Meet the New ICOMOS Committee Presidents of 2022!
ICOMOS is pleased to introduce you to its newly elected National and International Scientific Committees Presidents in 2022.
Discover their rich professional experience and academic background in the short presentations below!
National Committees
Raymond Asombang / ICOMOS Cameroon
Raymond Neba’ane Asombang did his primary education in Bafut and secondary education in CPC Bali and Government Bilingual Grammar School Molyko, Buea. His University education was in the University of Yaounde for the BA (Hons) in History (1977) and the University of London, Institute of Archaeology for the Masters and PHD in Archaeology obtained in 1980 and 1988 respectively.
Concerning his work experience, he was recruited in 1982 to the Ministry of Scientific Research as a research assistant. He rose to the rank of senior research officer before joining the University of Yaounde in 1991 where he made the rest of his career. He also had experience in the Ministry of Culture as chief of service for Sites, Monuments and Historical Figures, Director of Cultural Heritage, 1st Technical Adviser to the Minister of Culture and Director of the National Museum of Cameroon. He is a member of several professional associations including the World Archaeological Congress, Pan-African Association for Prehistory and related studies, ICOM, AFRICOM, and ICOMOS.
Professor Asombang has published extensively in the domains of Archaeology and cultural heritage management. He has been on the editorial board of West African Journal of Archaeology “W.A.J.A”, Journal of the World Archaeological Congress “ARCHAEOLOGIES” and “African Archaeological Review”.
Faïka Béjaoui / ICOMOS Tunisia
Architect and Urbanist, Faïka Béjaoui held various positions at the Association Sauvegarde de of the Medina of Tunis (ASM) from 1982 to 2014. She worked from 2014 to 2016 as an expert in heritage with the ALECSO (Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Culture and Science). She is the winner of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2010 for the project of rehabilitation and requalification of the city of the 19th -20th centuries of Tunis; Member of Beit Al Hikma Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts.
Lassana Cissé / ICOMOS Mali
Mr. Lassana Cisse obtained a Master's degree in Philosophy and Cultural Anthropology from the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Bamako in 1979. He is an expert in cultural management and an international consultant in the fields of culture, heritage, tourism, and local development. He has experience in the administration and management of cultural projects/programs, as well as in monitoring and evaluation.
Mr. Cisse is a member of two International scientific committees: the International Cultural Tourism Committee (ICTC) and the International Committee for Earthen Architecture Heritage (ISCEAH). He has been a member of the ISCEAH Board since 2016 and is a member of ICOMOS Working groups on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGWG) and Climate Action (CAWG). He was the 2nd Vice-President of the ICOMOS Mali from 2014 to 2022 and has been the President of the ICOMOS National Committee in Mali since August 2022.
Mr. Cisse has extensive experience in the field of cultural heritage, including serving as the Chief of the Cultural Mission of Bandiagara from 1994 to 2013. He also organized a series of workshops on the role of heritage and tourism in communal development with the communes of the circles of Bandiagara, Bankass, and Koro from 2007 to 2012. He conducted several planning, monitoring, and evaluation missions of sites listed on the World Heritage List since 2010 in West Africa and Haiti.
© Lassana Cissé
Fassil Giorghis / ICOMOS Ethiopia
Fasil Giorghis is associate professor of architecture and chair holder of conservation of urban and architectural heritage at EIABC, Addis Ababa University and runs an Msc program of conservation since 2016. He received his bachelor degree from Addis Ababa University in 1985 and his Master’s degree from Helsinki University of technology in 1990. For more than three decades, he has devoted his time to the study and preservation of the architectural heritage of Ethiopia, from traditional housing to historic towns. He has participated in numerous international conferences and contributed articles on sustainable architecture and preservation of cultural heritage. In 2008, he published a book entitled “Addis Ababa the City and its Urban and Architectural Heritage from 1886-1941”.
