums, schools, religious buildings, libraries, and historical houses were among the damaged heritage.

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TO THE RESCUE OF BEIRUTI HERITAGE

“ALIPH was the first international organization to be at our side. I must say that we were able to sign a contract, come to an agreement, and figure out all the logistics in just one month! … It was very fast, very, very fast.” Zeina Arida, Director of Sursock Museum (2020)

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Fi v e Years o f A LI PH

ALIPH quickly initiated a “Statement of solidarity with Lebanon and support to recover the damaged cultural heritage in Beirut,” signed by over 40 government ministries, cultural heritage operators, museums, and international organizations around the world. As a follow up to this statement, the ALIPH Foundation Board responded with the Beirut Action Plan, earmarking USD 5 million to help stabilize and rehabilitate the city’s cultural heritage. In mid-September, ALIPH, the International Council of Museums (ICOM), and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) undertook a joint mission to Beirut to evaluate the damage, consult with national and local authorities, and meet with heritage partners and members of civil society groups.

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To carry out the Beirut Action Plan, ALIPH has been working in close coordination with the Directorate General of Antiquities (DGA) of Lebanon and various international partners and local NGOs. In the course of a few months, ALIPH committed USD 2.3 million for 18 projects, including the emergency stabilization of more than 40 buildings under imminent threat of collapse and initiatives to rehabilitate monuments and cultural institutions. In particular, ALIPH supported the rehabilitation of the National and Sursock Museums, the Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, the Saint George Maronite Cathedral, the National Library, and the Oriental Library. These projects have been implemented by operators including the DGA of Lebanon, the Musée du Louvre, the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, the Sursock Museum, the Ecole supérieure des affaires (ESA), the National Heritage Foundation (for the Beirut Heritage Initiative Campaign), the Institut français du Proche-Orient (IFPO), the Institut national du patrimoine (INP-Paris), Prince Claus Fund, Œuvre d’Orient, Monumenta Orientalia, Saint Joseph University and many more. All these projects have contributed to on-site training, job creation, and economic stimulation.

“As soon as we heard about the blast, we jumped into action to support our friends and colleagues in Beirut. This was not just to stabilize the endangered cultural heritage as quickly as possible but also to convey to the world that the cultural heritage community was committed and ready to help.” Alexandra Fiebig, Project Manager, ALIPH

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Projects supported

Number of operators and partners

Educational establishments

Places of worship

$ 2,319,473 Funds committed

Museums

Residential historic homes, villas, and palaces*

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Urgent assessment

*Around 40 buildings were stabilized under the 6 projects listed in this line

Libraries

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Focus on Beirut: To the Rescue of Beiruti Heritage

Urgent roof covering and stabilization for 40 historic houses

Operators: Institut français du Proche-Orient (Ifpo), in cooperation with the Directorate General of Antiquities (DGA) of Lebanon; National Heritage Foundation for the Beirut Heritage Initiative campaign (Lebanon), in cooperation with Ecole Supérieure des Affaires (ESA), and Prince Claus Fund in cooperation with Blue Shield Lebanon The double explosion that rocked downtown Beirut on 4 August 2020 gravely damaged many of the city’s historical neighborhoods. An emergency evaluation of the damage by the Lebanese Directorate General of Antiquities (DGA) and a network of cultural heritage experts from Beirut Built Heritage Rescue 2020 (BBHR2020) reported that about 350 houses were damaged, of which about 80 were in very bad condition, or even likely to collapse. This risk was compounded by the threat of rainwater infiltration in the upcoming rainy season. As part of the urgent efforts to stabilize many of these damaged buildings, ALIPH funded four projects to provide temporary roof coverings (such as tarp or sheet metal) and shoring measures for about 40 historical houses in the Achrafieh, Rmeil, Medawar, and Saifi quarters. These included residential houses, a patrician villa, two historical palaces (Bustros and Sursock Palace), and the old train station of Beirut.

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Focus on Beirut: To the Rescue of Beiruti Heritage

Rehabilitation of the National Museum of Lebanon

Operator: Musée du Louvre, in cooperation with the Directorate General of Antiquities (DGA) of Lebanon The Beirut Blast shattered many windows and doors of the National Museum of Lebanon, leaving its collection in non-secure conditions. The project repaired damages to the museum as well as the Directorate General of Antiquities’ headquarters. It re-installed windows, repaired doors, and ceilings, restored the alarm system, implemented security measures, and carried out a study on the air conditioning, which was heavily damaged by the blast, leaving the collection vulnerable to humidity and temperature fluctuations. To address this threat, the project’s second phase is being prepared with the goal of installing air conditioning to ensure year-round climate control for the museum’s collection.

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Focus on Beirut: To the Rescue of Beiruti Heritage F iv e Yea r s of A LIPH

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Rehabilitation of the Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral and the Saint George Maronite Cathedral

Operators: Institut français du Proche-Orient (Ifpo) with Ecole supérieure des affaires (ESA), in cooperation with the Directorate General of Antiquities (DGA) of Lebanon; Œuvre d’Orient, in cooperation with the Maronite Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut and the Directorate General of Antiquities (DGA) of Lebanon In central Beirut lies the Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, a three-hundred-year-old church built on the site of a 5th-century cathedral. Just 400 meters away is the Saint-George Maronite Cathedral, a neoclassical church that was inspired by the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. The Beirut blast significantly damaged windows, doors, and church artifacts in these two places of worship. At the Saint George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, the 19th century iconostasis and frescoes were restored, and wooden windows and doors were repaired. While at the SaintGeorge Maronite Cathedral, the 137 m² of historical stained-glass windows damaged by the blast were temporarily secured. Now, replacement glasswork is being produced in Zagreb, Croatia, with installations planned for spring 2022.

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F iv e Yea r s of A LIPH

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At the Saint-George Maronite Cathedral, the 137 m² of historical stained-glass windows damaged by the blast were temporarily secured. Now, replacement glasswork is being produced in Zagreb, Croatia, with installations planned for spring 2022.

FOCUS ON COVID-19 HELPING PROTECT CULTURAL HERITAGE WORKERS DURING THE PANDEMIC

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The year 2020 will be forever marked by the global coronavirus pandemic and the devasting impact it had on people’s lives and livelihoods. The cultural heritage sector was not sheltered from this global catastrophe, which forced the closure of monuments, museums, libraries, and other cultural sites around the world. Without question, these sites embody manifold identities and histories, but they are also important sources of employment for local operators, cultural institutions and associations, as well as experts, engineers, builders, and artisans.

“When the pandemic hit, we knew we needed to shift our focus and immediately assist cultural heritage sites and the women and men who work there. Our flexibility enabled us to respond to their urgent needs and release funds within a very short timeframe.” Rosalie Gonzalez, Project Manager, ALIPH

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In solidarity with these groups, and to contribute to the global effort of alleviating the suffering caused by COVID-19, in April 2020, ALIPH launched its COVID-19 Action Plan to cover the costs related to the implementation of sanitary measures (masks, hand sanitizers, etc.), as well as certain operating costs, given the impact that the crisis has had on the resources of heritage institutions. In addition, information technology acquisition and online learning programs were financed to help bridge the digital divide while also building resilience for the future. Finally, emergency heritage preventive protection and income generation projects were supported.

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On top of these efforts, training programs and protection measures for collections were put in place. The German Archaeological Institute (DAI) and the Centre Français de Recherche de la Péninsule Arabique (CEFREPA) cooperated with the General Organisation of Antiquities and Museums in Yemen (GOAM) to develop protection measures for the collections in five Yemini museums as well as providing digital tools and training for their staff. The International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) designed training modules on conflict-sensitive cultural first aid. And the Prince Claus Fund Cultural Emergency Response Programme oversaw ten small-scale first aid cultural heritage projects and three rehabilitation projects in Africa and Asia. At the same time, ALIPH established a repository of e-learning resources on the protection of cultural heritage that lists more than 100 training offerings (https://elearning.aliph-foundation.org/).

