The Middle East Photograph Preservation Initiative’s 2012-3 Course:

Significant achievements and plans for the future

The Middle East Photograph Preservation Initiative’s second photograph preservation course has closed with a five-day follow-up meeting in Istanbul, generously hosted by SALT Galata from the 16^th to the 20^th of September 2013. 

The initiative, led by the Arab Image Foundation, the Art Conservation Department at the University of Delaware, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Getty Conservation Institute, seeks to identify significant photographic collections and to promote their preservation and visibility in the broad Middle East, from North Africa and the Arab Peninsula through Western Asia.

The meeting concluded the cycle that commenced in November 2012 with an 8-day photograph preservation workshop at New York University (NYU) Abu Dhabi, UAE. The participants from Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey and the UAE represented national archives and libraries, museums, newspapers, universities, non-governmental organizations and private collections.

The workshop was followed by a 9-month distance-mentoring period coordinated by the Getty Conservation Institute, with assignments designed for the participants to apply knowledge gained from the workshop to their own institutions. The assignments included reports, public presentations, articles and collection assessments. At the follow-up meeting, 12 participants reconvened in Istanbul to share accomplishments achieved during the distance-learning period and to discuss challenges. They reviewed guidelines for the identification of different photographic processes, and also covered storage environments, solutions and housing. Visual and chemical experiments were carried out to test different housingmaterials. Students were encouraged to work in groups and propose creative solutions to given problems.

“The outcomes of this workshop are quite amazing, with only a small group from different backgrounds we were able to understand and develop so much in the field”

The 2012-2013 MEPPI cohort reported many notable achievements:

§  The establishment of clearer objectives and policies for preservation: Ziad Rajab (Tareq Rajab museum, Kuwait) clarified objectives, recruited volunteers and drafted an action plan for the museum; and Heba Farid (CULTNAT, Egypt) developed image policy guidelines.

§  Further identification and assessment of collections: Hüsekyin Eski (Koç University Library, Turkey) surveyed the library’s archive and rare books collection; Heba Farid has now surveyed some 25 local collections; three major archives in poor condition have been identified, documented and part-digitized by Hussain Mahroos (Bahrain Museum of Photography), totalling around 1 million glass plates, negatives, slides and paper prints; Abdalla Mohamed Bataski (TCA, Abu Dhabi) lobbied for the proper preservation and digitization of the negatives of the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) - prior to his involvement 30,000 negatives were destroyed.

§  Major improvements in storage and environmental conditions: Kamran Najafzadeh’s collection, in Iran was rehoused in better quality enclosures; Ziad Rajab conducted a full inspection of the museum, organized a thorough cleaning and reorganization of storage sites, and developed an emergency plan; Hüsekyin Eski monitored environmental conditions using the PEM received at the Abu Dhabi workshop; Touriya Elazri Ennassiri (Ecole Nationale d’Architecture (ENA), Morocco) reported the reorganization of storage, treatment and consultation into separate spaces. 

§  Progress in documentation and proper digitization of collections: Kaouther Dridi (Centre de Documentation Nationale, Tunisia) acquired a scanner and computer to digitize and make accessible at-risk photograph collections, despite the institution’s enormous financial and political challenges. 

§  Sustained advocacy efforts to raise awareness and secure support from managers and decision-makers: briefings and recommendations were made in many cases by participants to supervisors following the Abu Dhabi workshop; Tareq Al-Ghoul (Al-Ittihad newspaper, UAE) secured external interest for support, funding and equipment; Heba Farid is part of a working group of photographers, curators, anthropologists and historians based in Cairo and promoting preservation and advocacy in Egypt.

§  Awareness of the collections generated through public exposure locally and abroad: Kamran Najafzadeh was invited to the International Museum for Family History (Netherlands) as a guest curator, and some images from his collection were included in the Harvard University Library; Hussain al Mahroos published a fourth book on the Ahmad AlKhan archives and has launched open calls for images of the city of Al Manama; Hüsekyin Eski gave a presentation to the Turkish Librarian’s Association’s Istanbul branch. 

§  Recognition of MEPPI Alumni for their work: Touriya Elazri Ennassiri was given the award of ‘ENA woman of the year’ by the Minister of Housing. 

 “As there are now graduates of MEPPI in most Middle East countries, we could play a role in the mentoring process. I would be happy for any future participant in my country to approach me for assistance”

§  Strengthening of MEPPI Alumni networks both within and across institutions: Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority participants Fatima Al Dhaif, Abdalla Mohamed Bastaki, Jo-Fan Huang and Daniel Suarez have consolidated their efforts within the institution, forming a formidable group of advocates for professional exchange in the UAE; Touriya Elazri connected with 2011 Alumni Fatima Zahara and a cooperation Agreement is being signed with the National Library of Morocco.

§  MEPPI has also created or sustained the momentum for further ambitious objectives: Fatima Al Dhaif has enrolled in the Camberwell Conservation Program to pursue a master’s degree in Preventive Conservation with a focus on book conservation; Kamran Najafzadeh hopes to found a private museum and to organize photograph preservation workshops in his country; Ziad Rajab aims to resume exhibitions, and to make the museum collection accessible online - MEPPI has also encouraged his family’s museum to preserve their non-photographic collections.

 “It's been an extraordinary experience of strategic importance for my institution”

Following on from the success of MEPPI 2012-2013, the third and final MEPPI course will begin in January 2014 in Amman. At the conclusion of the three courses, approximately 60 collection custodians and conservators from Middle East institutions will have received supervised training in preservation.