See ➝.
See Nihad Boqai, Returning to Kafr Bir’im (Bethlehem: BADIL, 2006), ➝.
See ➝.
The critical and safe space for such discussions was provided by Campus in Camps, an experimental educational program hosted in Dheisheh Refugee Camp, produced on the occasion of the 5th Riwaq Biennale, based on the pioneering work on heritage by Riwaq, the center for architectural preservation in Ramallah, and enriched by the experiences, comments, and suggestions of Nada Atrash (Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation, Bethlehem).
See ➝.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, was created shortly after UNCCP and UNRWA, and has never applied to Palestinian refugees
Article 11 of the Nara Document on Authenticity states that: “All judgments about values attributed to cultural properties as well as the credibility of related information sources may differ from culture to culture, and even within the same culture. It is thus not possible to base judgments of values and authenticity within fixed criteria. On the contrary, the respect due to all cultures requires that heritage properties must be considered and judged within the cultural contexts to which they belong.”
In the last few years, many groups have succeeded in their political struggles by wielding the power of heritage. Sites in Central America, for example, have been successfully nominated by indigenous communities and environmentalists to stop mining projects. Le Morne Cultural Landscape in Mauritius was recognized for its “exceptional testimony to maroonage or resistance to slavery in terms of the mountain being used as a fortress to shelter escaped slaves,” ➝. Robben Island, South Africa was inscribed as a “witness (to) the triumph of democracy and freedom over oppression and racism,” ➝, as were Australian Convict Sites, “the best surviving examples of large-scale convict transportation and the colonial expansion of European powers through the presence and labor of convicts,” ➝.
See ➝
The State of Palestine, as signatory state party of the heritage convention, has successfully nominated the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Cultural Landscape of Battir, marking a fundamental success in the struggle for the recognition and protection of Palestinian heritage. Moreover, UNESCO has often intervened by denouncing Israel’s actions towards Palestinian heritage.
Refugee Heritage is a project by DAAR, edited and published by e-flux architecture and produced with the support of Campus in Camps, the Foundation for Art Initiatives, the 5th Riwaq Biennale and the Decolonizing Architecture course at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm, Sweden.