Syria participates in the 9th Nishan Forum on World Civilizations in China

Syria is participating in the sub-forum of museums within the 9th Nishan Forum on World Civilizations, entitled “Museums…a bridge between the past, present and future,” in Shandong Province, China.

During the forum, the curator of the National Museum in Damascus, researcher Dr. Rima Khawam, has presented a lecture entitled “The National Museum in Damascus… The Importance of International Exhibitions,” during which she reviewed the history of Syria and its important geographical position, which is located at the crossroads between the African continent and the European continent.

Khawam explained that Syria is known for being one of the countries in the world that includes a large number of archaeological sites, the number of which exceeds 5,000, including 2,865 registered and documented sites, as well as six sites registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Khawam confirmed that the treasures of the Syrian civilizations are preserved in more than 40 museums throughout the country, and are considered valuable and rare, and include many elements of traditional Syrian culture and overlapping accumulations of cultures that have spread throughout the country.

Khawam touched on the terrorist war that Syria witnessed, which made the Syrian world heritage a target for deliberate destruction, while initiatives are currently being established to restore and preserve Syrian antiquities.

She stressed that preserving cultural heritage is not only important to strengthen Syrian identity, but it also helps in establishing cultural continuity in the development of humanity in addition to being a cultural heritage belonging to the future generations. She pointed to the history of the foundation of the National Museum in Damascus, which dates back to more than 105 years, and came with the aim of stopping the infiltration of antiquities and artifacts out of the country.

She explained that after 2011, the National Museum in Damascus was closed and turned into a large warehouse for antiquities, as work in the museum in times of crisis revolved around the operations of rescuing, protecting, preserving and restoring Syrian museums.

Concerning the importance of international exhibitions, Khawam explained, “In 2020, the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums worked in cooperation with several cultural institutions to hold international exhibitions, including ones that took place in the National Museum of the Sultanate of Oman between the years 2020-2022, and an exhibition in Prague National Museum in 2022.

But the cooperation carried out by the Directorate and the Chinese archaeological authorities in terms of the number of pieces was the greatest, she stated.

She went on to say: “It was agreed to hold six exhibitions in six museums in different Chinese provinces, the first of which was in the Nishan Museum, entitled “Incredible Syria” whose visitors reached one million”, adding that the exhibition continues to be available for visitors at the Guangdong Museum until October 20th.

NR