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Thus, starting in April 2020, ALIPH committed USD 2.1 million to assist operators in countries in conflict or vulnerable regions. The Foundation directly supported 50 heritage operators and 43 others indirectly through partnerships with major world heritage protection institutions: UNESCO, the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the Prince Claus Fund, World Monuments Fund (WMF), REMPART association, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, and Petra National Trust. These organizations were instrumental in identifying beneficiaries and allocating the funds.

“Thank you for helping us in the mission of safeguarding and preserving the cultural heritage of this ethnic community by supporting the community museum in Mulaló.” Esmeralda Ortiz Cuero, Representative of the community Mulaló museum, Colombia

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“I just wanted to pass on the thanks of the artisans and the apprentices that this emergency fund is supporting. This is so very important for their craft, this heritage, and its future — so many thanks for all the efforts you and your colleagues have made on their behalf.” Richard Dwerryhouse, Country Director Jordan, Turquoise Mountain

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“This is just wonderful and great news for Blue Shield Pasifika. This will be our first ever international grant.”

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Elizabeth Edwards, Secretary General, Blue Shield Pasifika, Fiji

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COVID-19 ACTION PLAN

Number of projects

Number of countries

Number of heritage operators

Number of regranting partnerships

Funds committed

$ 2,059,008

AFGHANISTAN SHEWAKI: CONSERVATION OF BUDDHIST-ERA BUILT HERITAGE

IRAQ HATRA: PROTECTING AND RESTORING A PARTHIAN CITY DAMAGED BY DAESH

A SPOTLIGHT ON COMPLETED PROJECTS

IRAQ TAQ KASRA: EMERGENCY MEASURES TO PREVENT THE COLLAPSE OF THE MONUMENTAL ARCH OF CTESIPHON

NIGER AGADEZ: REHABILITATION OF THE OLD CITY, THE PEARL OF NIGER

NORTH-EAST SYRIA AL-HASAKAH GOVERNORATE: STABILIZING THE SITE OF THE HISTORICAL TELL BEYDAR PALACE AND IMPROVING CONSERVATION CONDITIONS OF ARTIFACTS SEIZED AT THE BORDER

Afghanistan Fi v e Years o f A LI PH

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Shewaki: Conservation of Buddhist-era Built Heritage

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A s po tli ght o n com pl eted p ro j e c t s

Shewaki: Conservation of Buddhist-era Built Heritage

Operator: Afghan Cultural Heritage Consulting Organisation (ACHCO)

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Fi v e Years o f A LI PH

The stupa of Shewaki dates from between the 1st and 3rd centuries CE and stands on the rim of a vast valley eleven kilometers north of Kabul. It is part of a religious complex located on the route once taken by Buddhist pilgrims as they traveled to Bamiyan in the highlands from the Indian plains. In 2020 and 2021, the Afghan Cultural Heritage Consulting Organisation (ACHCO) documented the site and stabilized, restored, and reconstructed this unique monument.

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A s po tli ght o n com pl eted p ro j e c t s

Iraq Fi v e Years o f A LI PH

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Hatra: Protecting and Restoring a Parthian City Damaged by Daesh

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A s po tli ght o n com pl eted p ro j e c t s

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Hatra: Protecting and Restoring a Parthian City Damaged by Daesh

Operators: Associazione Internazionale di Studi sul Mediterraneo e l’Oriente (ISMEO) in cooperation with the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) Located in a remote area of the northern Iraqi desert steppe in the Nineveh Governorate, Hatra blossomed between the 1st to 3rd centuries CE, and is today the best-preserved example of a Parthian city. It was occupied by Daesh in 2014, and the site was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger in July 2015. Since 2020, ALIPH has been funding a project implemented by a joint team of archaeologists from ISMEO and SBAH to protect and rehabilitate this site. In 2020, the initial phase of the project assessed the damage and secured wall sculptures that were vandalized by Daesh. This was the first operation of this scale on the site since Hatra was liberated in April 2017. The project’s second phase began in 2021 and will conclude in early 2022. The work involves rehabilitating the archaeological mission house and restoring carved decorations and damaged elements from one of the temples. This project is also providing on-the-job training to young Iraqi conservators and archaeologists.

Iraq Fi v e Years o f A LI PH

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Taq Kasra: Emergency Measures to Prevent the Collapse of the Monumental Arch of Ctesiphon

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A s po tli ght o n com pl eted p ro j e c t s

Taq Kasra: Emergency Measures to Prevent the Collapse of the Monumental Arch of Ctesiphon Fi v e Years o f A LI PH

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Operators: University of Pennsylvania in cooperation with the Consultancy for Conservation and Development, Iconem, and the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) The Arch of Ctesiphon (Taq Kasra), located 40 km south of Baghdad, was built in the 6th century CE. It is the largest brick vault and the largest free-standing arch in the world built before the modern era. A part of a Sasanian palace complex, it stands at 37 meters high and 26 meters wide, making it an exceptional monument of great historical and cultural significance. Taq Kasra poses a significant conservation challenge, and a series of partial collapses of the brick vault in 2019 and 2020 showed the urgency for stabilization measures. Following these collapses, the Iraqi Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities approached ALIPH in October 2020 to request funding to stabilize the arch. ALIPH responded by first supporting an evaluation of the monument’s state of conservation, followed by financing all the recommended emergency measures. In early 2020, ALIPH financed digital documentation work conducted by Iconem to create a high-resolution 3D scan of the site. To support the arch, the University of Pennsylvania and the Consultancy for Conservation and Development commissioned specialized scaffolding built in Turkey and designed especially for the arch. It was installed at the end of 2021 along with sensors to monitor cracks in the monument and prevent further collapse. A comprehensive conservation plan for this monument and site is also being developed.

Niger Fi v e Years o f A LI PH

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Agadez: Rehabilitation of the Old City, the Pearl of Niger

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Agadez: Rehabilitation of the Old City, The Pearl of Niger

Operators: Imane Atarikh in cooperation with the Planning Committee of the Old City of Agadez and Iconem The Old City of Agadez, built along caravan roads before the 15th century, preserves a rich tradition of local architectural styles. The city’s Great Mosque boasts a minaret that is one of the tallest mud-brick structures in the world, and the mud houses surrounding it are decorated with unique and intricate shapes and patterns. The combined effects of civil unrest, which resulted in bombings in 2013, and climate change, which is causing flash floods, have put this exceptional architecture at great risk. An emergency project, conducted in 2020 by the NGO Imane Atarikh, in cooperation with the Management Committee of the Old City of Agadez, documented and restored the Great Mosque and four houses surrounding it and provided training to 30 youth so that the community can maintain these buildings in the future.

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With this first step completed, ALIPH is now funding a second phase to rehabilitate the old city using Iconem’s high-resolution 3D scans of the site, architectural analysis, and by restoring the Great Mosque complex and 15 other houses. Traditional architectural techniques and oral histories of the old city are being recorded and a traveling exhibition of the project results is being organized.

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Al-Hasakah Governorate: Stabilizing the Site of the Historical Tell Beydar Palace and Improving Conservation Conditions of Artifacts Seized at the Border

and Improving Conservation Conditions of Artifacts Seized at the Border

North-East Syria, Al-Hasakah Governorate: Stabilizing the Site of the Historical Tell Beydar Palace Fi v e Years o f A LI PH

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Operator: Fight for Humanity in cooperation with local actors The Tell Beydar archaeological site, located in the AlHasakah Governorate in North-East Syria, dates to 2600 BCE. The site faces regular threats ranging from illegal excavations and vandalism to climate hazards. Under an ALIPH-supported project implemented by the Swiss NGO Fight for Humanity, a team of local stakeholders implemented emergency protection measures at the historical Tell Beydar palace, such as cleaning and stabilizing the walls and rehabilitating the visitor facilities. The project also strengthened the security of the Rimelan warehouse, where local authorities store more than 20,000 items seized at the border from the looting and illicit trafficking of cultural property in the region. The storage space was refurbished (cleaning, ventilation, plumbing, electricity, and security cameras) so that the artifacts can be better protected in the future.

