ICCROM – ATHAR Award for Cultural Heritage
Conservation in the Arab Region
ICCROM – ATHAR
Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation in the Arab Region
Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, member of the Supreme Council, Ruler of Sharjah, the ICCROM-ATHAR Regional Conservation Centre in Sharjah (ICCROM-ATHAR) invites applications for the Arab Region Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation, 2017. This Biennial Award seeks to honour and reward outstanding work that contributes to the protection and vitality of tangible cultural heritage in the Arab world.
The Award reflects ICCROM-ATHAR’s commitment to:
· help safeguard the cultural heritage of the Arab region;
· promote international ethics in the practice of tangible heritage conservation;
· facilitate the trans-frontier exchange of knowledge and experience;
· enhance public awareness and appreciation of cultural heritage;
· encourage excellence through example.
The Award as a whole sponsors the sharing of knowledge and experience for the mutual benefit of the wider community. It recognizes the individuals, teams and organizations responsible for creating successful cultural heritage conservation projects and acknowledges the complex challenges they face. All projects submitted to the Award will be judged on their own merits.
The Award is organized in two stages. The first stage is an open competition resulting in nominations for exemplary projects. Applicants from across the Arab region are invited to submit details of their cultural heritage conservation projects to the ICCROM-ATHAR selection panel. Between eight and 15 nominated projects will be selected that reflect the quality and variety of the applications.
The nominated projects will then be put forward for the second stage of the competition and the Award of the Grand Prix in Cultural Heritage Conservation. Representatives of the Nominated Projects will be invited to present to an independent panel of internationally renowned experts who will select the winner. The nominated projects will be exhibited at the Award event and published by ICCROM.
1. Terms of the Award
The Award will highlight the quality of the conservation process involved, its technical skill and the project’s social impact.
· For the purposes of the Award, tangible cultural heritage is defined broadly:
o As part of an original setting, for example properties or part of a property, existing sites or places such as archaeological sites, built artefacts, historic buildings and heritage landscapes
o As independent objects or artefacts in a collection or part of a collection that may or may not be in their original setting
o As a created context (e.g. museum) constructed to protect, conserve, house or present cultural heritage.
· The protection offered by the project is understood as the effectiveness of the conservation approach in preserving the heritage asset against perceived threats – whether natural or human – for future generations to enjoy. The project might involve rescue and recording techniques, physical consolidation or repair work, restoration and rehabilitation, or rebuilding post-destruction.
· The vitality of the cultural heritage project will be assessed through its impact on the social context; for example, the stakeholders and the communities who identify with or benefit from the heritage, the resource it creates by restoring its use or increasing its public appreciation. The project might involve reprogramming or adaptive reuse, site management strategies, presentation and display, new facilities, buildings or forms of engagement.
2. Award Framework
Stage 1
Nominated projects will be selected by the ICCROM-ATHAR Nominating Panel and their appointed technical experts.
The nominated projects will receive a Certificate of Merit for exemplary achievement in the practice of cultural heritage conservation at the special biennial Award event and exhibition held in Sharjah, UAE.
Stage 2
The representatives of the nominated projects will be invited to attend and present their projects in person for discussion and consideration by the Award panel. All the nominated projects will be on exhibition as part of the Awards event. The Centre will provide travel costs and accommodation.
The Award of the Grand Prix for Cultural Heritage Conservation will be given by the Award Panel, an independent panel of international experts, to the project that demonstrates exceptional achievement in the practice of conservation.
The Certificates of Merit and Grand Prix Award will be given in the name of the submitted project. All parties included on the application form will receive a copy of the Certificate or Award. In addition the Grand Prix Award winning project will receive a trophy and a monetary prize of 20.000 Euros.
3. Timeline
2 December 2017
Entry deadline for the 2017 Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation. Entries will be deemed valid if received by the deadline, eligible and complying with the criteria, submitted using the official entry form and accompanied by the requested documentation in the official format.
28 December 2017
Announcement of the nominated projects eligible for the Grand Prix Award.
