The University of Melbourne, in collaboration with the Islamic Manuscript Association (TIMA) is pleased to announce the establishment of a Regional Disaster Working Group for Islamic Manuscripts in the East Asia Pacific region. The inaugural working group (2-day) meeting will take place in Melbourne, Australia prior to the International Council of Museums –Committee for Conservation (ICOM-CC) 2014 Triennial Conference (15-19th September) http://www.icom-cc2014.org

Participants at the first meeting of the regional discussion group are invited to discuss the current skills and collections within the Asia-Pacific region, share disaster experiences and plan for future networking and collaborations between members of the regional disaster group. The longer-term goals are to ensure that communities and institutions in the region are disaster-ready and in the event of a disaster in place are appropriate skills, support networks and strategies from national and international communities. This will enable round table discussions to take place and foster valuable networks between conservators and their respective institutions.

A team at the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation (CCMC), University of Melbourne is currently working to identify the key collections and personnel in the region to join and contribute to this working group. We welcome recommendations and interest in attending the first Regional Disaster Working Group Discussions 12-13 September 2014 in Melbourne.

We ask that you confirm your interest to Sophie Lewincamp: lews@unimelb.edu.au from the ICOM CC 17th Triennial Conference Regional Engagement Committee.

Through the support of TIMA, four students will be offered funding to assistance with attendance and participation. An expression of interest notice is attached to this email, please circulate.

To register your interest in the event please see Melbourne Special Events for Culture and Heritage website http://www.melbournespecialevents.com/#!islamicmanu/c3ln

OR visit the project website

http://rdwgim.wix.com/home

Kind Regards

Sophie Lewincamp