REHABILITATING IRAQ’S MEMORY: THE MOSUL MUSEUM

A SYMBOL OF UNITY: THE REHABILITATION OF THE MAR BEHNAM MONASTERY IN IRAQ

THE PAST AT THE SERVICE OF THE FUTURE: THE RAQQA MUSEUM

FROM THE ARCHIVES ARTICLES 2020-2021

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PREVENTION OVER CURE: THE MUSEUM OF CIVILIZATION OF CÔTE D’IVOIRE

THE RESTORATION OF YAZIDI HERITAGE: SUPPORTING STABILITY AND THE RETURN OF INHABITANTS TO SINJAR

TIMBUKTU: THE MANUSCRIPTS OF AL-AQIB AND THE PRESERVATION OF KNOWLEDGE

REHABILITATING IRAQ’S MEMORY: THE MOSUL MUSEUM

Sarah Hugounenq

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Article published in 2020

Sarah Hugounenq is a specialist in cultural economy and diplomacy, and heritage policy. For the past ten years, she has written for various publications, including Le Quotidien de l’art, La Gazette Drouot, Le Point, Télérama, Les Echos, and Radio France. She was a student of art history and museology at the Ecole du Louvre, and now, as a specialist of patronage, she teaches museum and monument management in several academic institutions.

With its shaky shots and sloppy framing, the video is far from professional. What it recounts, however, is less an act of amateurism than of full-scale looting. Determined and brazen, the soldiers of lost memory proudly attack statues, friezes, and other pre-Islamic treasures from Nimrud and Hatra, pillaging Parthian and Assyrian masterpieces with their bare hands, bludgeoning their own past to pieces. This occurred in Mosul, in the heart of the plain of ancient Nineveh, in February 2015, under the roof of Iraq’s second richest museum. Visibly riled up by the force of these testimonials to a history much greater than themselves, this punitive expedition was equipped with heavy artillery, jackhammers, and explosives. Pillaged, then used as headquarters for a period, this showcase for Iraqi history was transformed into an inferno: 27,000 books, including 2,500 incunabula, went up in smoke, to say nothing of the architectural damage.

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“We have proposed a workplan all the way to the reopening of the museum and we hope that this meticulous work will bring about the rebirth of this remarkable establishment. Despite the enormous damage that is has suffered, we want to show that by pooling our expertise, and that with work, time and money, nothing is ever impossible.”

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Ariane Thomas, Curator of the Mesopotamian collections at the Musée du Louvre

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Created in response to the massive destruction of cultural heritage in the Middle East, ALIPH seized on the project of the rehabilitation of the Mosul Museum in 2018, at the request of the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH), in partnership with the Musée du Louvre (Paris) and the Smithsonian Institution (Washington). “The priority was on proposing urgent measures to secure the building and collection: stabilizing the floors and gaping roofs that had been struck by bombs, covering the windows with plastic, installing doors, storing works of art to protect against looting, and more. It was necessary to act quickly to save as much as possible,” recalls Corine Wegener, a former U.S. army soldier who now heads the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative. While ALIPH is specialized in quick and efficient intervention, the scope of the damage called for a well-considered and ordered action plan. “This project bears the complexity entailed by a long-term commitment,” says Rosalie Gonzalez, its project manager at ALIPH. “To establish a rigorous methodology, and realistic forms of action given the difficulty of the field, we turned the damage assessment into a comprehensive one-year initial phase.” The Smithsonian focuses in particular on the structural study and the building’s stabilization, sending engineers to the site. The Musée du Louvre, in coordination with teams from the Mosul Museum, is concerned with the collections: conducting inventories, sorting, identifying, and documenting the state of each fragment, comparing inventories (those that didn’t burn up) to determine which works were destroyed, damaged, or stolen, then storing them pending a decision on their future. On the floors blanketed with ruins dating back several millennia, the task is akin to putting together a giant puzzle. “It’s an appalling tragedy,” laments Ariane Thomas, curator of the Mesopotamian collections at the Musée du Louvre.

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Duly noted. The results are positive: the building and a part of the collections have been able to be saved, and the Museum has taken giant steps forward (construction of a new storeroom in Nineveh, training programs for local teams, etc.). By developing a plan and through analysis, these different partners gained valuable time, growing acquainted with a site lacking in everything, from worktables to cramped offices with fickle electricity, where the resurgence of jihadist groups since the 2017 liberation of Mosul has paralyzed staff movements. The infrequent army convoys operating in the city are limited to four or six people, including armed staff. On the premises, the discovery of explosives on the roof and landmines in the Old City made it necessary to call on the army prior to any further action. “In this type of context, you appreciate the role of an organization such as ALIPH, specialized in conflict areas,” Wegener affirms. “They know and grasp the complexities of the field, the uncertainty, the need for flexibility, accompanying us in our mission through their impact in the political and diplomatic spheres.” By bringing together actors who are not always accustomed to collaborating – experts respectively from the cultural, diplomatic, development, and defense fields – ALIPH shows that it is more than a mere financing body. Its fundamental mission to coordinate illustrates the extent to which the rehabilitation of a museum is a multiform project. “Museums are the mirrors of a civilization,” explains Zaid Ghazi Saadallah, director of the Mosul Museum. “They offer the possibility of studying, research, enjoyment. They embody the civilization of a country to tourists, help revive bonds with its past, foster a sense of rootedness. Without them, nations would have no future. For all of these reasons, it is vital to rehabilitate our museum.” In a wounded country, reconstruction will also be achieved through cultural pride – an element more essential than is often thought.

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“Museums are the mirrors of a civilization.” Zaid Ghazi Saadallah, Director of the Mosul Museum

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NB: Since this article was published, the consortium formed by the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH), the Musée du Louvre, the Smithsonian Institution and ALIPH, welcomed a new member: World Monuments Fund, in charge of the rehabilitation of the museum building. The Smithsonian has continued its staff training program, and the Musée du Louvre has continued its artifact restoration activities, including an online training course in conservation for museum staff. ALIPH is funding this next phase of the museum’s rehabilitation.

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“You have to be something of an adventurer to carry off a project like this,” says Guillaume de Beaurepaire, smiling at the memory. A young graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Versailles, this Frenchman was called upon to tackle an extraordinary challenge in 2017: the rehabilitation of the Mar Behnam Mausoleum, a highly symbolic site that had crumbled into ruins on the Nineveh plain. “I wasn’t rebuilding a museum or a 13thcentury historical monument, but a place of spiritual life, a meeting point for a set of populations,” the architect adds. Until 2015, Syriac Christians would spend the day, and sometimes the night here, holding large picnics at what was the most important example of medieval Christian art in Mesopotamia. Muslim populations joined them during festivities, as did Yazidis, for whom the human-made hill against which the tomb of Saint Behnam is built bears the presence of the prophet al-Khidhr. These interfaith gatherings were not the forte of Daesh. After driving out the Ephremite monks, they destroyed the Mausoleum with explosives over one day in April 2015. Following the village’s liberation, in 2016, Mgr Yohanna Petros Mouche, the Syriac Catholic Archbishop of the Mosul diocese, discovered a heap of rubble. “Mar Behnam is a unique monastery, a symbol of coexistence, of brotherhood, in a region with all religions, beliefs, and ethnicities – Muslim, Christian, Kaka’i, and even Yazidis. This is why we wanted to protect this site and rebuild it at all costs,” he reveals.

