The Exchange for intercultural dialogue

The Exchange is recognized as a best practice for engagement in intercultural dialogue, not only through participation in the Exhibition Hall of about 30 Foreign Countries and the annual presence of an  Official Guest Country, but also for dedicating annually in the program, since 2015, three significant moments to this theme:

– the Conference “#dontforget Bardo Museum 18.03.2015”, with the participation of Director Moncef Ben Moussa, following the dramatic events at the Museum of Tunis, to remember that cultural heritage is fundamental for dialogue among cultures: every citizen of the world, apart from religious or political affiliations, must be aware that cultural heritage is a common good and a representation of national identity, so it must be defended by all the countries that make democracy their bastion;

– the attention to Palmyra with the launch of the hashtag “#unite4heritage for Palmyra” and Conferences on the destruction of cultural heritage and the disintegration of identities with the participation of Fayrouz Asaad Archeologist and daughter of Khaled al-Asaad, former Director of Antiquities of Palmyra, Mounir Bouchenaki Special Advisor to the Director-General of UNESCO, Silvia Costa President of the Committee on Culture and Education of the European Parliament, Paolo Matthiae Archeologist and Director of the Archaeological Mission in Syria of  “Sapienza” University of Rome, Mohamad Saleh Last Director of Palmyra Tourism;

– the International Archaeological Discovery Award “Khaled al-Asaad”, dedicated to the most relevant discoveries of the year nominated by the directors of the prestigious international magazines (Antike Welt – Germany, Archeo – Italy, AiD Archäologie in Deutschland – Germany, Archéologia – France, Archäologie der Schweiz – Switzerland, Current Archaeology – United Kingdom,  Dossiers d’Archéologie – France) and named after the well-known archaeologist of Palmyra who paid with his life the protection of cultural heritage.

The tragedy that stains Near East with blood is endangering the existence, not only of people killed or forced to flee and exile, but also of cultural heritage, which at the same time represent the history and identity of civilization.

Syria is the region where urban civilization developed and the extraordinary caravan city of Palmyra, within a green oasis, is a symbol of meeting of cultures.