New Year Greetings from the President of ICOMOS
Happy New Year! I hope you had a relaxing holiday season. I still vividly remember the warm hospitality of all my Argentinian colleagues at the Advisory Committee and Annual General Assembly meetings in Buenos Aires, and would like to transmit this message as the year 2019 starts. You can also download this letter in English, French and Spanish.
Reviewing the past year and looking ahead, I share some views on how we could improve on the strengths of ICOMOS, and invite your thoughts on this also. The last twelve months have been a learning process for me, since the nature and amount of work as president of ICOMOS is vastly different from that of a vice president. I know the organization better now, and its strengths and weaknesses are clearer to me. As I mentioned in Delhi twelve months ago, I believe our organization's strength lies in the high standard of our members』 work to meet local and global needs and in our diversified international membership.
However, ICOMOS is established in only roughly 70% of the countries of the world, and has a weak presence in others. During my journeys in the past 12 months, I visited heritage sites in several countries for the first time, and saw worrisome situations that might have been averted if we could have supported and coordinated the presence of local experts. Concern for authenticity was absent, and, certainly, none of the charters were applicable to these sites.
First, I intend to visit more countries with weak, absent, or newly established National Committees to better understand their needs. Together, we can explore how ICOMOS International can support them, and explore how their unique needs and experiences can contribute to enrich the heritage narrative, not only within ICOMOS, but for the broader heritage field. Please feel free to suggest initiatives in countries that might welcome a visit.
Second; keeping focus on authenticity as we help manage changes in today's conditions is especially relevant. 2019 is the 25th anniversary year of the Nara Document on Authenticity. You may remember the Nara+20 project presented on the 20th anniversary of the Nara Document at the Florence General Assembly in 2014, which revisited the concept of authenticity from social perspectives. However, many areas related to authenticity remain unelaborated, such as urban heritage, where relevant International Scientific Committees』 involvement as well as National Committees』 views seem crucial. There are also several ways we can contextualize that relevance: link it to the reconstruction and recovery project that has been pursued in order to respond to post-trauma situations by the task force and the Working Group with focal points of interested ISCs and NCs since 2015, as well as to the revision of the Heritage Impact Assessment Guidance. I will share more details on the project soon and invite your opinion.
Also the year ahead may be a defining, and certainly, a challenging one for the World Heritage business of ICOMOS. As you know, since early 2000, there has been tension arising from the ICOMOS recommendations to the World Heritage Committee (WHC) and contrary decisions made by the WHC. To avoid worsening tensions, ICOMOS became more proactive and introduced a mechanism, a dialogue process, for direct communications with nominating State Parties since the evaluation cycle 2015/2016. As I mentioned in Buenos Aires, the positive effects of this dialogue process gradually emerged in 2018, evidenced by the improved substance and tone of oral interventions by the WHC and their more nuanced decisions. But there are still other views. For instance, the ambassador of a member state of the WHC told me personally in Manama that 「monopoly is not good」. We should draw our attention to the fact that the WHC in 2018 extended the mandate of its ad hoc working group, which includes 「to Discuss the modalities for the possible use of advisory services of other entities with suitable experience and knowledge, in line with UNESCO’s rules and regulations, and in addition to the current three Advisory Bodies」 (42COM12A). The working group presents its recommendation to the World Heritage Committee in Baku this July 2019, and the Committee may adopt a resolution. Hence, this year is crucial for the World Heritage business of ICOMOS. I believe that the integrity of the work of ICOMOS, as a neutral and independent NGO, is key in ensuring the credibility of the world heritage system. I will commit my best possible efforts to this purpose, closely collaborating with the other advisory bodies, IUCN and ICCROM.
Last, but not least, in presenting this to you, I encourage you to take these ideas further in your NCs, ISCs, or other forums, and discuss how ICOMOS could strengthen its presence through your work. And I very much look forward to your suggestions on how ICOMOS International could achieve a stronger presence in the world.