Sarah Hugounenq

Article published in 2020

A SYMBOL OF UNITY: THE REHABILITATION OF THE MAR BEHNAM MONASTERY IN IRAQ

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The spiritual leader’s wish sparked an operation that mirrored the spirit of the site: emblematic and symbolic of unity among peoples. The restoration team included a French architect; an Iraqi archaeologist, Abdelsalam Seman, a Christian from Qaraqosh; workers from the largely Sunni village of Khidhr, who in 2016 helped clear out and sort 600 m³ of rubble; an Iraqi military unit tasked with removing remaining explosives, and more. “Our organization’s mission is not to protect heritage, but to help Iraqis live in their country with dignity,” explains Margaux Besson of the organization Fraternité en Irak, the group that led the project in the field.

“Daesh wanted to divide the region, set populations against one another. Rebuilding Mar Behnam was symbolic: by helping Christians recover their sanctuary, we were helping everybody and rebuilding unity in Iraq. We kicked off the adventure without a proper budget. What mattered was getting started. ALIPH’s support was decisive.” Margaux Besson, Secretary General, Fraternité en Irak

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The image is strong: reconciliation and stabilization of the region from within. Deeply rooted in its territory, an undertaking such as this one is nevertheless far from local. “Beyond funding, ALIPH was an extraordinary lever for spotlighting this project on the international stage,” Besson analyzes. “Awareness of projects like this is important: they embody peace and humanism.”

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The building project encompassed all of the qualities necessary to attract the Geneva-based foundation. Led by an adaptable humanitarian organization strongly rooted in the field, the project was executed with uncommon speed – in under two years. Despite the delicacy of the interlaced cut stones, the modernity of the geometrical motifs sometimes embellished with prayers and the delicacy of the carved votive plates, a message of appeasement, security, and economic revival defined the project more strongly than its heritage-related aspects. The first religious building that the bishop wished to reconstruct, when the priority all around was placed on residents’ houses, Mar Behnam helped regenerate the activity of local artisans, relegated to begging under Daesh. Through a system of loans and commissions, Fraternité en Irak helped relaunch business for a metalworker, who made the cross at the summit, and a carpenter for the Monastery’s doors. “For these artisans, getting back to work represented more than good fortune, it was a source of pride,” Besson acknowledges. In keeping with projects taken on by ALIPH, the operation’s scope transcended heritage alone and incorporated its environment. This resolve imbued the smallest details. To preserve the soul of a place charged with history and meaning, the Iraqi archaeologist proposed recycling bricks from ruined 19th-century houses in Qaraqosh, where the workers lived, in order to avoid an ordinary, new construction.

THE PAST AT THE SERVICE OF THE FUTURE: THE RAQQA MUSEUM

Marine de Tilly

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Article published in 2020

Marine de Tilly is an independent reporter. She has collaborated with Le Point, Le Figaro Magazine, ELLE and GEO for fifteen years. Since 2012, she has been reporting from the Middle East (Iraq, Syria, Turkey). She is the author of two books: L’homme debout (The Man Standing), the story of the first French Consul in Iraqi Kurdistan (Stock, 2016), and La femme, la vie, la liberté (Women, life, freedom), a portrait of Leïla Mustapha, the current co-mayor of Raqqa (Stock, 2020), which was released just before the COVID-19 pandemic spread through the world.

At the top of the Raqqa Museum’s brand-new staircase, two agitated swallows flap about and crash into a Roman tomb dating back to 2000 BCE. “Whenever birds make an entrance, it’s always a good sign,” declares Leila Mustapha. This is the first time the current co-mayor of the city has returned to the Museum since its rehabilitation was completed. The smell of paint and fresh cement lingers, the plans are still posted out front, and in the garden, a parked piece of heavy machinery seems proud to have served. Inside, display cases and objects are not yet installed, but outside, like an immaculate totem in the midst of the grayness of the ruined city, the Museum stands triumphantly as a harbinger of reconstruction. “Before the war,” Mustapha recalls, “the Museum was a haven of calm and peace. I came here a lot, since I was studying at the university, just next door. I really liked stopping in here, looking out onto the neighborhood frenzy from the window, the antiques souks where merchants from all over the country made a racket selling and haggling over their wares. It was a space for exchange and culture – it was Raqqa.”

Traditional, tribal, and economically prosperous, predominantly Arab but devoid of communitarian, ethnic, or religious tensions, Raqqa was a diverse city. In the teeming shopping streets of its center, Arabs, Kurds, Yazidis, and Armenians mingled with old sheiks and teenagers, alongside engineers and technicians working on the big dam, Turkoman upholsterers, suited Aleppine investors, Bedouins in red keffiyehs, Christians from Nineveh, and Turkish militants – in short, a great melting pot of cultures spanning Syria. “The strength and uniqueness of Raqqa lay in its diversity and the simplicity of the majority’s relationship with the minorities.”

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At the heart of this bustle, as the symbol and crossroads of all of these cultures, was the Museum. Initially located in Arafat Square on the southern edge of the old city district, in 1981 it moved to a former Ottoman government facility on the occasion of the International Congress for the History of Raqqa. Intended to spotlight the city’s importance for the arts and sciences to the world, the Museum’s present building was inaugurated for this event, housing pieces previously held in the National Museum of Aleppo and the National Museum of Damascus (where an entire gallery is devoted to Raqqa), and hailing from excavations conducted throughout the Jazira region by teams from France (1950s), Syria (1970s), and Germany (1980s). The Museum also housed the offices of the General Directorate for Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) for the Raqqa Governorate Division.

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From the time of its opening, Mustapha recalls, “the Museum proudly displayed the heritage it held and the stories it told.” Bearing witness to the city’s past, from prehistoric times to antiquity, the Byzantine period, the Islamic, and even modern periods, “it was a space of cohesion for all Raqqawis,” adds Zyad al Hamad, president of the Raqqa Civil Council’s Archaeological Committee. For this intellectual, born a stone’s throw from the Museum and a specialist in the archaeological sites of the city and region, “Raqqa has always been the cultural capital of Syria, and from its establishment, the Museum was its minister.” Raqqa has long been a city of contact and exchange between three worlds – nomadic herders, sedentary populations, and city-dwellers – as capital under the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, hero of the thousand and one nights; “star of the fertile crescent” with its exceptional location at the “meridian point” of the Euphrates, halfway between its source and its mouth at Shatt alArab; and strategic crossroads of the trade routes connecting Syria to Central Asia, and the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf. “There has always been a profusion of artists, writers and poets here,” al Hamad continues. “It was a hotbed for intellectuals renowned at home and abroad, like the authors Abdul-Salam Ojeili and Ibrahim Khalil, the doctor Fayez al-Fawaz or the astronomer Al-Battani, whose name adorns one of the city’s main junctions. Even the caliph’s wife Zubaidah, so fond of Baghdad, preferred Raqqa – at the time called Rafiqa. So yes, this museum was like a sanctuary for these treasures, the beating heart of knowledge, history, creation, and transmission, both tangible and intangible.”

And then came the great scourge. During the first two years of the Revolution, Raqqa remained silent. Like every other Syrian city, it dreamed of “freedom, justice, and dignity,” the first catchwords displayed on demonstrators’ banners in Deraa, where it all began in March 2011. But walled in by fear until 2013, it didn’t dare speak up. In March 2013, the Free Syrian Army and jihadist factions entered Raqqa, setting off chaos and the first lootings. Despite the DGAM’s protection efforts, a number of pieces were sent to buyers in Turkey via Tell Abyad, while others were abandoned left and right – many were found much later in the city of alTabqah, in particular. In January 2014, Daesh took over as the sole power present in Raqqa, which became the self-proclaimed capital of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The wolves prowled the city, and even before attacking people, they stole, looted, and destroyed symbols.