24-25 January 2018
Award Event and Exhibition and announcement of Grand Prix Award winner.
4. Eligibility
· The Award is open to heritage conservation projects in the Arab region undertaken by public or private institutions, government departments, public-private partnerships, or private sector initiatives based in the Arab region.
· A submission to the Award can be made by any professional member of the project team if accompanied by consent from the owner and a letter of support from the project client or leader (if they are not the applicant).
· The Award is open to projects of any scale or budget that fulfil the award criteria.
· The work must have been completed within the past three years at the time of submission. Ongoing projects may be submitted if a substantial part of the project has been successfully completed and fulfils the criteria.
· If an entry is not selected as a nominated project, it may be re-submitted again for consideration in future award cycles, with additional documentation.
· The cultural heritage being conserved must be over 50 years old. Similarly, for settlements and landscapes, or newly created cultural contexts, the essential historic elements must be over 50 years old.
5. Criteria for the Award
The Award is for the conservation of tangible cultural heritage of historical, cultural or scientific significance to its local or wider community. The heritage asset may be from any period, of any material and at any scale, from a single object to a building to a complete landscape. All projects will be judged on their own merits with particular attention paid to:
· The appropriateness of the project with regard to the challenges faced by the cultural heritage
· How well the project has been planned and implemented in a conservation process
· The project-specific technical conservation philosophy, the techniques and materials used and the quality of execution
· The project-specific social conservation philosophy, its impact, its sensitivity to original character and use, its positive cultural, environmental or economic benefits to communities, its sustainability.
Heritage assets may include but are not restricted to:
· Architectural or built heritage
· Building additions or alterations
· New design or building projects that help conserve a heritage context
· Cultural landscapes
· Historic parks and gardens
· Archaeological sites
· Display or care of museum objects and collections
· Works of art, religious or symbolic artefacts.
6. Conditions of Entry
1. Entries must follow the submission specification.
2. The same applicant can apply for up to two projects per Award cycle.
3. Entries may be submitted by the registered owner, registered lessee, conservation consultant, architect or other professional involved in the conservation process, preferably throughout the project’s duration.
4. Submission of an entry will be taken to imply granting ICCROM-ATHAR the rights to use, publish, display or communicate all materials and particulars of the successful schemes.
5. Entry materials will not be returned but may be retained in the ICCROM-ATHAR Archive.
6. Each entry must be submitted before the end of the published deadline.
7. Submission Specifications
The material submitted in support of the application must consist of the following and adhere to the specified formats:
· Official entry form
· Project description
· Owner consent
· Letter of support from the client or project leader
· Rights authorization form (copyright for drawings, illustrations and photographs)
· Drawings, A4 format or A3 format
· Photographs including images of before, during and after conservation (JPEG format)
· Additional materials (articles, videos, etc.) may be provided
· All entry documents in PDF / Tiff or JPEG format for the online submission
· All entry documents in PDF / Tiff or JPEG format for the CD/DVD submission
· All submissions must be written in English or Arabic.
Please note:
- All materials/documents must be submitted both in hardcopy and softcopy format (via Email as well as on CDs/DVDs to be sent with the hardcopies).
- Submissions will not be returned but may be retained in the ICCROM – ATHAR archive.
8. Judging Process
The Nominating Panel for the first stage of the Award process will include experts from the ICCROM-ATHAR team and appointed external experts in conservation and cultural heritage. The Nominating Panel will review all eligible applications and submitted work and nominate entries for the final Award that best fulfil the submission criteria.
The judges for the second stage of the Awards process will comprise an independent panel of international experts in the field of conservation and cultural heritage. Nominated applicants will be invited to present their submitted project for discussion to the Awards Panel who will select the final Award winner.
The Nominated and Award winning applicants will be honoured at a special event in Sharjah, UAE.
The decisions of the Nominating and Award Panels are absolute and final. No form of discussion or correspondence relating to any decision will be entered into by ICCROM-ATHAR, members of the Nominating Panel or Award Panel.
6