The conference, co-organized by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology and the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, will accompany the exhibition, extending the themes of the presentation for the general public. It will consist of two main thematic blocks, specifically designed to bring different levels of knowledge to an interested viewership.
Special session: “Endangered Heritage. Archaeological Research and Conservation in Syria and Iraq”
1 April, 9:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Invited speakers of the first day of the conference will discuss, in English, the current situation of antiquities in Syria and Iraq and international initiatives aiming at safeguarding them. The session is addressed to the general public, media, diplomats and all interested in issues of national heritage. Among the invited speakers are guests from the Syrian Department of Antiquities and Museums, as well as representatives of international organizations working for the monitoring and protection of heritage in the Near East: SHIRIN (Syrian Heritage In Danger: an International Research Initiative and Network), EAMENA (Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa) and Syrian Heritage Archive Project along with Polish researchers involved in the RASHID project (an Iraqi counterpart of SHIRIN).
In the second part of this session, directors of Polish archaeological projects in Syria and Iraq, now suspended, will briefly describe Polish involvement in this field from the beginning of research in the 1950s, referring wherever data are available to the current situation of the sites and the fate of archaeological objects transferred from the excavated sites to local museums.
Session: “Poles in the Near East – archaeological excavations, studies, conservation ”
2–3 April, 9:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Days 2 and 3 of the conference are planned as scientific conference with lectures (in Polish) encompassing the state of research and studies on the material from PCMA excavations in the Near East. The presentations, in the form of articles, can be submitted for publication in a forthcoming Special Studies fascicle of the Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean journal.
CONFERENCE: “Poles in the Near East”
1–3 April 2016, hall 210, Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw Main Campus
