Iwan Cultural Heritage Centre, Faculty of Engineering at IUG received a delegation from Riwaq Centre for Architectural Conservation, the West Bank, Palestine. The delegation included: Engineer Shatha Safi, Center Director, Engineer Michael Salama, Renovation Program Manager, and Engineer Tariq Dar Nasser, Supervision Program Manager.
They were received by Dr. Ahmed Al-Astal, Iwan Centre Director, Engineer Mahmoud Elbalawi and Engineer Nashwa Alramlawi, Iwan staff members.
Dr. Al-Astal welcomed the visiting delegation and expressed his gladness of the visit that aims at strengthening the relationship and mutual cooperation between Iwan Centre and Riwaq Centre, which common objective of both is to preserve the Palestinian historical cultural heritage.
Engineer Safi showed great pleasure of her first visit to Gaza and having first-hand overview of Iwan Center and IUG. She highly appreciated Iwan’s effort and policy in preserving the Palestinian cultural heritage and identity.
The visit included investigating methods of mutual cooperation in renovation and preservation for future projects in 2022. In this respect, a contract agreement for renovating Alwehaidi Historical House at Aldaraj neighborhood in Gaza was signed.
The delegation took a tour in the Old Town of Gaza, viewed previous and planned renovation projects, as well as conducting meetings with a number of partner institutions.
Renovation of Alwehaidi Historical House
In the following morning, the contract of renovating Alwehaidi Historical House was signed with a defined contractor according to a duly award of bid. The group then moved to the Old Town in Gaza, where the site of the historical house assigned to the contractor to begin the renovation works, in the presence and participation of Riwaq and Iwan teams, as well as Prof. Nahed Hanounah, Director of Basma Association. A technical discussion was raised on the artistic work needed in the house yard and the gaps, relevant to the work nature of Basma Association.
Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
The program of the visit also included conducting a meeting at Iwan Centre between Riwaq team and a delegation from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in Gaza consisting of: Dr. Jamal Abu Rida, Director-General of Antiquities, and Engineer Abdullah Seyyam, Project Manager of the Ministry, in the presence of Dr. Khalil Al-Astkal, Dean of Faculty of Engineering. The meeting discussed methods of mutual cooperation and overcoming obstacles standing in the way of promoting the protection of cultural heritage.
Dr. Khalil Al-Astal expressed his gladness of the meeting that brought together the concerned parties in preserving the cultural heritage in the Gaza Strip. He also clarified that the policy of Faculty of Engineering has always sought to harness energies and unite efforts to preserve the Palestinian cultural identity through partnership and cooperation.
Dr. Abu Rida spoke about the role of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in documenting and renovating process of preserving historical and archaeological sites and buildings, and illustrated the Ministry’s policy in handling such sites and buildings.
Engineer Safi spoke about the Riwaq center’s experience with documentation and renovation, noting that the center had documented more than (50,000) archaeological and historical houses in Gaza and the West Bank, renovated more than (150) houses, and revived more than (20) villages in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Culture and Free Thought Association
In the third stop of the visit, the delegation, accompanied by Dr. Ahmed Al-Astal, visited Culture and Free Thought Association, where the delegation met with Mrs. Maryam Zaqqout, President of the Association, and a group of staff members working in the association.
Mrs. Zaqqout welcomed the delegation, and demonstrated history and establishment of the association, referring to areas of concern, in particular the cultural area and dealing with children. She indicated her primary desire to operate Alkamelia School building in Gaza as part of the association facilities.
At the end of the visit, Riwaq delegation assured their intention to repeat the visit in order to strengthen mutual work with partners in the Gaza Strip, in particular Iwan Centre at IUG.
