!! NEW DATE !! Monday 1 December 2025
(The initial date of 25 November has been cancelled and the event postponed to 1/12 due to a national strike)
Brussels, Art & History Museum (Jubelpark 10, 1000 Brussels)
In-person event
Blue Shield Belgium, ICOM Wallonia-Brussels, the Art & History Museum, Brussels, and the EU-funded project ENIGMA, with the support of the Flemish Commission for UNESCO,
invite you to a unique study day dedicated to current challenges for cultural heritage and collections, in light of the International day against illicit trafficking in cultural property:
Trafficking and Conflict: Challenges for Cultural Heritage Today
1 December 2025, Art & History Museum, Brussels
This in-person event aspires to foster shared reflection on the professional, ethical, and human responsibilities of heritage experts and institutions. It is aimed at professionals in the heritage sector, from libraries, archives and museums, as well as at scholars, students, and all those interested in the protection and safeguarding of heritage.
The morning session is dedicated to current developments in the fight against trafficking of cultural heritage, highlighting the expertise from Belgian law enforcement, ICOM International, EU policy and research projects focusing on issues related to looting, theft, and the movements of cultural goods and artefacts.
As war ravages Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine, destroying and threatening tangible and intangible cultural heritage, European museums, archives and libraries are reminded of the vulnerability of their collections. The afternoon session is a response to the growing demand in the Belgian heritage sector for knowledge exchange on the safeguarding of movable heritage in times of armed conflict, with shared perspectives and lessons learnt from the recent and more distant past. Blue Shield Belgium also proudly presents the Belgian premiere of the award-winning docudrama The Oath of Cyriac (France/Syria, 2021), on the emergency evacuation of the collections of the Aleppo National Museum.
PROGRAMME
Please find the latest version of the programme below. You can also download it here.
REGISTRATION
You can register by following this link or by scanning the QR-code.
The admission fee for the entire day is 30 €; students and members of ICOM Belgium and Blue Shield Belgium are offered a discount. After registering we ask you to transfer the amount to the bank account of the Comité belge du Bouclier Bleu (IBAN: BE82 9730 8003 8168 – BIC: ARSPBE22) with the description: NAME + type of registration (normal-member-student).
Organising committee:
Vanessa Boschloos (Blue Shield Belgium), Annick Born (ICOM Wallonia-Brussels; Blue Shield Belgium), Alexandre Chevalier (ICOM Wallonia-Brussels), Christina Ceulemans (Blue Shield Belgium), Britt Claes (Art & History Museum), Chris Vastenhoud (Art & History Museum; ENIGMA); Nick Mols (Art & History Museum; ENIGMA)
For questions, please contact the Blue Shield Belgium secretariat at office@blueshieldbelgium.be
| Timing | PROGRAMME (version 22.10.2025) |
|---|---|
| 9.30 – 10.00 | Check-in and welcome coffee |
| 10.00-10.10 | Welcome address Prof. Em. Gustaaf Janssens (President, Blue Shield Belgium) |
| 10.10-12.15 | Morning session: Tracking the Movements of Objects Moderator: Dr Annick Born (ICOM Wallonia-Brussels; Blue Shield Belgium) |
| – European actions in the fight against trafficking of cultural goods [TBC], Alfio Gullotta (Policy Officer – Cultural Heritage, European External Action Service) – The role of the museum community, and ICOM in particular, in the fight against trafficking of cultural goods: current projects, by Dr Sophie Delepierre (Head of the Heritage Protection Department, ICOM, Paris) – The Art Research Team – Belgian Federal Judicial Police, by Dr Laurence Massy (Head of the Art Research Team, DGJ-DJSOC/ART, Belgian Ministry of Interior, Brussels) – The ENIGMA Project: Technology against trafficking and for safeguarding heritage sites and artefacts, by Dr Nick M. L. Mols & Chris Vastenhoud (ENIGMA, Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels) Questions from the audience | |
| 12.15- 13.15 | Networking lunch |
| 13.15-16.40 | Afternoon session: Emergency Evacuation in Times of Armed Conflict Moderator: Prof. Dr Vanessa Boschloos (Assistant manager, Blue Shield Belgium; Guest professor in Archaeology, Ghent University) |
| 13.15-13.20 | Impulse By the session moderator |
| 13.20-14.35 | Belgian premiere of The Oath of Cyriac, a docudrama on safeguarding the collection of the museum of Aleppo, Syria (in Arabic with French and English subtitles) |
| 14.35-14.55 | The Oath of Cyriac Genesis, by Olivier Bourgeois (Producer and Director of the docudrama) |
| Short break | |
| 15.10-16.40 | Panel discussion: Lessons from museums in conflict areas today and in the past Moderator: Dr Elke Selter (Blue Shield Belgium) – Dr Houmam Saad (former Adjunct Director, former Director of Excavations and Archaeological Studies, Syrian Directorate General of Antiquities, Damascus) – Andrea Kieskamp MA (Secretary, ICOM IC Ethics; President, Blue Shield Netherlands) – Jorijn Neyrinck MA (Vice-president, Flemish Commission for UNESCO; Director, Workshop Intangible Heritage) – Prof. Dr Marie-Sophie de Clippele (Assistant professor in Law, Université Saint-Louis, Brussels) Questions from the audience |
| 16.40-16.50 | Closing remarks Dr Alexandre Chevalier (President, ICOM Wallonia-Brussels) |
