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June 8, 2016 Zoya Masoud doesn't stand still. She has just given a guided tour on the Museumsinsel (Museum Island). Now she is whirling through the rooms of the Syrian Heritage Archive Project in Berlin. Here, where museum staff and archaeologists evaluate photos, archival material, eyewitness reports, and research data, she too is working to preserve knowledge of Syria's cultural heritage. Only a week previously, Masoud had been at the German Foreign Office to present her vision of how to reconstruct her native country.

"It was intense," recalls the 28-year-old Syrian. "We only had two days – and hardly any time for a break." "We" were young trainees from Syria and other countries such as India, Colombia, Germany, and France. They prepared their declaration at a Young Experts Forum held by the German UNESCO Commission and the German Foreign Office in advance of the international conference of experts, which took place on June 2-4, 2016. "The goal was to develop what we felt were important principles for the protection of cultural heritage and to introduce them at the conference."

Restoration as an Opportunity

Liberated from ISIS in March 2016, Palmyra in its partially destroyed state presents the experts with some of the hurdles that also exist in the rest of the country: Should the blown-up temple be left in that state as a reminder of recent events, or should it be built anew as a means of denying ISIS the right to define history? How do you even begin to reconstruct buildings that have undergone a variety of restoration work over the decades, especially when infrastructure and resources are in short supply?

For Zoya Masoud, these are urgent questions. The young architect, who studied in Syria and Germany, and has carried out restoration work in the historic quarter of Damascus, is not just concerned with the right way of dealing with ruins. She sees measures for the protection of cultural sites rather as a contribution to the people who live near them: "In my opinion, the UNESCO action catalogue of 2014 has not explicitly taken local communities at these places into account. In the Young Experts Forum, we therefore proposed using targeted mentoring to share knowledge of cultural property protection between established experts and young professionals as well as between local and international initiatives. In addition, there must be special campaigns for children, women, and other marginalized groups in the region."

At a time when many places in Syria lack the basic necessities, Masoud sees cultural heritage protection not merely as an incidental aspect of rebuilding her native country, but as a means of providing new direction. "There is economic potential, which is forgotten by many people who talk about cultural heritage protection. Of course, this means tourism as a source of income in the future, but it also means knowledge. The German Archaeological Institute, for example, is training refugees as craftsmen so that they can protect historic buildings." These skills would be used not only to restore ancient sites, the young Syrian hopes, but also to build houses and develop new ways of earning a living.

"Ancient sites are not just stones and walls. They are our cultural identity ."

Masoud is aware that this by itself is not enough. From her point of view, promoting the country's reconstruction also requires a social re-think, which could promote the protection of cultural heritage: "Sites like these are not just stones and walls. They are our cultural identity. From 2010 to 2012, I worked on a major restoration project in the historic center of Damascus in Syria. At the time, many Syrian families wanted to preserve their old buildings. It is extremely important that a society holds itself responsible for its own historic sites. It will only do so, however, if it has previously established a relationship to the intangible elements embodied in this heritage – to traditional knowledge and history."

Cultural Memory – A Project for the Future

That was in peacetime. Many of the cultural anchors that Masoud speaks of have since been destroyed or seriously damaged. When people get involved in saving these places, even after years of chaos, Masoud believes, it is an important step towards healing society: "Syria was and still is a hub connecting Africa, Europe, and Asia. Throughout history it has been a place of exchange between different regions, religions, and ethnic groups. You can sense the opportunity that lies in this past, precisely because Syria was so open to different cultures. If people today would call to mind the values that are embodied in these stones, it would help to put Syrian society back together again." The conference therefore also called for representatives of the regime and the opposition to be brought to the same negotiating table. "There can only be an effective agreement on the preservation of culture if all of the parties are involved, regardless of their political agenda," Masoud thinks. "Reconstruction is a project for everyone. That is where the potential for social renewal lies."

It is clear to her that this will take time, but that does not diminish her optimism. In the meantime, Masoud continues the dogged struggle against forgetting. She spends Wednesdays at the museum, where she is one of a group of refugees who offer other refugees guided tours on the Museumsinsel as part of the Multaqa project. When giving tours, she learns what heritage means in everyday terms for people from regions affected by the conflict, she says – an experience that makes her feel confident: "When we began, we expected that now and again a refugee would come by and that after a year it would all have ground to a halt. It's great to see how many people are joining in now. That tells me that many refugees are very interested in their cultural heritage and in the history of their host country. And each of them contributes a personal perspective to the conversation. Every time that I give a tour of the Museum für Islamische Kunst (Museum for Islamic Art) for the Multaqa project, I learn something new."

Interview by Silvia Faulstich

Links for Additional Information

• Press release (in German) "Datenbank, capacity building, Dunkelfeldforschung: Wie die Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz Kulturgutschutz in Syrien unterstützt“ (01.06.2016)
• Syrian Heritage Archive Project
• Project Multaqa - Museum as a Meeting Point: Refugees as Guides in Berlin Museums
• SPK Magazine issue 1/2015: The Obliteration of World Heritage
• Protection of Cultural Heritage