SHOSI Breakfast Event

New York, NY (December 15, 2016) – On a blustery morning, heritage conservation enthusiasts braved the weather to gather at The J.M. Kaplan Fund’s Flatiron office to take part in a discussion about the Safeguarding the Heritage of Syria and Iraq (SHOSI) project.  The project is a collaborative effort of the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative, the Penn Cultural Heritage Center at the Penn Museum, and their partners. Kaplan is proud to support this work and was very excited to offer a platform for the project leaders to share their work and vision.

We were joined by distinguished fellow funders, Kaplan Trustees, and colleagues in Heritage Conservation.  Featured speakers were Cori Wegener, Cultural Heritage Preservation Officer in the Office of the Provost and Undersecretary for Museums and Research at the Smithsonian Institution, and Brian Daniels, Director of Research and Programs for the Penn Cultural Heritage Center at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaelogoy and Anthropology.  Speaking for the majority of the time was Salam Al Kuntar, a visiting professor in the Department of Anthropology at UPenn, who shared insights of how work is being disseminated in Syria.

When the discussion came to a close, guests left with a new knowledge of this critical work. We look forward to witnessing the evolution of SHOSI, and if you would like to learn more, visit their website:

https://global.si.edu/success-stories/safeguarding-cultural-heritage-syria-and-iraq