From August 30 to September 4, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Italian Trade Agency (ICE), and the Italian Association for Architectural, Artistic and Urban Restoration (Assorestauro) jointly organize a series of events in various Italian cities as part of "Restoration Week - 2021".
The State Service of Cultural Heritage Conservation, Development and Rehabilitation under the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan told Report that Azad Jafarli, Head of the State Service, and Read Gasimov, Chief of the Administration of the State Historical-Architectural Reserve "Icherisheher", are taking part in the events. Along with Azerbaijan, delegations from Albania, Lebanon, Cuba, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Israel also attended the event..
The opening ceremony was held at the Fiera del Levante exhibition complex in Bari as part of the "Restoration Week - 2021". Bari city administration, architects, landscape designers, and restorers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Assorestauro, Bari Province, leaders of the Association, Fiera del Levante Exhibition, Ferrara Exhibition Congress made speeches.
On September 2, a country presentation on Azerbaijan was organized as part of the "Restoration Week - 2021". The opening speeches were made by the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Italy Mammad Ahmadzade, Head of the Industrial Partnership Office and Relations with International Organisations of the Italian Trade Agency Roberto Lovato, and the Technical Director of the Assorestauro Andrea Griletto. They spoke about the Azerbaijan-Italy strategic partnership, high-level relations and mutually beneficial exchanges in various fields, opportunities for cooperation in the protection and restoration of cultural monuments, as well as opportunities for reconstruction and rehabilitation of liberated territories of Azerbaijan.
At the event, Azad Jafarli made a presentation on the "Great Return" to the liberated territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the ongoing process of restoring cultural heritage. He provided detailed information and photo facts on the destruction, misappropriation, and vandalism of historical and cultural monuments in the territories occupied by the Republic of Armenia for 30 years, illegal archeological excavations, the atrocities committed against our cultural heritage. He also noted Azerbaijan has begun the restoration process and continues to clear numerous mines. Head of the State Service stressed that infrastructure and urban development projects are being implemented to achieve lasting peace and prosperity in the post-conflict period. As a logical continuation of this, Azerbaijan, together with the UN Alliance of Civilizations, has joined the "Peace for Culture" campaign. The presentation demonstrated statistical information on the scale of the destruction of monuments, the deplorable situation in the city of Aghdam and other liberated areas.
The official stated that the Azerbaijani side is open to mutually beneficial proposals within the recovery process and appreciates the contribution of Italian partners and companies in this process.
Then, Gasimov informed about the restoration work carried out in the Icheri Sheher and the unique museum project to be opened in the future.
The International Restoration Exhibition organized within the framework of the event also continues its work. Within the framework of the exhibition, the Azerbaijani delegation met with representatives of ICE, Assorestauro, the Italian National Research Council (CNR), as well as leading Italian construction and restoration companies such as IBIX (monument cleaning), ENEL X (architectural lighting), CORES4N (monument restoration).
The Azerbaijani delegation will participate in the "Restoration Week - 2021" on September 3 in Matera.