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Between two technical questions on the electrical system and water infrastructure (she’s an engineer by training), Mustapha commented: “Their sole aim was to obliterate all traces of civilization, so that we would forget, so that history, our history, would fall into oblivion.” During the Daesh siege, in the first museum shop, between two empty, shattered windows, meat was sold. “Under the stairwell and in the garden,” al Hamad recounts, “a household appliance merchant had fully set up shop.” Washing machines, refrigerators, and generators replaced 1000-year-old ceramics. On November 25, 2014, a bomb exploded near the Museum, damaging its southern facade, and on November 14, 2015, an air strike by a Russian bomber literally put a hole in the Museum’s roof. During the last phase of operation “Euphrates Wrath,” at the height of the fighting, Daesh placed explosives throughout the Museum and positioned its snipers on the balconies in ambush. On October 17, 2017, after 134 days of fighting, Raqqa emerged from the jaws of the devil. The Syrian Democratic Forces secured the mine-filled museum, but even once it was cleared, it was dirty, highly damaged, and orphaned of its treasures. Broken and burnt pieces of ancient pottery were piled up like shattered dishes in a corner on the second floor. The young NGO Roya, freshly established in Tell Abyad, entered the scene at that time. One of its founders, Aziz al Mouh, a Raqqa native, returned here a few months after its liberation. “I wanted to do something for my city,” he recalls. “Most non-profits were focused on services, but there was nothing for heritage. I was young, and I felt that my generation had lost interest in heritage, whereas for me, this museum was a key, the heart of our culture, a precious protector, both physical and mental, of the shared history of Raqqa’s Arabs, Kurds, and Armenians.” Al Mouh thus proposed to take charge of the Museum’s cleaning from the Civil Council, already stretched thin between mine clearance and emergency assistance to residents.

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In early December 2017, an initial inventory was conducted by the Authority of Tourism and Protection of Antiquities in Al Jazira Canton: the Museum was still standing but its façade was damaged from impacts, with a great deal of destruction inside. By June 2018, Roya in cooperation with the ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiative managed to undertake a first emergency stabilization of the museum building.

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Major rehabilitation work kicked off in mid-September 2019, led by the French NGO La Guilde Européenne du Raid in cooperation with Roya and the German NGO Impact, with funding from ALIPH. From floors to ceilings, mosaics to staircases, windows to facades, every step of the project involved weekly meetings during which expertise was shared by local actors alongside Roya and the Civil Council’s Archaeological Committee, and with the help of the Guilde’s experts (Djamila Chakour, head of collections at the Institut du Monde Arabe, and Jean-Marc Lalo, an architect specialized in public and cultural spaces), covering architecture as well as preventive conservation.

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At the end of February 2020, everything was completed and the Museum was ready to welcome the collections saved from the war and held by the Civil Council. “Bearing witness to the past,” al Hamad comments, “today this museum holds the promise of the future.” Mustapha concludes, “Look at our response to the Daesh soldiers! We’re here, we haven’t forgotten anything – not our past, not what they’ve done – and now everything will continue. When the display cases and antiquities are reinstalled, we’re going to have a big celebration, and the children of Raqqa will come admire the evidence of their history and their past.”

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NB: Since the article was published, the Principality of Monaco joined ALIPH to support the rehabilitation work of the Raqqa Museum. Now the project has entered a new phase: the reconstitution of part of its collection. The Guilde Européenne du Raid in cooperation with the local NGO Roya are working on the creation of a new permanent exhibition in the Raqqa Museum, and the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Staatliche Museen Berlin, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz are working on the retrospective inventory of the museum’s collection. ALIPH is financing this new stage of the rehabilitation of the museum for a total amount of USD 568 000.

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“Raqqa’s houses have no doors,” goes a popular saying extolling the hospitality of its inhabitants. Since the fighting ended, 85% of them have no walls either. But they have a museum, a heritage, a living memory that no war, no siege, and no atrocity can erase.

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Article published in 2020

PREVENTION OVER CURE: THE MUSEUM OF CIVILIZATION OF CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Sarah Hugounenq Sunday, November 28, 2010. As the second round of presidential election voting came to an end, Côte d’Ivoire retired for the night with two presidents. The political crisis was deep, and violent clashes would go on to rock the country for five months. Against this backdrop, the situation for the Museum of Civilization of Côte d’Ivoire elicited little interest. With its particularly poor location at the entrance of the Plateau district, where the presidential palace is situated, and next to the military headquarters, Côte d’Ivoire’s most important museum was nevertheless a sizeable collateral victim. Looters walked off with 121 works, including sacred objects, royal insignia, ornaments, traditional textiles, and Sénufo and Wè statuettes and masks. Even worse, the entire collection of solid gold objects – 17th century Baoulé pendants, crowns, and fly whisks – were stolen and most likely melted down. “An entire part of Ivorian history was erased, as this material was closely tied with life of our country,” deplores Dr. Silvie Mémel-Kassi, the museum’s director. She continues: “My greatest fear is that history will repeat itself with the elections planned for fall 2020. I have flashbacks to the 2010 scenario, with its electric environment, incendiary speeches, and political turnarounds. In 2018, in front of the museum’s wooden doors, so easy to kick in, I started seeking out ways to forestall another potential crisis.”

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“An entire part of Ivorian history was erased, as this material was closely tied with life of our country.”

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Dr. Silvie Mémel-Kassi, Director of the museum

While the state-run museum lost a portion of its flagship objects, the collection still holds some 16,000 pieces retracing Ivorian artistic history from prehistoric times to today, and draws nearly 100,000 visitors annually, as opposed to a mere 8,000 in 2006 and 30,000 just prior to the post-electoral crisis. Over the course of conversations with professionals from international museums, ALIPH’s name was mentioned to Mémel-Kassi. “I was told that it was a new foundation based in Switzerland. I knew that there were organizations in the field of museums and heritage, but to be honest, it’s hard to gain access to them. I sent a letter without getting my hopes up, and ALIPH got back to me within a few weeks!” All of the ingredients were there – a proven threat, an emergency context, heritage-related significance, the involvement of local actors including the Ministries of Culture and Francophonie – for the Genevabased foundation to step up in the blink of an eye. Well-versed in protection and reconstruction efforts in war-torn Middle Eastern countries, ALIPH took advantage of this operation in West Africa to recall the importance of prevention and responsiveness as the building blocks of its action. The project benefited from the exceptional emergency relief procedure, allowing for the quick unblocking of a budget of up to USD 75,000. The partnership initiated with the Fondation TAPA, an organization providing support for the development of African museums, led to the installation of eight security doors to exhibition galleries and storerooms between August and December 2019.

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But what good is a state-of-the-art lock if inside the works are not conserved in the best possible conditions? “Our wooden cabinets dating to 1942 were infested with xylophagous insects that were contaminating the works,” the director relates. “Without ALIPH, nothing would have changed. Their grant was more than the amount of our annual budget! Their intervention will go down in the annals.” The decrepit storage furniture was removed and are being replaced with more practical and suitable metal shelving and carts. The storerooms were reorganized by object type. Although the COVID-19 crisis has halted operations, this new organization will facilitate the research and digitization projects undertaken each year by 350 international students, including students from the Sorbonne. At a time of debate on the restitution of African heritage held in Europe, the improvement of conservation standards is a substantial argument. The securing of the Museum of Civilization of Côte d’Ivoire has made an impact with its pragmatism, responsiveness, and simplicity – demonstrating that there is no need to launch multimillion-dollar projects to be quickly effective in the field for the long term.

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“Without ALIPH, nothing would have changed. Their grant was more than the amount of our annual budget! Their intervention will go down in the annals.”

