Christiane Dabdoub Nasser, team Leader for the Regional Monitoring and Support Unit - Euromed Heritage 4, is a dynamic and creative cultural heritage professional specialized in formulating and implementing project strategies with a strong expertise in the fields of research, communication and public relations.
Biography of Mrs. Christiane Dabdoub Nasser
• Christiane Dabdoub Nasser obtained her BA in English literature from the University of Bethlehem in 1980.
• She holds post-graduate degree in French literature from the University of Paris X Nanterre in 1996.
• In 1999, she obtained a Diploma in Event Management from the University of Paris X Nanterre.
• From 2001 to 2008, Christiane Dabdoub Nasser worked at the Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation (CCHP) in Bethlehem, first as Head of International Relations and as Director from April 2007.
Answers of Mrs. Christiane Dabdoub Nasser
1. What are the priorities of Euromed Heritage 4?
The priority of Euromed Heritage 4 is the appropriation of cultural heritage by the populations within Mediterranean countries. This appropriation is to be achieved through education and the promotion of cultural heritage among various target groups such as children and youth, women, local communities, authorities, and so on. It also means that people become aware of their cultural heritage as an opportunity for development. It is important to clarify that Euromed Heritage 4 is the fourth phase within a programme, Euromed Heritage, which was created in 1998. Euromed Heritage was created within the Barcelona Process which involves a partnership in social, cultural and human affairs between the EU member states and the Mediterranean Partner states as a means to enhance ‘mutual understanding and dialogue’ in view to ‘build together an area of peace, security and shared prosperity’. As such, Euromed Heritage is very ambitious, and over the past decade, it has managed to develop an important network of researchers, practitioners – architects, archaeologists, conservators-, policy makers, and representatives of the civil society who, by working together, have brought forward the issue of cultural heritage and its preservation and development. Euromed Heritage 4 comes in this context and follows in the wake of the previous phases and continues and takes further a process which started in 1998.
2. Does your program address “immaterial patrimony” issues, such as dance and traditional music, as is the case currently with the UNESCO?
Euromed Heritage 4 does not address dance and music per se. In fact it addresses the issue of heritage as a broad notion, stressing the links between its tangible and intangible manifestations, or material and immaterial aspects. Its approach underlines the now recognized notion that tangible heritage is a product of the knowledge, skills and know-how of generations of people who have carried it over to the present, and that underlying the physical values lie a whole lot of ‘intangibles’ that are specific to a culture, a region, a group, and that give them ‘meaning’. EH 4 projects reflect this duality of heritage through concrete examples and activities: Montada project tackles the issue of traditional architecture (tangible heritage) as an expression of local skills inherited and developed through the generations: these skills are the intangible aspects of this heritage. The project Remée on water heritage will tackle all the stories and songs that have been transmitted through generations, etc. Under Euromed Heritage II, the project Mediterranean Voices collected the stories and memories of neighbourhood communities and initiated a discussion on the place of intangible heritage in contemporary urban life.
3. Noting that in some Southern Mediterranean countries, old buildings and archeological sites are often neglected and sometimes razed, which strategy do you use to strengthen involvement of state officials, as key players for protecting the national patrimony?
One of the fortes of Euromed Heritage 4 is its institutional support to authorities in Mediterranean partner countries and the sharing in an exercise that could lead to upgrading their legal and institutional frameworks. One should not forget that EH 4 was designed based on a document entitled Strategy for the development of Euro-Mediterranean cultural heritage: priorities from Mediterranean countries (2007-2013) that was the outcome of a consultation process with the participation of, at the time, 10 Mediterranean partner countries, and which was endorsed by the Ministries of Culture. It therefore met specific needs articulated in this document. In order to meet these needs, a methodology was adopted to address the issue of legislation and the institutions, taking into account new ideas and techniques and the specific needs of each Mediterranean partner country. This methodology operates at many levels and dialogue and exchange are its fundamentals: I believe this is very important to set the ground for change. Second, we have identified areas of expertise that need addressing and developed accordingly cultural policy exchange seminars. Third, we are building on the achievements of previous European co-operation programmes in the Mediterranean area, and not just Euromed Heritage, and we are engaging the contributions of representatives of international organizations specialized in the field of cultural heritage such as UNESCO (United Nations Educational Social and Cultural Organisation), ICCROM (International Council for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments) and the Council of Europe among others. Finally, and most importantly, we keep in mind that the implementation of institutional and legislative strengthening actions is an on-going process, whose results come to light only in the medium term. The important point is to put things in movement.