From 2005 to 2008 he served as the team leader of a world bank funded cultural heritage project in Aksum where a group of expatriate and local experts in Archaeology, conservation and tourism development worked together to upgrade the world heritage site. In 2009, together with his colleagues at EIABC, AAU he helped establish the chair of conservation of urban and architectural heritage to introduce the course of architectural conservation for undergraduate students. This was immediately followed by the establishment of an Msc program in same chair. His architectural design work in his private practice focuses on urban conservation, restoration of historic buildings, regional hotels, cultural centers, public buildings and private residences in which he melds use of local material, indigenous knowledge and environmental concerns in contemporary design. Among his notable works are the Red Terror Memorial Museum, the new blocks of the Alliance Ethio-Francaise, the restoration of the Addis Ababa Museum and Saint Mary of Tsion church in Aksum. He has successfully completed the restoration and adaptive reuse of Blaten Geta Heruy’s house for the Ethiopian academy of sciences, the Goethe institute and the Addis Ababa restaurant. He has actively worked to create public awareness among local communities and authorities to preserve the historic quarters of Gondar, Aksum, Adwa and Addis Ababa. In 2009, together with some Swiss and Ethiopian colleagues, they founded the NESTOWN group which works on a visionary idea on development of sustainable rural towns. He is the founding member of the Ethiopia heritage trust and a fellow of the Ethiopian academy of sciences. He currently serves as a member of the scientific committee for the conservation of the Lalibela rock-hewn churches.
© Fasil Giorghis Melessa
Marianne Lehtimaki / ICOMOS Finland
Marianne Lehtimäki is an architect and heritage expert with a broad range of experience in managing and designing conservation projects. She is a senior adviser at the Governing Body of Suomenlinna, a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Helsinki, where she oversees planning, management, and design tasks related to the site's landscape, buildings, and historic dockyard. In this role, she is responsible for ensuring that Suomenlinna's cultural and historical assets are preserved and protected for future generations.
In addition to her work at the Governing Body of Suomenlinna, Marianne also runs her own architect office where she specializes in cultural heritage and the built environment. Her expertise lies in integrating cultural heritage assets into development strategies and interdisciplinary projects in a sustainable way. She has managed various international EU projects, including those focused on integrating Baltic Sea maritime heritage into maritime spatial planning and developing management tools for urban heritage. She has also worked on ERDF-funded projects related to restoration and regional development based on cultural heritage.
Marianne has provided consultation services for the Council of Europe's Cultural Routes at national, regional, and European levels. Her experience and expertise make her a sought-after expert in the field of cultural heritage and conservation, and she is known for her collaborative approach to working with stakeholders from various sectors.
Kagosi Mwamulowe / ICOMOS Zambia
Mr Kagosi Mwamulowe is a Zambian and African World heritage expert who specializes in natural heritage but dove-tails into cultural heritage. He has a successful 30 years plus experience in heritage conservation and management under the National Heritage Conservation Commission in Zambia. He joined the Commission as Zambia’s first Conservation Geologist/Palaeontologist in 1992 and served up to 2022 and retired as Regional Director after occupying that position for a period of about 10 years. He also acted Director Conservation Services and worked as Chief natural heritage officer for 11 years.
He holds a 1999 Masters’ Degree from the University of Manchester of the United Kingdom in Earth Sciences having done a Programme in Earth and Environmental Sciences Research Technologies and has a 1989 Bachelors’ Degree from the University of Malawi majoring in Geography and Earth Sciences. He once was a UNESCO World Heritage National for person for Zambia for 7 years. As a heritage expert, he was engaged in various UNESCO Programmes such as World Heritage Tentative Listing, Nominations and Disaster Risk Management for both natural and cultural heritage sites, Geoparks, Man and Biosphere including capacity building as a resource person and coordinator in these fields for the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), School of African Heritage (EPA), International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), UNESCO Word Heritage Centre and its Regional UNESCO Offices and as Africa Nature mentor under IUCN between 2012 and 2023.