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Article published in 2021

THE RESTORATION OF YAZIDI HERITAGE: SUPPORTING STABILITY AND THE RETURN OF INHABITANTS TO SINJAR

Azhar Al-Rubaie Azhar Al-Rubaie is a freelance journalist and researcher from Iraq. His writing focuses on a variety of issues, including politics, health, society, wars, and human rights. He has contributed to VICE, Middle East Eye, Al-Jazeera, Al-Monitor, The New Arab, The Arab Weekly, London School of Economics and more. All photos in this article by Al-Rubaie.

It has been nearly six years since the liberation of the Sinjar District (in of the Nineveh Governorate), putting an end to Daesh’s control and the systematic campaign of destruction waged against the Yazidi community. The terrorist group destroyed temples and religious centers dating to the 12th century, core elements of Yazidi heritage. ALIPH, in cooperation with local organizations, has played a leading role in funding the rehabilitation of this heritage and religious sites so important to Yazidis, particularly the temples of Sheikh Hassan and Sheikh Mand and the shrine of Mam Rashan, located in Sinjar, and the sacred grove of Sheikh Bakr near the village of Bahzani, north-east of Mosul.

The temples of Sheikh Hassan and Sheikh Mand: A light at the end of the tunnel

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Support for the reconstruction of Yazidi temples and mausoleums came in response to the strong demand voiced by local populations upon the liberation of their region from Daesh’s control, on 13 November 2015. The religious rites and public events held by this community are strongly tied to these sanctuaries. The INGO Nadia’s Initiative restored the Sheikh Hassan Temple in the village of Gabara, which had been destroyed by Daesh in July 2015; and the Sheikh Mand Temple in Gedala following its destruction on 14 August 2014. The restoration was done in collaboration with two local civil society organizations: Sanabel Future for Civil Society Development (Sheikh Hassan) and Nabu Organization for Awareness (Sheikh Mand). Salah Hassan, communications coordinator for Nadia’s Initiative, explained that “rehabilitation work on the temples of Sheikh Hassan and Sheikh Mand began in November 2020 and was completed in April 2021, for a total cost of over USD 85,000. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the region’s craggy, difficult landscapes, our efforts were successful. When we opened the two temples, a large number of inhabitants from the region came to the ceremony given its religious importance for the Yazidi community. And they held prayers and religious rituals traditionally practiced there, before Daesh destroyed the two sites.”

“I felt unimaginably happy at seeing the ruined temple rise up once again. This is a clear message to extremist terrorist groups on their failure to annihilate us, despite their many attempts to do so, because we have the will to survive and meet the challenge. I remember the day Daesh destroyed the temple. I was at the refugee camp with my family when we got the news. We cried, and today, we are witnesses to its reconstruction, as it was before.”

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Kernos Qaru Omar, A resident of the village of Gabara

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The Restoration of Yazidi Heritage: Supporting Stability and the Return of Inhabitants to Sinjar

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Kernos Qaru Omar, A resident of the village of Gabara

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“We come to Sheikh Hassan Temple every Wednesday to pray, invoke God and light holy olive oil candles, to promote love and peace among the Iraqi people. We also come to visit nearby graves, to share food with family and friends, and to help each other out. We are hoping that the reconstruction effort will continue in the Sinjar District, and that organizations will provide support to enable us to fully return to how it used to be, and peacefully practice our rituals with our loved ones.”

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Hussein Nayef Khodr, head of the Sheikh Mand Temple, who lives in Gedala, told me that the inhabitants have been gradually returning since the site’s reconstruction: “Dozens of Yazidis have come back to the Sinjar district and are happy to see the temple reopen its doors to visitors and believers.” He added, “Seeing my house destroyed was not as painful for me, as this temple is extremely important for us. At the time when Daesh blew it up, a number of women over the age of 80, unable to flee to the mountains, were hiding in it.”

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Hussein Nayef Khodr, Head of the Sheikh Mand Temple

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“I want the missing people and those captured by Daesh in remote areas to come back. I lost seven members of my family.”

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Reconstruction of the Mam Rashan Shrine: Restoring What Daesh Destroyed

With support from World Monuments Fund (WMF), the Eyzidi Organization for Documentation (EOD), in cooperation with a network of experts, launched a project to research and document the region where the Mam Rashan Shrine is located. This effort began in September 2020 and was completed in October of that year.

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Following a field survey at Mount Sinjar, the need to rebuild the Mam Rashan Shrine became clear to the EOD team. According to Murad, engineer for the shrine’s rehabilitation project, “WMF provided enough support for us to finish all phases of the shrine’s restoration, from research and evaluation to the complete reconstruction of the building. We were fully committed to respecting the religious tradition for the shrine’s reconstruction, as with the shape of the dome and other cultural details. Some essential construction materials were modified, but the shrine’s religious and architectural model did not change. Materials used in times past were produced manually, using lime mortar and plaster, as well as other stones. Because of the progress that has now been made, we can replace some of the materials with others that are of better quality.”

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The reconstruction of the Mam Rashan Shrine is a three-phase process: research and evaluation (1 to 4 months), restoration (5 to 14 months), and completion (15 to 18 months). In the field, the work is being overseen by the engineer Mirza Haju Murad, and the engineer and advisor for religious affairs Khairi Kdi from EOD, which was created in 2014 following the genocide of the Yazidi population. This organization has the mission of documenting acts of genocide and crimes through the colllecting of evidence and encouraging inhabitants to return to Sinjar now that security has been restored.

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The Restoration of Yazidi Heritage: Supporting Stability and the Return of Inhabitants to Sinjar

We met the Yazidi priest Kamal Bedley Juli, head of the Mam Rashan Shrine, who used to walk several kilometers twice a week to visit the site blown up by Daesh in 2014. “The distance never once bothered me, as I was going in service of God and my religion. I am happy to have witnessed the reconstruction of this shrine, and to have contributed to the effort. This shrine was my workplace for 12 years and is a part of me.”

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Kamal Bedley Juli, Head of the Mam Rashan Shrine

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“Sadly, I lost my cousin and my son. I still don’t know what became of a number of my friends. What hurt me the most was seeing the shrine’s explosion, on 16 October 2014, from Mount Sinjar. I was overcome with sadness and shock at seeing this shrine, which we have protected since it was built in 1844, go up in smoke at the hands of Daesh. I thank all of the international organizations who have worked for the reconstruction of destroyed sites. The restoration of holy temples and shrines has been vital in encouraging displaced Yazidis to come back home after being driven out by Daesh. We have also seen that the region’s inhabitants are visiting these holy sites in growing numbers, which makes us happy.”

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Juli didn’t leave the Sinjar region upon its invasion by Daesh on 3 August 2014—quite the opposite: he volunteered to fight the organization, defending his community and places of worship.

The return of the Sheikh Bakr Al Qatani Grove: The farmers are “extremely happy!”

Twelve kilometers north-east of Mosul, we reached the Sheikh Bakr Al Qatani Grove in Baashiqua-Bahzani, a sacred site of 3,000 olive trees that has been revitalized. Daesh had burnt 800 of them and damaged 2,200 in attacks carried out between 2014 and 2016. Olive trees are sacred and precious to Yazidis, who use olive oil in their religious festivals. They are also the source of income for the 50 farmers formerly employed here.

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The Lalesh Cultural and Social Center launched the project to revitalize the Sheikh Bakr Al Qatani Grove. The first step taken was to clean the damaged trees, uprooting burnt ones and replacing them with new trees. A protective barrier was then built to project the grove from animals and vandalism. We met Mumtaz Ibrahim, the agricultural engineer in charge of the Al Qatani Grove, who stated that “the rehabilitation of this grove took place in three phases: first, a 2,400-meter-long barrier was built; next, we installed 200 meters of irrigation canals; and lastly, we planted 1,185 trees.”

