Seven-days long training on the rescue and preservation of museum collections and cultural heritage ended with a simulation of a crises situation in a museum and saving the material that simulate real museum artefacts. The training in Sarajevo gathered 28 participants from 11 countries of the Western Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
«International Training on Disaster Risk Management in Cultural Heritage» is organized by tree sister Foundations, Cultural Heritage without Borders Albania, Cultural Heritage without Borders Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cultural Heritage without Borders Kosovo. The training will be held in these three countries from 7th to 27th November 2016.
Junior heritage and museum professionals that are attending the training are from Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Gorgia, Iran, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey.
AbdelHamid Sayed from the Egyptian Heritage Rescue Foundation, Amra Šarančić Logo and Medina Hadžihasanović Katana from the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, Azra Bečević Šarenkapa from the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lejla Mahmić from the City Museum Zenica, Asja Mandić from the Faculty of Philosophy of University of Sarajevo, as well as Vesna Živković and Marija Aćimović from the Central Institute for Conservation in Belgrade during the training showed the participants different approaches and strategies in preserving and rescuing museum collections in crises situations.
Active role of management of cultural institutions, as well as all individuals engaged in the heritage field in preventing new and reducing current disaster risk is of crucial importance. That role do not start when the crises happens, but much before. The systematic analysis, planning and reducing the exposure of heritage to different hazards is decreasing looses and irreparable damage to cultural heritage.
As part of the programme, participants actively engaged in different simulations of saving the materials that represented realistic museum artefacts in the case of floods, fire, and human neglect. The aim of exercises is for the participants to meet the process before, during and after a crises situation, as well as to learn about different approaches in dealing with museum artefacts damaged by different factors.
The training is part of the regional project Balkan Cultural Aid Response for Emergencies (B+CARE). B+CARE is a platform founded in March 2016, in order to inspire, train and coordinate volunteers on preparing for and assisting in cultural emergencies.
The training is funded by the Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development from the Netherlands and the Government of Sweden.