Expert's meeting on museum theft response plans

Expert Meeting
Museum Theft Response Plan
Department of Antiquities
Sultan Al- Atrash Street, N 21
Al- Radhwan, Zahran area
Amman, Jordan
June 12-13-2011

In light with the recent civil unrest in the Arab States, museum
directors and museum security experts especially from Arab countries
are invited to participate in a two-day workshop dedicated to a
Museum Theft Response Plan. This workshop is organized under the
framework of the Culture Programme funded by the European
Commission: "Witness the Past: Education Programs for the Public and
Culture Heritage Professionals on Illicit Trafficking of
Antiquities"

International experts on museum security will present their approach
to risk management and theft response plans, in order to foster
co-ordinated actions to prevent theft, develop adequate response,
and to promote effective recovery actions.

Strategic plans for museums to protect their collections against
various kinds of risks based on clearly defined priorities in the
case of fire, accidents, illegal activities, natural disasters,
armed conflicts etc, such as the ICOM Handbook on Emergency
Procedures or the Museum Emergency Plan (MEP) will be examined and
evaluated critically.

It is directed specifically towards museum professionals responsible
for security issues in museums and sites particularly from the Arab
region and other interested parties. The meeting will be held in
English and Arabic, with simultaneous translation in both languages
to be provided and participants must register in order to attend. It
will consist of lectures and round table discussions. The workshop's
goal is to publish in Arabic a poster-like theft response plan for
museums, cultural institutions, and private collections.

Session Topics to be addressed:

    I.  International agreements on the fight against illicit
        trafficking in cultural property:

            UNESCO 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and
            Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of
            Ownership of Cultural Property

            Role of ICOM's Code of Professional Ethics in the fight
            against illicit trafficking in cultural property.

            Other operational tools such as the Museum Emergency
            Plan (MEP), the ICOM Handbook on Emergency Procedures

    II. Documentation and inventory tools for collections with
        emphasis on UNESCO's guide to museum documentation system,
        Object-ID, harmonization of existing systems and development
        of a common system of identifying cultural property.

    III. Security plans and response in case of theft:

            Training of museum personnel on security issues for
            museums.

            Establishing a network of stakeholders, ministries,
            law-enforcement agencies (e.g. police, customs),
            regional and global international organizations.

    IV.  Case studies of existing response plans developed and
        implemented in various parts of the world

    V.  Round Table Discussions on risk management and the theft
        response planning

For more information please contact one of the Co-organisers of the
project responsible for the event:

    Dr. Vasilike Argyropoulos
    Project Co-ordinator, TEI of Athens
    bessie<-a t->teiath< . >gr

    Prof. Dr. Stefan Simon, Director
    Rathgen Research Laboratory
    National Museums Berlin, Germany
    s.simon<-a t->smb< . >spk-berlin< . >de

    Mr. Christian Manhart
    Chief Section of Museums and Cultural Objects, UNESCO
    c.manhart<-a t->unesco< . >org

    Prof. Dr. Ziad al Sa'ad
    Director-General, DOA Jordan
    zalsaad<-a t->gmail< . >com


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 24:51
                  Distributed: Thursday, May 12, 2011
                       Message Id: cdl-24-51-012
                                  ***