The 11TH General Assembly of ICOMOS,
and International Symposium

Sofia, Bulgaria, October 5-9, 1996

The Bulgarian ICOMOS Committee will host the 11th ICOMOS General Assembly in Sofia, October 5-9, 1996. During the course of the triennial General Assembly, ICOMOS will hold elections for its officers and Executive Committee for the period 1996-1999. The theme of the Symposium will be Heritage and Social Change with three professional theme sessions on Ethics and Philosophy, Policy and Economics, and Methods and Techniques, with each theme session examining questions relating to the broad issue of authenticity. Each theme topic will be examined from two points of view: development and preservation.

The symposium theme should not be viewed only from a regional perspective. It is of universal importance that the heritage retain continuity, context and authenticity at a time of social and geopolitical change, to define new hopes and risks for the heritage; the needs and priorities in the sphere of conservation; to highlight the importance of the different historical layers and their relationships; to discover new structures, policies, methods and partners. Like other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Bulgaria, the host of the General Assembly, today is going through a process of radical change arising form democritization and social reform. This change, however, will merely serve as an example within a set of issues of universal significance.

The symposium will be held on four business days and will consist of two plenary sessions, two sessions by sections and two study trips. It is proposed that the sessions by sections should run simultaneously in three streams in three different lecture halls. These three tracks are:

1. Ethics and philosophy
2. Politics and Economics
3. Methodologies and Techniques

Each track will have two distinct parts to it:

1. Development
2. Preservation

   In this way, conservation will not be seen as something apart but as an integral part of planning policy and of sustainable development, which is what it should be.

   The three tracks provide the opportunity to discuss a broad range of topics: philosophical and theoretical issues, for example ethics and authenticity, as well as political issues, such as the kind of organization needed for managing the heritage, and more practical matters like methods of procurement, the use of new technologies both in design and in construction and the need of tax incentives in conservation. It would also be possible to examine certain specific issues such as the relationship between man, the heritage and nature, between the state and the Church, the role of intangible values, of local and inherited cultures, etc. We particularly wish to draw attention to the need for case studies to illustrate the topics.

   Prof. Dr. Todor Krestev, Chairman
   ICOMOS Bulgaria
   16 blvd Dondoukov
   1000 SOFIA
   Bulgaria
   Telephone +359 2 58 50 00
   Fax +359 2 58 10 55
   E-mail: Todor.Krestev@bulmail.sprint.com

   
   Adapted from the US/ICOMOS article, No. 1, 1995.