Some of these sites like Old Souq Al Arsa in Sharjah; some restored sites in Al Bastakiya, Bur Dubai; an Iron Age II settlement at Muweilah; Jebel Buhais, near Al Dhaid; Hili Archaeology Park, Al Ain; and Al Hisn Citadel Fort in Abu Dhabi speak of the UAE's rich heritage and culture.

Although the authorities are doing their best to protect and restore heritage sites and are carrying out excavations to dig deep into history, there is still a need to do much more to meet international standards of restoration of heritage sites.

Dr Samia Rab, associate professor of Architecture and Heritage Management at the American University of Sharjah (AUS), said: "We need to ensure that restoration work at heritage sites is carried out by well-trained professionals and not by unskilled labourers who have little training to do this important work."

She urged proper education and training of people who can be employed to restore and manage heritage and archaeological sites, since management of heritage sites is the key to get them enlisted on the world heritage sites'list of international bodies like Unesco or World Heritage Management.

"If restoration work at important heritage sites is pursued without regard for international standards, these sites may not be enlisted as approved heritage sites by international agencies," she said.

Samia said since heritage management in the UAE is geared towards tourism, the authorities need to keep in mind that tourists around the world check whether a site is on the world heritage list or not before visiting.

"If we continue to completely reconstruct, rather than authentically restore significant heritage sites, we are in fact making a 'mockery of heritage', and soon people will lose interest in visiting these sites."

There are still a number of unexplored sites in the UAE that need to be restored in accordance with international standards of restoration.

A lot of money and resources are being invested in the UAE to restore and manage heritage sites, but the level of expertise needed for careful and authentic restoration work is still not available, which is endangering many heritage resources in the country.

An emerging field

Heritage resources management is an emerging field that involves identifying documenting, interpreting, safeguarding and preparing for public viewing and understanding the world's heritage resources.

The art and science of conservation of cultural and historical resources developed considerably in the 19th and 20th centuries. At the beginning of 21st century, the rate of development gained significant momentum and successful initiatives illustrate links to many distinct disciplines.

The field of heritage resources management draws upon disciplines affiliated with natural sciences, arts and humanities, architecture and design.

Samia is the coordinator for the new graduation programme in heritage resource management that is going to be launched at the AUS with the start of a new academic year in September this year. The first such programme in the region, initially, it will be a one-year graduate certificate programme, which may lead to a master's degree programme.

She said: "Currently, due to a lack of trained local and regional professionals, most excavations are conducted by foreign archaeological teams. They interpret these sites from their perspective.

"Since history is all about interpretation, UAE nationals have to be trained so that they can document and interpret their heritage and have a historical understanding of their origins from their own perspective and with a scientific knowledge of their region's past.

"If the UAE authorities want their heritage to be internationally known, they will have to take very seriously the issue of training people to help them manage these resources according to international standards."

She said there is a regional need to launch heritage resources management courses in universities because around one third of the world's archaeological heritage is found in this region, from Egypt to Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.

Courses in the certificate programme will not only train fresh graduates, but also educate professionals already involved in such projects about international standards of restoration.

Although more students are interested in getting popular educational degrees, which can get them good jobs, she asserted there is now a lot of scope in this field. There will be a massive reconstruction and restoration of monuments that have been damaged during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The AUS is the first university in the region to offer this programme.

Diagnosing and protecting* The field of heritage resource management includes four interlinked initiatives.

* Documentation: establishing the relation between an object and its environment and developing profile of heritage resources.

* Diagnosis: defining the health of an object.

* Intervention: protection, maintenance and restoration.

* Presentation: ecological and cultural display, exhibition, museum design and tourism promotion.

©Gulf News

 

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