El HeMo (Ukrainian Heritage Monitoring Lab) es uno de los programas líderes en el estudio del patrimonio cultural ucraniano, actualmente afectado por la guerra en Ucrania. Se originó con el propósito de establecer una red de profesionales y voluntarios del patrimonio que asistieran en su preservación inmediata durante los ataques a infraestructura civil y elementos de valor cultural. Entre las labores realizadas, se encuentra la asistencia en la evacuación y digitalización de colecciones, así como el análisis de los deterioros y la planificación de la recuperación tras el conflicto.

Este informe arroja luz sobre el estado actual del patrimonio cultural de Gaza y constituye también un testimonio de los esfuerzos colectivos y de la colaboración entre Palestina y el Reino Unido que han hecho posible esta evaluación, gracias al apoyo del Fondo de Protección Cultural del British Council, que ha desempeñado un papel fundamental al permitir labores esenciales de documentación y preservación del patrimonio cultural de Gaza en riesgo o dañado. Este documento funciona tanto como recurso como llamado a la acción, inspirando a mantener el apoyo a la preservación del patrimonio cultural como parte esencial de la recuperación y la construcción de la paz en Gaza.

Este artículo analiza el impacto de los conflictos armados en el patrimonio cultural e identidad nacional, estudiando el patrimonio cultural de la franja de Gaza.

Culture is a key factor for a participative and people-centred approach and should be prioritised for the recovery of post-war society. To achieve this, it is important to promptly safeguard cultural heritage, given the current emergency situation in Ukraine, through integrated and cross-sectoral cooperation and multilevel policymaking at the local, national and international levels. ‘Recovery and reconstruction should enable people to connect to their heritage, identity and history’ (UNESCO’s Warsaw Recommendation on Recovery and Reconstruction of Cultural Heritage, 2018). Rights-based approaches, gender, age, disability and diverse cultural perspectives should be integrated into all policies and practices. Cultural heritage is an asset that reaches beyond signatory monuments and sites and that provides resources for (re)construction, social life, continuity, identity and meaning-making.

This work aims to expand and consolidate knowledge on the protection of cultural heritage in the event of armed conflict, a subject that, although it may seem secondary in the context of modern wars that cause constant deaths and forced displacement of populations, is also very sensitive for humanity as a whole.

Statement of the Arab Regional Group at the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) on Palestine and the Current War in Gaza

En este artículo se aborda la situación crítica del patrimonio cultural gazatí un año después del inicio del conflicto.

En este artículo, la investigadora y periodista cultural Fatima Al-Zahraa Sahwil informa de los daños sufridos por ocho museos gazatíes desde el inicio del conflicto en octubre de 2023.

Designed on an experimental basis, this interactive visual is intended to highlight the phenomena that threaten the elements of intangible cultural heritage inscribed on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. By studying the nomination files, UNESCO identified 46 of them which are often referred to as ‘risks’ or ‘threats’. For easier navigation, these phenomena have been grouped into nine categories: the one in the centre (‘Weakened practice and transmission’) corresponds to symptoms of endangered heritage, and the others to underlying factors, threats or risks. Select a ‘threat’ to see how it impacts the related elements; select an element to see which factors affect its viability.

This article studies the role that cultural heritage is playing in the war in Ukraine and identifies some of its threats and vulnerabilities in order to establish a risk context. Throughout it will be shown that, far from considering the destruction of heritage as “collateral damage”, cultural heritage in this war is a war objective, given the symbolic value attributed by the Kremlin to Ukraine's heritage. Thus, its destruction can be exploited by the invading army as part of a hybrid strategy of coercion, domination and destabilization, while the affected communities perceive it as an annihilation aimed at undermining and eliminating their cultural identity.