In 2020, Mr Mwamulowe was a natural heritage expert when Zambia was elected on the World Heritage Committee for the first time. He is also an author in some books, professional publications and reports both at national and international levels on various heritage themes. He also does GIS mapping, communication and has hosted and made presentations on heritage to 14 heads of states and VVIPs from different countries from the heritage perspective. Thus, he has had an illustrious carrier that has a strong bearing both on Zambia’s and Africa’s World Heritage. He is also conducts heritage impact and environmental consultancies.
© Kagosi Mwamulowe
Grigor Nalbandyar / ICOMOS Armenia
Grigor Nalbandyan is a founder member of ICOMOS Armenia since 2002. He is the main architect of Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin and heads more than 40 construction programs of Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin. He worked as an architect-restorer from 1982-1988, senior architect from 1988-1991, the main architect of a project from 1991-1992, the main architect of the archaeological site of Zvartnots from 1992-1995 at the State Board for Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments.
He is the author of more than 25 projects on religion, social buildings, and the restoration of historical and architectural monuments. He is also a Professor in the Department of Theory of Architecture, Restoration, Reconstruction of Historical and Architectural Heritage, Fine Arts, and History of the National University of Architecture and Construction of Armenia. He had participated in a number of design competitions, exhibitions, foreign retraining courses, international and republican scientific conferences, and expeditions.
Author of 40 published scientific works in Armenian, Russian and English, and reports at international and republican scientific conferences. Since 2010 he is a member of the Armenian Association of Restorers of Historical Monuments and a member of the Interdepartmental Archeological Commission. Since 2002 he is a member of the Scientific-Methodological Commission of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia and a member of the Architectural Commission of Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin.
Bély Hermann Niangao / ICOMOS Burkina Faso
Bély Hermann Abdoul-Karim Niangao is Curator of Heritage. He is the Director of Cultural Heritage in the Ministry of Communication, Culture, Arts and Tourism of Burkina Faso and national expert in charge of the follow-up of the process of rereading the law on the protection of cultural heritage in Burkina Faso. Bély Hermann holds a Master's degree in Development, option Cultural Heritage Management from Senghor University in Alexandria, Egypt, and is a doctoral student at the University of Perpignan VIA Domitia (France). He is doing his research in the field of the legal protection of cultural heritage and is affiliated with the Laboratoire Centre de Recherches sur les Sociétés et Environnements en Méditerranées (CRESEM). He is the author of several publications on cultural heritage and museums. President of ICOMOS-Burkina Faso and associate member of ICLAFI.
© Ithiel Dofontien
Katti Osorio / ICOMOS Panama
Katti Osorio Ugarte is a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in World Heritage Studies from the University of Tsukuba, Master (M.A.) in Conservation of Cultural Property with a Specialization in Buildings and Districts from the Tokyo University of the Arts, and she is an Architect by the University of Panama. She was twice awarded the MEXT Scholarship by the government of Japan. Dr. Osorio has focused her career on conservation and management of cultural and historical heritage in the public sphere, especially concerning the Panamanian world heritage. She participated in the drafting of the General Law of Culture of Panama and derived regulations, and also participated in the creation of the Ministry of Culture of Panama in 2020. Among her recent occupations, she served as National Director of Cultural Heritage (2020 – 2021) in the Ministry of Culture as well as Focal Point before UNESCO for cultural conventions. She was Advisor to the Minister of Culture in 2021. She is visiting honorary professor for the Autonomous University of Zacatecas (UAZ) in the Doctorate and Master in History Program from 2022. She is twice President of ICOMOS Panama. She is a founding member of the Association of Anthropology and History of Panama and member of the Ibero-American Research Network on Colonial Urbanism (RII-UC), among other professional affiliations.
© Katti Osorio
Humberto Ramirez Salazar / ICOMOS Cuba
Humberto Ramirez Salazar obtained a degree in architecture in 1967. Since then, he has applied his expertise in various positions and organizations. Passionate about architecture, he has designed many important works around the country and is the recipient of a national architecture award. In addition, he has also taught in the field, having held the positions of professor and Vice Director at the Faculty of Architecture in Havana.
