International Conferences on Silk Roads in Hamedan, Iran - September 2019
Situated at the crossroads of the main commercial routes towards Mesopotamia, Caucasus and Anatolia, Hamedan is one of the oldest cities and centres of exchanges along the historic Silk Roads. It was due to such important cultural exchanges, that the great polymath of the Islamic Golden Age, Avicenna (physician, astronomer, thinker and writer) lived in Hamedan, where his mausoleum is currently located, for several years before his death. In line with its historic role, the city hosted a series of international meetings and events on the Silk Roads from 23 to 29 September 2019.
The first event, that took place from 23 to 26 September 2019, was the "6th meeting of the Coordinating Committee of the Serial Transnational World Heritage of the Silk Roads". This meeting was organized by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and UNESCO Cluster Office in Tehran in collaboration with the Iranian Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, as well as the Municipality of Hamedan. The meeting benefited also from the support of the two UNESCO Fund-in-Trust projects: the UNESCO/Japan "Support for Silk Roads World Heritage Sites in Central Asia", and the UNESCO/Republic of Korea "Support for the Asian Silk Roads World Heritage Serial and Transnational Nomination(s)".
The 6th coordinating meeting brought together the National Focal Points and experts from the sixteen participating countries of the Intergovernmental Coordinating Committee for the Silk Roads serial transnational World Heritage nomination (Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan), as well as Bhutan as an observer. The meeting also aimed to further explore continuation of the ICOMOS Thematic Study covering other parts of Asia and decide on a strategy for related nominations.
Subsequently, the International Conference on "Intercultural and Interfaith Dialogue along the Ancient Silk Roads: Religious Influences on Cultural Heritage Sites" took place from the 27 to 29 September. This conference was organized by UNESCO in collaboration with the Municipality of Hamedan, the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO, and the Iranian Research Center for the Silk Road.
It was officially opened with speeches from high-level representatives including the mayor of Hamedan, the president of the Iranian Academy of Persian Language and Literature, the Secretary-General of Iranian National Commission for UNESCO, Rector of Bu Ali-Sina University, and the religious authority of Hamedan, as well as the representative of UNESCO. All of the speakers underlined the necessity of retracing reencounters and interactions between different religions and spiritualties along the Silk Roads for achieving harmonious coexistence among them in the modern era.
The conference also sought to build links between heritage of religious interest and the Silk Roads by bringing together renowned national and international experts to discuss and highlight the ways in which different faiths and beliefs influenced the cultural heritage sites along the ancient Silk Roads. To this end, the conference underlined the importance of understanding cultural and religious diversity along the Silk Roads; the importance of faith influences on cultural heritage sites along the corridor; the essential role of mutual understanding and respect for diversity through interreligious dialogue; and of identifying opportunities to share knowledge, perspectives and practices on heritage conservation.
Alongside this conference, an Expert Meeting on the "Religions and Spiritualties" theme of the UNESCO "Interactive Atlas of Cultural Interactions along the Silk Roads" was held on 26 September 2019. Here, members of the scientific panel and authors of the "Religions and Spiritualties" theme of the Interactive Atlas, as well as other experts, discussed the development of the theme’s content.