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Chamel Sulaiman Murad Lasso, a 52-year-old farmer, spoke with us about the quality of the olive trees that were burnt by Daesh when the group captured the village of Bahzani in 2014: “Bahzani’s olive trees are among the best in the world: they can hold up for more than ten years without losing their characteristics, like the taste and color of their olives. The rehabilitation of the grove and construction of the canal has allowed us to protect the trees and more efficiently irrigate them. It used to take hours to irrigate them, but now it takes just 30 minutes.” Lasso adds, “the restoration of this grove has changed our lives. We are all delighted to see our trees growing once again, and to be able to use more efficient work methods thanks to the efforts of international organizations. These olive trees are part of our identity, and they also imbue our region with beauty.” The project has a budget of USD145,000, covering the work undertaken on the grove, including its rehabilitation in three phases. The trees were planted on 13–25 February 2021, and the barrier was built in September and October 2020. Work on the canals began in March 2021 and is still underway.

“What the damaged olive trees really need is water, but it’ll take them an average of three years to grow.” Mumtaz Ibrahim, Agricultural engineer of the Al Qatani Grove

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The inhabitants of regions liberated from the yoke of Daesh, including those of Sinjar, are continuing this fight to rebuild their destroyed homes and temples, with the help of local and international organizations. Many people are also seeking to return home to these liberated territories and recover a normal life.

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According to Chahd Khoury, coordinator of the Sheikh Bakr Qatani Grove project for the organization Mesopotamia, “Thanks to the funding provided by ALIPH and the Saint Irénée Foundation, two phases of this project are now finished, as well as 60% of the construction of the canals, which will be completed at the end of May 2021. Through this aid, the situation for the farmers has drastically improved, and many of them will benefit from this grove. These trees are their heritage, from one generation to the next.”

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Article published in 2021

TIMBUKTU: THE MANUSCRIPTS OF AL-AQIB AND THE PRESERVATION OF KNOWLEDGE

Dédé Faconam d’Almeida Dédé Faconam d’Almeida is a journalist and a specialist in communications for development in Mali. She collaborates with several local and international media and is passionate about human rights and peacebuilding issues. Since November 2019, she has headed ODEKA, a training and media company. She is also a TV producer and presenter.

Timbuktu. In May, it is hot and the darkness in the manuscript room contrasts with the heat outside. With a smile in his voice, Mohamed El Moktar Cissé describes his treasure, passed down through his family for generations. “We have centuries-old manuscripts here. There is everything from scientific documents to historical accounts and of course thousands of religious books. They are written in several languages and on various materials such as paper, but also leather ... It is our most valuable asset,” proudly explains the son of the Imam of the great hundred-year-old mosque that stands majestically on the square that bears his name: Sankoré. These manuscripts are the soul of this thousand-year-old city, which over time, but especially with all the peoples and knowledge that have crossed through it, has become and remains a significant holder of humanity’s heritage. The whole world learned about these manuscripts after the crisis of 2012 when they almost disappeared. Faced with the destructive intentions of the extremist groups occupying the city, the families holding the precious documents preserved them as best they could. The inhabitants of the “capital of knowledge” saved thousands of them, sometimes even at the risk of losing their own lives.

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“We were seduced by the project’s approach. First of all, they did a thorough investigation of the project even before accepting our request,” recalls Mohamed El Moktar Cissé. “Then we received training in conservation techniques. That changed everything, because before, we had really rudimentary techniques: we put the manuscripts in canteens, we took them out, we spread them out on the tables, and we dusted them. Today we have really evolved,” he rejoices.

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“This collection of manuscripts was being kept in problematic conditions,” explains Maria Luisa Russo, expert in the conservation, management, and enhancement of archives and libraries, and President of AMALIA. With the financial support of ALIPH, her organization implemented the project, “which was for the physical conservation of the manuscripts, for instance, dry cleaning them, storing them in conservation boxes and, in some cases, undertaking small interventions to restore the leaves. The operations were carried out entirely on site. All this was in addition to organizing the room where the works are kept. We also had to work on the physical environment in which the works are conserved. This was all done thanks to the local staff who we trained to carry out this work.”

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In January 2014, a year after the end of the occupation of the city, “Al Aqib,” the old library attached to the Sankoré mosque, was the first to reopen and make the manuscripts available to the public, explains Mohamed El Moktar Cissé, the library’s Director. He remembers that these already weak manuscripts suffered even more from the long months spent locked in the canteens. After a first initiative to “save their lives,” as he says, the family “wrote a letter to the Association Archives Manuscrits et Livres Anciens (AMALIA) for help.” The Director of the library remembers explaining in his letter that the conservation of some 4,000 manuscripts fell under his responsibility.

The conservation project, which ran from 2019 to December 2020, was necessary and offered a twofold challenge: to preserve the content but also the container. As a cultural asset, a manuscript is above all a physical object with all its particularities. “The text can be preserved through digitization. But the physical manuscript can only be preserved if an action is executed on the object itself,” explains Maria Luisa Russo. The AMALIA Association is active mainly in Mali and Italy. The project at Al-Aqib was supported by Mali’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and other focal points have been identified at the Ministry of Culture and other departments to ensure the longevity of the project.

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According to Maria Luisa Russo, working on books, both printed and handwritten, is important for Mali as well as for the rest of the world. Through this project, beyond the conservation of documents for their historical, artistic, and physical aesthetic value, it is a question of “promoting knowledge of this heritage, and not only for academics: it is also essential to transmit the importance of the role of libraries and books to the general public, to contribute to the awakening of civic consciousness. This is why we organize activities to open up these spaces to people who do not normally have access to this knowledge, to books. AMALIA’s mission is to carry out a series of activities to protect heritage and make it accessible to local people.” For Yéhia B., a student from Timbuktu, having access to the manuscripts again “is an incredible opportunity.” Like him, many other Malian and foreign scholars are making the trip to consult or even just see the Timbuktu manuscripts.

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“The oldest of the manuscripts here dates from 1621; it is a work on Islam. Knowing that I will be able to pass it on to others is a blessing.”

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NB: This project ended in March 2021. To continue this initiative, in December 2021, ALIPH financed a new project to protect Malian archives and manuscripts, implemented by AMALIA, in cooperation with the Manuscript Library of Djenné, the Prefecture of Djenné, the Ministry of Culture and Handicrafts, the University of Hamburg, and the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library. This project will improve the inventory, storage, and preventive conservation measures of 6,000 manuscripts (16th to 20th centuries) held by the Djenné Manuscript Library, on behalf of 180 Malian families, as well as 25 linear meters of archives dating from the colonial period (19th and 20th centuries) held by the Prefecture of Djenné.

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Mohamed El Moktar Cissé, Director of Al-Aqib library

THE PEOPLE BEHIND ALIPH

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FOUNDATION BOARD

OUR ETHICS

HOW TO SUPPORT ALIPH

FOUNDATION BOARD

VOTING MEMBERS

Chair: Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan

Vice-Chair: Ms. Bariza Khiari

HE Sheika Hussa Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah (2017-2021)

HE Amb. Martine Schommer

Mr. Jean Claude Gandur

Dr. Mariët Westermann

(Private Donor)

(France)

(Luxembourg)

(Kuwait)

(Private Donor)

(Qualified Personality)

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NON-VOTING MEMBERS

Prof. Marc-André Renold (Switzerland)

Mr. Ernesto Ottone Ramírez (UNESCO)

Vice-Chair: HE Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak

HH Prince Badr Bin Abdullah Bin Farhan Al Saud

Mr. Wen Dayan

Mr. Mehdi Qotbi

Dr. Richard Kurin

Prof. Dr. Markus Hilgert

Mr. Jean-Luc Martinez

Mr. Valéry Freland

(Chair of the Scientific Committee)

(Qualified Personality)

(Executive Director)

T he peo pl e behi nd A LIP H

(Qualified Personality)