Salazar has already been engaged with the work of ICOMOS Cuba as the General Secretary of the National Committee. In addition to ICOMOS, Salazar has participated in many other bodies and associations relating to both architecture and heritage, including the National Monument Board, UNAICC, UNEAC and DoCoMoMo. Salazar has also occupied the post of President of Havana Architects’ Society.
Anastasios Tanoulas / ICOMOS Hellenic
Active in the Greek Ministry of Culture from 1976 to 2016. Service for the Preservation of the Acropolis Monuments, 1977-2010. In charge of the Propylaia Restoration Project from 1984 to retirement in 2010. After retirement, Superintendent of the Propylaia South Wing Restoration Project (2013-2016). Member of scientific committees at the Greek Ministry of Culture.
Conducted seminars, delivered invited lectures and papers in conferences in Europe, America, Asia and Australia. Teaches regularly at the CYA (International Center for Hellenic and Mediterranean Studies) since 1998. Published monographs and numerous articles in scholarly periodicals and volumes, on architectural history and theory, construction and restoration from Antiquity to date. Last of international distinctions, the Europa Nostra Award for Conservation and the Europa Nostra Public Choice Award in 2013, as the Propylaia Restoration Project leader.
© Markos Toufeklis
International Scientific Committees
Doo Won Cho / International Committee on fortifications and military heritage (ICOFORT)
Doo Won CHO is a World Heritage expert and consultant focused on fortifications and military heritage. He served as positions ICOFORT General Secretary, ICOFORT Asia-Pacific Regional Coordinator (2019-2022) and ICOFORT Vice-president (2015-2019). He is serving and assisting for ICOFORT bureau to find opportunities to tie and network with each site of state parties as well as regions. He was one of team members for the formulation of 'ICOMOS Guidelines on Fortifications and Military Heritage' adopted during ICOMOS GA 2021. Since 2020 he is a board member of ICOMOS KOREA, in which he is also leading and serving as a secretary official of subcommittee on fortification researches. He is an Expert committee member of World Heritage Division for the Cultural Property of Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea since 2017.
© Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation
Gai Jorayev / International Committee on Aerospace Heritage (ISCoAH)
Dr Gai (Gaygysyz) JORAYEV is a university researcher specialising in cultural heritage management, cultural tourism, and digital heritage. He currently works at UCL (University College London) Institute of Archaeology where he is a course coordinator for MA in Managing Archaeological Sites programme and MA Cultural Heritage Studies programme, and where he plays a significant role in large-scale research projects focusing on heritage inventory systems and spatial analysis of cultural and natural landscapes. In the past, he has led research projects and capacity-building exercises in the post-Soviet space, in Africa, Asia and the Europe. He is experienced in complex analytical research work, spatial analyses, and terrestrial remote sensing, particularly for the benefit of the complex World Heritage Sites and the monuments associated with the Silk Roads.
He is currently working with the heritage of aeronautics and space exploration as part of the diverse group of heritage specialists that came together under the ICOMOS scientific committee.
Claudine Loisel / International Committee on Stained Glass (ISCV)
Claudine Loisel is a research Engineer at the head of the department of stained glass windows conservation, Research laboratory for historical monuments (LRMH). After obtaining a Ph.D. in chemistry at the Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg (Germany) associated with the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC, she joined the LRMH. She is in charge of expertise and diagnosis of conservation and restoration projects of the stained glass windows registered as historical monuments. She has participated in numerous national and international projects on knowledge and understanding of the glass weathering processes.
She is coordinator of the “Glass” Working Group in the scientific project CNRS/Ministry of Culture of Notre-Dame. She is chair of the International scientific committee for the conservation of stained glass (ISCCSG) - (Corpus Vitrearum-ICOMOS). She is also scientific expert of the Stained glass Wallon committee in Belgium.
© LRMH, Angèle Dequier, 2023
See also
