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Project Chronicle

June 6, 2025: The book Libya in the Longue Durée, edited by project directors Suaad Al-Ghafal and Nora Lafi has been published by Nirvana Editions in Tunis

May 13, 2025: Nora Lafi participated in the French/German Forum on the Mediterranean at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. She presented the Ghadames Heritage Projects as part of a round-table on questions of heritage.

May 5, 2025: Dr. Habil. Arch. Emna Bchir presenting the project at the 173rd Council Meeting of the International Union of Architects in Barcelona (Co-Director of the Sustainability Commission)Union internationale des architectes Barcelone 2025 Emna Bchir

May 2, 2025: Project leaders Nora Lafi and Suaad Alghafal work in Berlin on the structure of the repository and on the storing choices of the scanned archives and manuscripts

April 1, 2025: Leibniz-ZMO Newsletter presents the Tagesspiegel article about our project.

March 28, 2025: Nora Lafi in Vincennes at Service Historique de la Défense, consulting post-WWII archives about Ghadames

March 13, 2025: A paper on the project by Rolf Brockschmidt: “Weltkulturerbe
GhadamesForschung zur Bildungsoase der Wüste
” (PDF of the full online version here)

February 25, 2025: Online meeting between the Ghadames and Berlin team for the conception of the online repository for the manuscripts and archives

January 17, 2025: The scan machine in position at Ghadames

January 1, 2025: After 4 months of bureaucratic proceedings in Germany, the scanning machine was picked up at Libyan customs in Tripoli by S. Alghafal and Q. Youshaa

December 19-20, 2024: Nora Lafi, in Vincennes (Paris), at the archives of the Service historique de la Défense, working on documents of the French army regarding Ghadames (WWII bombings, post-WWII damage assessments).

December 13, 2024: Nora Lafi in La Courneuve (Paris), working on archives about Ghadames at the archives of the French Foreign OfficeNora Lafi La Courneuve 2024Archives diplomatiques La Courneuve Ghadames

December 10, 2024: Aboulquasim Basheer Qassim Youshaa entrusting a collection of his family archives to the associationAboulquasim Basheer Qassim Youshaa Ghadames Heritage Project

December 8, 2024: Manuscript classification work at the seat of the Ghadames Association for Heritage ProtectionGhadames Heritage ProjectGhadames Heritage Project

December 4, 2024: Classification of a series of retrieved archival documentsGhadames Heritage ProjectGhadames Heritage ProjectGhadames Heritage ProjectGhadames Heritage Project

November 16, 2024: A decisive phase in the excavation process, with the discovery of numerous manuscripts, which will be preserved and scanned as part of the project

November 8-12, 2024: Nora Lafi working with local partners in Ghadames on the conservation and digitization process of the manuscripts of the programme

November 8, 2024: Nora Lafi is in Ghadames for a meeting with local team members and for the planning of the next phases of the excavation/digitization work.Ghadames Heritage Project Meeting in Ghadames, November 8, 2024

November 1, 2024: Project member Emna Bchir defended successfully her Habilitation thesis at Ecole Nationale d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme in Tunis. Reflections on the Ghadames Heritage Project constituted a significant share of the thesis. The commission unanimously granted Dr. E. Bchir the title of “Habilitée à diriger des recherches”.

October 11, 2024: Meeting in Berlin. The team has been working on questions of cataloging and licensing, as well as on on the way to calibrate the project’s online platform for manuscripts for different cataloging systems (ZMO, Stabi Berlin, Qalamos). The team also prepared the 1st Berlin workshop of the programme.Ghadames Heritage Project Team at Leibniz-ZMO Berlin, October 2024

September 2024: Preparatory work in the oasis to select and size the palm trees whose wood will be used to support the collapsed walls of the Qadi’s house.

September 10, 2024: The scan machine that has been bought as part of the programme is ready for expedition to Libya, pending approval by German Customs.

August 19, 2024: Meeting in Tripoli for the preparation of the Berlin Workshop and for the definition of the digitization processes.

July 14, 2024: Online meeting of the Tripoli and Ghadames teams for the preparation of the next phases of the programme (scanning machine, excavation site, 2d Ghadames workshop, 1st Berlin workshop, writing of the articles for the blog).

July 4, 2024: Berlin team working at Leibniz-ZMO on the architecture of the repository

June 14, 2024: Call for Applications at the University of Tripoli for Students taking part in the digitization work of the Ghadames Heritage Project:

May 30, 2024: Nora Lafi participated at Ghadames Cultural Centre in a conference dedicated to the work of Libyan historian Amar Jhaydar, who received the erudition prize of the year 2024, in the presence of the mayor of the city.

May 27-30, 2024: First Workshop of the Programme in Ghadames

Full programme here: ghadames.hypotheses.org/files/2024/05/GhadamesWorkshopMay2024Programme.pdfGhadames Heritage Project

May 20, 2024: Emna Bchir (ENAU) and Nora Lafi (Leibniz-ZMO) meeting in Tunis for the preparation of the first team meeting in Ghadames

May 8, 2024: First meeting in Tripoli of the Tripoli-based team with the Ghadames-based team members organised by Suaad Alghafal.