MiReKoc Seminar Series of Spring 2020 continues with Diana Miznazi’s presentation on ‘Conceiving the past and reconstructing for future. A case study from Aleppo, Syria’. The presentation and discussion will take place on Wednesday, February 26th, 2020, at 12:00, in SOS143. Registration is required for participants not affiliated with Koç University to mirekoc@ku.edu.tr

Title: Conceiving the past and reconstructing for future. A case study from Aleppo, Syria

Abstract: Aleppo, the second largest city in Syria, is known to be the oldest continuously inhabited urban space in the world. It was home to a population of almost 3 million. The majority of the population was Sunni-Muslims with significant numbers of Christians and small numbers of Shi’a-Muslims. The major ethnic group was Arab, with minorities of Kurd, Turkoman and Armenian. Aleppo has suffered great damage during the conflict exceeding individual landmarks to include complete neighborhoods.  The city also witnessed critical outflows of population until the complete deportation of the eastern areas’ population in late 2016.  Studies addressing different post-conflict contexts emphasize the fact that reconstruction should start with addressing the root causes of the conflict and involving the different stakeholders (especially the local population) in its planning and application for such a process to be sustainable. Although no comprehensive plans for post-conflict reconstruction exist, and the conflict has not yet been resolved, reconstruction of cultural heritage has started in Syria and in Aleppo. This presentation aims to discuss the critical side of such reconstruction efforts and how they could affect the society of Aleppo, especially those who were evicted from the city in 2016.

Short-Bio: Coordinator of the Stewards of Cultural Heritage (SoCH) project, German Archaeological Institute – Istanbul Diana Miznazi is an architect from Aleppo, Syria. She graduated with an MSc in Conservation Studies from University College London (UCL) –Qatar branch in 2015. Soon after, she was employed by the UNESCO office for GCC and Yemen in Doha, working specifically on the Safeguarding Yemeni Cultural Heritage project. In June 2016, Miznazi joined the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) – Istanbul’s team as the coordinator of the Stewards of Cultural Heritage (SoCH) project. She has been simultaneously working on developing her PhD research project on conflict and cultural heritage within the Syrian context.The project Stewards of Cultural Heritage, a part of the “Stunde Null” project of the Archaeological Heritage Network and supported by the Federal Foreign Office and the Gerda Henkel Foundation, was conceived to help safeguard Syrian cultural heritage through capacity building with Syrian heritage specialists who currently reside in Turkey. SoCH has been awarded one of the Grand Prix of the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards 2019.