Between the 21st and 23rd of May 2016 the workshop “Save the Mosaics of Syria” took place in Convento San Nicola, Belmonte in Sabina (RI), CCA’s headquarters.
The event, organized by CCA, was attended by MCC participants from Syria, Mohamad Moutaz Alshaieb, Borhan Al Zraa, Maher Jbaee and Mohammad Kaeed, with the participation of Dr. Komait Abdhalla, former Director of the Scientific Laboratories at the Damascus Citadel, Directorate of Antiquities and Museums of Syria (DGAM). CCA staff also participated to the workshop, taking part to discussions and working groups.
The workshop was chaired by Roberto Nardi and consisted in three days of open discussions, round tables and working groups on the situation of mosaics in Syria. Points on the agenda have been making an estimation of the magnitude and location of mosaic heritage in Syria, as well as establishing current condition and highlighting areas with the highest level of criticality. Objective of the workshop was to define a plan of action and to design a strategy for the conservation of Syrian mosaics.
The contribution of MCC participants to the discussion has been crucial given their first hand experience on the current situation of the country: Borhan Al Zraa and Mohammed Kaeed had just returned from an emergency intervention on the mosaics of Palmyra, while Maher Jbaee was recently involved in a project that saw the creation of a database of Syrian mosaics in situ. The outcome of the workshop is a document that Roberto Nardi will present to the international heritage community during the UNESCO meeting on Syria that will take place in Berlin on the 2th- 4th of June, 2016.