Preserving the Past, Embracing Change, Honoring Traditions

Managing the tensions between traditions and progress (whatever that means) is a particularly acute issue for the Gulf states, awash with money and keen to welcome the world but concerned to maintain a culture rooted in the last. Zaki Aslan, Professor of Practice at the American University of Sharjah, Advisor (Cultural Heritage), and former Founding Director of ICCROM-Sharjah (the local arm of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property), will discuss the need for adaptation and continuity within cultural practices and identities in the region; he’ll suggest how societies in this part of the world can devise policies and projects to safeguard traditions — from innovative and integrated preservation approaches to the revitalization of inter-generational knowledge.