ICOM ?Disaster Relief for Museums? Task Force / Chair: Thomas Schuler
First Report on Museums in Georgia (August 15)

At least 4 of the 26 museums situated in the three battle zones of the  
Georgian conflict have been badly affected. Please, keep in mind that  
- due to the circumstances - all information are only reported and not  
proven.

SOUTH OSSETIA

There are two museums around Tskhinvali:

>> Ivane Machabeli House Museum, in the village Tamarasheni
Village is reported to be destroyed; state of the museum and its  
collections are unknown; staff had been evacuated; museums director is  
alive.

>> Didi Liakhvi Gorge Museum-Reserve, in the villages Kekhvi and Kurta
Villages are reported to be destroyed; state of the museum is unknown;  
part of the collections may be saved; staff had been evacuated;  
museums director is alive.

SHIDA KARTLI (region south of South Ossetia)

Its capital Gori has three museums. All 37 staff members and their  
families had been evacuated and stay in Tbilisi.
>>  Sergi Makalatia Gori Historical and Ethnographical Museum
       The museum has probably damaged by bombs
>>  Ioseb Stalin State Museum
       The museum is damaged (all windows broken)
>>  Iakob Gogebashvili House-museum

In the Gori region there are 7 museums, among them the important
>>  Uplistsikhe Historical & Architectural Museum-Reserve which is not damaged.
The other museums were not damaged during the battles but might be  
affected by raids after the official armistice.

SAMEGRELO ? ZEMO SVANTI (Region next to Abkhazia)

Zugdidi (regional capital)
>> Dadiani Palaces Historical and Architectural Museum: no damage reported

Senaki
>> Zhiuli Shartava Senaki Local Museum: not damaged
>> Senaki Picture Gallery: slightly damaged by explosions in the city

Poti (Black Sea side city)
>> Poti Colchian Culture Museum: no damage reported

In other parts of the region are 11 museums: no damage reported

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ICOM ACTIVITIES

ICOM has reacted on three levels.

1) On August 11, ICOM has written a letter of concern to ICOM Georgia  
and the Georgian Museums Association, in which they were informed that  
the Disaster Relief Task Force is on pre alert and ready to assist if  
necessary.
BLUE SHIELD (ANCBS) has published a statement, too. It reminds that  
?both Georgia and Russia are State Parties to the Hague Convention and  
its First Protocol and are obliged to implement its obligations?.

2) Some National Committees (e.G. Poland, Germany and Turkey) have  
sent letters of concern and support to the ICOM National Committee of  
Georgia and urged ICOM and BLUE SHIELD to take action.

3) ?Disaster Relief for Museums? Task Force is the ICOM body in charge  
of such situations. (More on DRFM and the new Task Force you will find  
another message to ICOM-L.)

Our Task Force was called on pre alert on Monday morning, August 11.
In a first step we attempt to collect and check the contact data of  
all potential partners (ICOM National Committee, National Association  
of Museums, Ministry of Culture, Blue Shield partners etc.) as well as  
to identify all museums situated in the affected region. We  
distributed our first report containing this information late on the  
evening of August 11.

This quick reaction was mainly due to a very good website of ICOM  
Georgia and the Georgian Association of Museums.  
<http://www.georgianmuseums.ge>
Probably due to cyber attacks this website was not permanently  
available; therefore our Task Force has saved the pages containing the  
detailed information on museums on another server.

We have contacted ICOM Georgia as well as ICOM Russia several times in  
order to update our information. We thank ICOM Georgia for their very  
quick and precise reactions.

We also continue to share all our information within the Blue Shield  
network (archives, libraries, monuments) and the new Blue Shield  
(ANCBS) office in The Hague.

As soon as we have precise information we will share it with all ICOM  
members and call for support for museums in South Ossetia and Gori. We  
will maintain a special temporary domain you may bookmark and visit  
later on: <http://georgia.drfm.info>

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

WHAT CAN WE DO?

During the past several days many concerned ICOM members have asked  
our Task Force : ?What can we do??

Well, you can do something! Close public attention is a very good  
shield for cultural heritage.  No nation wants their military forces  
to be publicly blamed for damage to cultural property or not  
preventing its looting.

As an ICOM member you may show your international solidarity by  
sending messages of concern and support to your colleagues ? and later  
on you may participate in ICOM relief activities our Task Force may  
propose (see later on <http://georgia.drfm.info>).

While warfare has historically threatened museums and other cultural  
property, the past twenty years have shown that damage from active  
combat is less a threat than the aftermath of conflict, when damage  
has most often been caused by looting, public disorder, and lack of  
trained staff. We do not yet know the exact situation of the museums  
in and around Gori, but it is obvious that they remained unprotected  
for several days after the battle.

ICOM has very few means to intervene as long as conflict is ongoing.  
But ICOM as an international organisation (together with BLUE SHIELD)  
can help to prevent and reduce unnecessary post battle damage. A  
national committee may help by drawing the attention of its national  
military to the protection of cultural heritage in post conflict  
situations, whether they act abroad as an occupying force or as a  
peacekeeping mission.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

WEBLINKS

General:
Disaster Relief for Museums website: <http://icom.museum/disaster_relief/>
Task Force members: <http://icom.museum/task_disaster.html>
Reporting form for damaged museums:  
<http://icom.museum/disaster_relief/form.html>

Georgia:
Georgian museums: <http://www.georgianmuseums.ge>
DRFM special page: <http://georgia.drfm.info>

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