The "Protecting our Heritage" initiative continues with a series of exciting new events. This series of events, supported by UNESCO and organized by the Washington cluster of the Network of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) under the 2016 Presidency of the Italian Cultural Institute, is aimed at raising awareness of the need to act against the growing threats posed to cultural heritage by wars, international terrorism, criminal organizations, climate change and, more simply, neglect.

Last night, the Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Washington hosted the 13th event of the series, featuring Christian Greco, Director of the Museo Egizio in Turin, who spoke about the "Museums' Diplomacy – From hieroglyphs to new museum languages and joint research." The conference highlighted how the Museum involved local communities, and other stakeholders, to help make the cultural heritage of past civilizations relevant to our identity today. During this event, the "1906-2016, the Discovery of the Tomb of Kha" exhibition was inaugurated, with period photos with renowned Italian archaeologist Ernesto Schiaparelli, who was also Director of the Museum before Greco.

On May 27, also at the Italian Embassy, Alessandro Bianchi, an expert from the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, will hold a conference on what can be done in areas of conflict to save cultural heritage. During the event, Aparna Tandon, from ICCROM, the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property, will present "First Aid to Cultural Heritage in Time of Crisis," an innovative international training which will be held in Washington DC with the prestigious Smithsonian Institution and many other experts from all over the world.

On June 8 and 9, two events will be held by SPAIN arts & culture, the official program of the Embassy of Spain in the U.S.

On June 8, the conference titled "Safeguarding our Cultural Heritage: the Challenges of International Cooperation in a Global World", will bring together the expertise of multilateral, American, and European organizations to discuss the most up-to-date problems and needs, what challenges the Special Law Enforcement Agencies face regarding their duties towards cultural heritage protection, the role of non-governmental organizations and how countries deal with these issues, both individually and collectively. Moderated by Professor Mark V. Vlasic, Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University, it will gather experts such as Commander Alberto Rodao, Spanish Guardia Civil; Deputy Assistant Director Raymond Villanueva, US Homeland Security Investigations; Tess Davies, from traffickingculture.org and Affiliate Researcher in the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research; Guido Licciardi, Senior Urban Development Specialist from The World Bank, and representatives from the Spanish Agency for the International Cooperation for Development or the FBI, among others.

On June 9, "Digital Media and the Challenge of Safeguarding Cultural Heritage: New Ways of Knowing About Our Past", moderated by Dr. Alexander Nagel, Research Associate at the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History and specialist on the antiquities of Yemen, Greece, Iran and the Middle East, will focus on the use of new technologies to understand and protect the cultural heritage of the past, with the participation of representatives of CIT corporations as IMAGEEN (Spain), ETT Solutions (Italy), AHE (United Kingdom) and NAVTECA (United States).

In addition, the EU Delegation in Washington is currently hosting "War & Art: Destruction and Protection of Italian Cultural Heritage during World War I," a photographic exhibition resulting from a collaboration with the Museo Centrale del Risorgimento in Rome and which highlights the commitment of Italians and the Allies alike to protecting Italy's cultural heritage during World War I.

"Protecting our Heritage is a fascinating journey of discovery of the meaning of our roots. A growing number of museums, universities, research centers, international organizations, businesses and private companies are taking part in it", commented the Ambassador of Italy to Washington, Armando Varricchio. "The program emphasizes the importance of our past, but looks to the future with decision, to what more the international community can do, with our best collaborative efforts. Yesterday's event with Christian Greco was a shining example of this: the Museo Egizio of Turin, home to the second largest collection of Egyptian antiquities worldwide after that of Cairo and which has recently been completely renovated, is now a stunning model in the use of new museum languages and in the implementation of innovative research and informational projects."

For more information on "Protecting our Heritage", please visit: http://washington-dc.eunic-online.eu/?q=heritage

Source: Italian Embassy in the USA