(Morocco)

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(China)

(Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)

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(United Arab Emirates)

Scientific Committee 6

Chair: Mr. Jean-Luc Martinez Ambassador-at-large for international cooperation on cultural heritage (France)

Dr. Mounir Bouchenaki Special Advisor to the Director General of UNESCO and ICCROM (Algeria)

Ms. Amel Chabbi Conservation Section Manager, Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)

Dr. Wang Chunfa Director, National Museum of China (China), Dr. Laith Hussein Director, State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (Iraq)

Dr. Patrick Michel Lecturer and Researcher, Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity Sciences, University of Lausanne (Switzerland) Prof. Claudio Parisi Presicce Director, Archaeological and Historical-Artistic Museums (Italy) Prof. Eleanor Robson Professor of Ancient Middle Eastern History, University College London (United Kingdom) Dr. Samuel Sidibe Director General, National Park of Mali (Mali) Dr. Bahija Simou Director, Royal Archives of Morocco (Morocco)

HE Saood Al Hosani Undersecretary, Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) Ms. Irene Braam Executive Director, Bertelsmann Foundation (North America), Inc. (United States) Ms. Deborah Stolk Director, Helicon Conservation Support B.V. (Netherlands) Mr. Valéry Freland (Executive Director)

Audit Committee 6

Chair: Mr. Jeffrey D. Plunkett, J.D. (United States)

Mr. Abderrazak Zouari University Professor and Former Minister of Regional Development (Tunisia)

Ethics, Governance, and Remuneration Committee 6

Chair: Mr. Jean Claude Gandur

Prof. Dr. Markus Hilgert

Prof. Marc-André Renold

Mr. Valéry Freland Executive Director Dr. Maja Kominko Scientific and Programs Director Dr. Andrea Balbo Project Manager Dr. Sandra Bialystok Communications and Partnerships Officer Mr. Othman Boucetta Special Assistant to the Executive Director Ms. Olivia de Dreuzy Special Assistant to the Executive Director Ms. Alexandra Fiebig Project Manager Ms. Rosalie Gonzalez Project Manager Ms. Najet Makhloufa Finance Officer Mr. Laurent Oster Head of Finance and Administration Mr. David Sassine Project Manager Ms. Elsa Urtizverea Project Manager

T he peo pl e behi nd A LIP H

Chair: Dr. Richard Kurin Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-atLarge, Smithsonian (United States)

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Secretariat

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Finance and Development Committee

OUR ETHICS

ALIPH’s work is guided by the following fundamental values: the protection of heritage cultural and religious diversity education and capacity building gender equality social cohesion and peaceful coexistence sustainable local development peace and reconciliation

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international solidarity

Ethics and financing ALIPH takes its responsibility to fund concrete and sustainable projects seriously and the Foundation is committed to integrity and transparency in all financial matters. For these reasons, prior to receiving a contract, all potential grantees are subject to a financial due diligence process carried out by the Foundation. During the implementation of the project, grantees are required to submit regular financial and activity reports.

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HOW TO SUPPORT ALIPH

ALIPH is funded by the contributions of its members – states or private donors – and by partner countries, foundations, and philanthropists. In general, these contributions are not allocated for specific priorities or projects. However, ALIPH can propose a series of projects to potential donors corresponding to their needs and missions. For more information or to plan a meeting to discuss how you or your organization can support ALIPH, contact us at contact@aliph-foundation.org. If you are an individual wishing to make a direct contribution to ALIPH, scan the code below to fill out the online donation form. If you are a tax resident of one of the following countries, you may be eligible for a tax deduction: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.

TO DONATE online and for all other information, either scan the QR code or go to: WWW.ALIPH-FOUNDATION.ORG

Chemin de Balexert 7-9 1219 – Chatelaine – CH +41 22 795 18 00

COLOPHON

Editors: Sandra Bialystok, Valéry Freland Editorial Assistance : Olivia de Dreuzy Graphic design: EyeTalk Communication www.eyetalkcomms.com Translations: Sara Heft, Abir James-Ben Salah Photos: ALIPH would like to thank all its partners for providing photos of their projects. None of these photos may be reused, copied, or distributed without the express permission of the copyright owner. The following photos have been reprinted with the permission of these independent photographers and ALIPH grantees:

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© ALIPH – Alexandra Fiebig Page 9 Clockwise from top left © Centro Latinoamericano del Vitral © ALIPH © Mission archéologique de SaintSyméon © ALIPH - Alexandra Fiebig © EFEO Bourdonneau © Vidrio Museum © Centro Latinoamericano del Vitral © Yemeni Ministry of Culture

Page 29 Clockwise from top left © ALIPH – Sandra Bialystok © ALIPH – Rosalie Gonzalez © ALIPH – Sandra Bialystok © Julien Chanteau © ALIPH – Sandra Bialystok © Dia Mrad © ALIPH – Sandra Bialystok © ALIPH – Sandra Bialystok © Ifpo

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C o lop ho n

Afghanistan: © UNESCO Armenia: © Iconem Bangladesh: CyArk Bosnia & Herzegovina: © Archive, National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Dejan Kulijer Burkina Faso: © ICOM Cambodia: © EFEO [GrezProdCunin] Chile: © Centro Latinoamericano del Vitral Colombia: © Museo del Vidrio Côte d’Ivoire: © Fondation Tapa DRC: © Comité Consultatif National pour la protection des biens culturels en cas de conflit armé Eritrea: © Pontificio Instituto di Archeologia Cristina Ethiopia: © French Embassy in Addis Abiba Georgia: © International National Trusts Organisation (INTO) Indonesia: École française d’ExtrêmeOrient Iraq: © ISMEO Lebanon: © ALIPH Libya: © Mission archéologique française de Libye Mali: © Michele Cattani Mauritania: © CC 3.0 Mozambique: © Archi Media Trust onlus Niger: © Imane-Atarikh Pakistan: © ISMEO Palestine: © Universita degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli Peru: © Dana-Echevarria Somalia: © Horn Heritage On Syrian Heritage: © Valery Sharifulin/ TASS – Getty Images Sudan: © BIEA

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© ALIPH – Sandra Bialystok © ICOM © Fondation Tapa © Archive, National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Damir Šagolj © Consultancy for Conservation and Development © Aga Khan Cultural Services 2020 © Palestinian Museum

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January 2022 Chemin de Balexert 7-9 1219 – Chatelaine – CH +41 22 795 18 00 www.aliph-foundation.org contact@aliph-foundation.org Follow us on:

5 Years of ALIPH!

Articles inside

How to Support ALIPH

The Restoration of Yazidi Heritage: Supporting Stability and the Return of Inhabitants to Sinjar

Timbuktu: The Manuscripts of Al-Aqib and the Preservation of Knowledge

Prevention over Cure: The Museum of Civilization of Côte d’Ivoire

The Past at the Service of the Future: The Raqqa Museum

Rehabilitating Iraq’s Memory: The Mosul Museum

A Symbol of Unity: The Rehabilitation of the Mar Behnam Monastery in Iraq

North-East Syria, Al-Hasakah Governorate: Stabilizing the Site of the Historical Tell Beydar Palace and Improving Conservation Conditions of Artifacts Seized at the Border

A Spotlight on Completed Projects

Five Years of ALIPH

Foreword by Dr. Thomas S. Kaplan, Chair of the ALIPH Foundation Board The ALIPH Way: Five Years and Counting

Shewaki: Conservation of Buddhist-era Built Heritage

Taq Kasra: Emergency Measures to Prevent the Collapse of the Monumental Arch of Ctesiphon

Agadez: Rehabilitation of the Old City, the Pearl of Niger

Focus on Beirut: To the Rescue of Beiruti Heritage

Hatra: Protecting and Restoring a Parthian City Damaged by Daesh