Speech by Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands

Speech | 07-03-2008

Ladies and gentlemen,

Look where we are... we're surrounded by some of the most beautiful objects in the world: furniture, jewellery and paintings - both antique and modern. Once a year the world comes to Maastricht to view, sell and buy the best that our cultures have produced.

We marvel at the artefacts that hold the key to our history, and our ancestors' creations make us humble. Every one of these pieces is much more than a mere object. They embody dreams and stories - they show the power of imagination and the quest for perfection. They enlighten us, excite us, draw us in. Think how shocked we'd be if they were to be lost or destroyed. To lose them would be to lose part of our past - our heritage.

Shock and outrage of this kind was triggered by the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, the pillaging of Mesopotamia's most valuable treasures from the Baghdad Museum, and the collapse of the citadel of Bam. And such disasters have taken place closer to home. The earthquake that smashed the frescoes in the St Francis basilica in Assisi; the flooding of Florence in the sixties and, more recently, of Dresden and Prague; the deliberate targeting of churches, mosques and monuments in former Yugoslavia, like the Mostar bridge and the castle in Vukovar.

Recalling these images brings us to the topic of today and the reason you have been invited here. We are grateful to the organisers of the TEFAF - who work actively to combat trade in stolen artefacts and preserve our cultural heritage - for the chance to present a unique initiative known as Cultural Emergency Response.

Sometimes all we can do is despair and accept the loss of unique cultural heritage. The destruction may be total or the local situation too hostile to intervene. But it is often possible to limit damage. The first step is rapid action to secure and stabilise a site. The second is to prevent further degradation.

Thus the key to successful intervention is speed - even more so when resources are limited. Members of local communities are the first to act after a crisis, before international aid is mobilised. Think of Omara Khan Massoudi who - with local support - saved many of the treasures of the Kabul national museum from gangs of looters and the Taliban. At such times, local people work together to save lives, and salvage what they can. Thanks to their strong motivation, and the fact that scope for reducing secondary damage and degradation is greatest just after a crisis, a well-targeted intervention can be highly effective.

And that's exactly what Cultural Emergency Response is about: bringing rapid financial support when it is most needed, where it has most impact, and when no other funds are available.

Why, you may ask, should you try to save works of art when people need shelter, food, and medicine? Why invest in culture when people may be dying? Understandable questions, to which I would give three answers.

First - and probably most essential - is that working to save a central monument or building with cultural and social value to the community greatly helps recovery after a crisis. We have discovered this through a number of CER activities. Cultural heritage represents - in a way that nothing else does - a community's link with its past, its collective memory and identity. Beside alleviating direct humanitarian needs it is important to rebuild the social fibre of the community, in which a mosque, synagogue, church or other key building plays a central role. Saving such a site means much more than just saving local, national or world heritage. It gives hope and consolation to stricken communities, and can help to restore their sense of identity and continuity.

Second: the destruction of cultural heritage is perceived as a fundamental loss. Creating and preserving cultural heritage is essential for the development of a country's cultural history. Cultural history gives individuals and societies a raison d'être - it confers respect and identity. As I said earlier, much can be done right after a crisis to prevent secondary damage and even permanent destruction. Measures include putting guards at archaeological sites and erecting makeshift roofs to protect the contents of churches, museums and libraries.

Third, CER operates alongside funds and organisations that tackle direct humanitarian needs. It is not about saving objects rather than people, but about saving both. Tus not: either/or but and/and.

Here, by way of example, are some images of this rescue and community spirit:

• The Library of the Central University in Baghdad; efforts centre on protecting the collection and allowing students to get back to their studies.
• The emergency restoration of the 14th century Mestassa mosque in Morocco was not just about preserving a building. It also acknowledged the Berber identity of the inhabitants of Mestassa.
• The Yu Aw synagogue in Herat Afghanistan, a remnant of the once vibrant Jewish community in this town, where Muslims now predominate. Working with the internationally oriented and Kabul-based Aga Khan Trust for Culture, CER was able to help rescue this sacred building.
• CER offered immediate support for the restoration of the Rao-Rao mosque in the Tanah Datar regency of West Sumatra. In consultation with a local heritage organisation, the mosque's management - with the backing of the Rao-Rao community - asked CER to help stabilise the roof and the supporting walls so that the community could safely resume worship. The Rao-Rao project again demonstrated the importance of involving local communities in reconstruction processes.
• In Imogiri, in South Central Java, CER provided immediate support for the rebuilding of a batik centre with workplaces, a temporary museum and a market, along with batik training workshops. Local residents could start producing batik again, so the project helped not only to preserve their cultural heritage, but also to promote their social and economic recovery.

I hope these images speak for themselves in expressing the value of cultural emergency response initiatives to local communities and in preserving global cultural heritage.

Deciding where to provide support and how to allocate funds is no easy task. As you may well imagine, this requires modesty, strong local networks and partners, and sensitivity about the context in which rebuilding takes place. You also need to work closely with other national and international emergency response efforts and to accept risks, as well as keeping red tape to a minimum. But I gladly leave it to Mr De la Rive Box to explain in more detail how the CER organises itself to mobilise local expertise and fulfils its objectives.

In conclusion, I would like to stress that saving cultural heritage is not just about safeguarding our past and protecting what is magnificent, impressive and beautiful - no matter how noble that is. There's much more to it than that. Rescuing cultural heritage is also crucial in helping to rebuild stricken communities. CER, for its part, can only scratch the surface. It hopes to inspire and become involved in other, more far-reaching efforts to ensure that cultural heritage is given its proper priority.

Before you return to viewing all the beautiful objects at the TEFAF, spare a thought for how lucky we are that they've survived - sometimes against the odds - allowing us to admire them today and preserve them for tomorrow. Your help in making this possible is essential.

Thank you.