4. To what extent poverty and political instability can have influence on the dissemination of culture?
This a very complex issue that I will answer from two perspectives. Typically, poverty and political instability can be deterrents to the dissemination of culture because, for one thing, they can be factors for a low level of education among populations and hence a low level of awareness of the value of culture among them; also, in areas of the world plagued by either poverty or political instability, or both as the case might be, priorities tend to be focused on other areas: the conflict or even sheer survival. Both situations are intertwined and reinforce each other and finding solutions to alleviate both requires an alleviation of the causes, and only then it becomes possible to take up the issue of cultural heritage seriously. During the last decades, cultural heritage has proved to be a potent vehicle for economic development, particularly at the local level. The most visible aspect of this development is tourism, but there are also urban rehabilitation projects that create jobs, activate local industries and improve the quality of life of local residents. Improved living conditions bring about stability
5. Why do some European countries keep artistic and archeological pieces taken from colonized countries and then call for culture protection?
Protection of culture is in the air. In general, we can say that there is consensus on an international level on the absolute need to protect the cultural heritage of humanity. The United Nations, and more specifically UNESCO, but also other international organizations, have done considerable work in this direction, and many countries, notably in Europe, have issued laws on this specific issue. The fact that European (and other) countries have partaken in the illegal acquisition of cultural heritage from countries they had controlled is part of history and it definitely needs to be addressed. However, the return or restitution of cultural property to the countries of origin constitutes an area in which international relations are drawn in. A few examples of international conventions that have been put in place towards that purpose: the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (the Hague Convention), 1954. The Convention provides for a system of general and special protection of cultural property in situations of international and non-international armed conflict. Cultural property for this purpose is defined as "movable and immovable property of great importance to the cultural heritage of every people". The Convention is supplemented by two Protocols – the first adopted at the same time as the Convention, in 1954 (the First Protocol) and the second adopted in 1999 (the Second Protocol). Unfortunately, many countries, including countries within the Mediterranean region, have refused to ratify this convention. There are also the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Return of Cultural Property to its Country of Origin, 1978, and the UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects in 1998. In practice, the situation is much more complicated and restitution is not that obvious: the claimant country has to be dealing with a counterpart government that has legislation concerning the issue or has ratified a convention. And of course, a whole diplomatic process needs to be initiated. However, it remains the responsibility of each claimant country to lean on these tools and reclaim its cultural property: it doesn’t happen automatically and I’m sure that it involves an arduous and lengthy process.
6. Why the Western idea of the culture in the Maghreb countries is limited to G’nanous and couscous, whereas this Arab-Muslim civilization, which became a universal heritage, was inspired by Ibn Arabi, Averroes (Ibn Rochd), Avicenna (Ibn Sina), Ibn Khaldoun, among many others?
It is all a matter of education and awareness, of getting to know the ‘other’, and this requires input, time and willingness, and they are not obvious to attain. However, many Westerners do not have such a simplistic and limited view of the culture of the Maghreb and that is if they tend to go back to this region is obviously because they want to learn more about it. On the other hand, the countries of the Maghreb have started promoting more and more their multi-layered culture: Phoenician, Roman, Christian, Arab-Muslim, and to a lesser extent, Amazigh, and so on. And the field is still rife for more intensive actions in this direction. However, I believe that there is still much work to be done, both among the peoples of the Maghreb so that they learn more about their culture and replenish their sense of pride in it, but also for the benefit of Westerners. If one just considers Euromed Heritage over the last ten years, one can appreciate the amount of work that has been accomplished towards promoting the complexity of this culture. Mediterranean Voices (Euromed Heritage II) is one good example: through peoples’ stories, memories, photos, which were brought to the public domain through a multi-media and multi-lingual website, it has unraveled a whole world for the browser to discover, and created a new awareness of the communities that inhabit Mediterranean cities. And there are other programmes around. But as I said, there is always more that one can do...
7. Who is responsible for the degradation of culture and stealing of heritage in the Arab world?
The past has been unfair to many countries, which have lost a substantial amount of their national treasures to wars, occupations, looting, but there are international conventions and structures that governments can use in order to secure restitution. But we are in the present, and today much of the stealing and trafficking is done by locals. I am one of those who believe that every country is responsible for the preservation of its own heritage and for protecting it against illegal traffic and theft. I believe that it is the responsibility of every authority to put all the necessary resources –human, financial, institutional and legal- to fight the plight of trafficking of cultural property. Many opportunities for improving capacities and services are out there for the taking: financial, technical, legal, and there is room for cooperation with international agencies to fight trafficking or even preempt it.
8. Can cultural dialogue between the West and the East be fruitful without having to look again into history, and without reaching a real reconciliation between both sides? What are the concessions required from both sides to reach such a dialogue and such reconciliation?
This question solicits answer that could fill a whole volume! Looking into history for a better understanding of the past in order to inform the present is useful and even necessary for those with good intentions. However, although history repeats itself, there are always those who do not intend to learn from it! I personally tend to be careful about using words such as dialogue and reconciliation. At a time when the international discourse is inspired by Huntington’s theory of the clash of civilizations, these words tend to feed into and be fed by this theory. In other words, dialogue implies differences and reconciliation implies clash. I much prefer to use exchange and learning: I believe in action that is based on exchange and is conducive to learning.
