2023 UPDATES
CHI Update: Heritage Documentation on the Verge of a Coup D’État
Alia Fares, Archaeologist and ASOR CHI Heritage Consultant/Manager, describes her experiences working with partners in Niger to undertake field training sessions and heritage documentation. While parts of the country are currently insecure, ASOR’s partners remain eager to continue their mission to document, preserve and perpetuate their nation’s diverse and pluralistic heritage.
CHI Update: Discovering Africa’s Heritage in Burkina Faso
Alia Fares, Archaeologist and ASOR CHI Heritage Consultant/Manager, describes her experiences working with partners in Burkina Faso to undertake field training sessions and heritage documentation. While parts of the country are currently insecure, ASOR’s partners remain eager to continue their mission to document, preserve and perpetuate their nation’s diverse and pluralistic heritage.
CHI Update: UNESCO Announces Djerba as a Cultural Heritage Site
ASOR CHI wishes to congratulate our partners in Tunisia for the island of Djerba’s inclusion in UNESCO’s list of world heritage sites. Djerba, located in southern Tunisia, is famous for its religious diversity and natural beauty, which includes numerous Carthaginian and Roman archaeological remains, mosques, churches, and synagogues.
In celebration of this occasion, Safouane Tlili (ASOR Implementing Partner) has curated a selection of his photographs demonstrating the religious and ethnic pluralism enjoyed on the island.
CHI Update: Documenting the Mellahs (Jewish quarters) of Tiznit, Morocco
ASOR implementing partner Ratiba Rigalma presents an introduction to her research on the mellahs of Tiznit, a city on the west coast of the region of Souss-Massa, Morocco. Mellah is Moroccan Arabic for referring to a neighborhood inhabited only by people of Jewish faith. This study is the first to analyze all known examples of known tangible Jewish cultural heritage in the region. Rigalma examines numerous aspects of Jewish daily life through the documentation of homes, synagogues, souks (markets), and cemeteries.
CHI Update: Cultural Property Agreement Implementation Grant (CPAIG) Mini-Grants Program in Libya: Ghat Women’s Union
With support from a grant from the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy to Libya, the Ghat Women’s Union, a civil society association active in southwestern Libya, was able to restore a mudbrick building in the ancient public market and reanimate it as a public museum.
CHI Update: First Visit to a Djerbian Jewish Home—Lasting Impressions
ASOR partner Safouane Tlili describes how his understanding of the Djerbian (Tunisia) Jewish community expanded through cooperative GIS documentation work. In May 2023, Tlili had his first chance to participate in the pilgrimage associated with the Lag B’Omer Festival that is held annually at the Ghriba Synagogue. The next day, Tlili joined an ASOR delegation and partners from all over Tunisia to visit a Jewish family in their home—the first opportunity in Tlili’s life to do so. These types of encounters seldom happen in Djerba, which Tlili describes in detail in this article.
CHI Update: Spring 2023 Tunisian Implementation Tour
In celebration of ASOR’s continued collaboration with partners in North Africa, ASOR organized a Tunisian implementation tour from April 28 – May 10, 2023. Many Tunisian partners who have played prominent roles in the project’s success met with ASOR leaders and CHI staff. The tour also provided an excellent opportunity for in-person training our new partners from Burkina Faso and Niger, building on virtual training that they received before the trip.
UPDATE: Documenting Pluralistic Cultural Heritage in Djerba, Tunisia
Safouane Tlili, Senior Technician for Carthagina and ASOR implementing partner in Tunisia, finds connections to pluralistic societies in Djerba through documenting Ibadi multi-use architecture, urban planning, and defense strategies. Tlili and other ASOR implementing partners collected photographs of religious landmarks (Ibadi, Jewish, Christian, and Amazigh), to create a photographic exhibition. This exhibition coincided with an annual Jewish pilgrimage to Djerba to celebrate the Lag B’Omer Festival.
Click here for the Arabic version (التوثيق الرقمي للتراث الثقافي بالمغرب)
UPDATE: Celebrating Black History Month—Documentation and Outreach Event Commemorating the End of Slavery in Tunisia
On January 23, 1846, Tunisia became the first Arab and Muslim country to ban slavery. On the 177th anniversary of this event, a commemorative day was jointly organized by several ASOR partners in Tunisia: The Heritage Laboratory of The University of Manouba, The Manouba Association for Monuments and Culture, and The Association Carthagina. This article recounts the event and closes off fittingly the celebrations of Black History Month. This collaborative project, supported by an anonymous donor, has provided the opportunity to train members from different minority groups in the Maghreb with a wide number of documentation tools.
UPDATE: Digital Documentation of Cultural Heritage in Morocco Using ASOR CHI Programs
The High Atlas Foundation worked with local partners in Ouarzazate, Taroudant, Tiznit, and Guelmim to celebrate the cultural pluralism that characterizes these regions, which is reflected in their local traditions. During this collaboration, Dr. Ouguinaz trained groups of local youth from the seven communities on open-source technologies and programs offered by ASOR, and used for documenting the diverse cultural heritage of Morocco.
Click here for the Arabic version (التوثيق الرقمي للتراث الثقافي بالمغرب)
UPDATE: Documentation of Jewish Cultural Heritage in Nabeul, Tunisia
Recent actions by local associations and civil society in Nabeul, Tunisia, celebrate the city’s Jewish heritage. Yesmine Abida outlines concrete efforts to preserve and showcase this patrimony.
UPDATE: ASOR Initiatives to Safeguard Cultural Heritage in North Africa
Last year, ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiatives (ASOR CHI) received a major grant from an anonymous donor to document, preserve, and promote the cultural heritage of ethnic and religious minorities in Tunisia and Morocco by focusing on the rich traditions of communal collaboration within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In late 2022, ASOR received a follow-up grant from the anonymous donor to expand the project to Sahel region of Africa (Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso). Many heritage sites in the region face acute threats, which could lead to the loss of an irreplaceable heritage.