24 January 2019
With the aim of preserving the human and architectural heritage of the capital, Bahrain Authority for Culture & Antiquities holds the inaugural meeting of "Manama Calls"
The Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA) held the inaugural meeting of the Manama Calls initiative on Thursday, January 24, 2019. The meeting, which took place at the Bahrain National Museum Lecture Hall, was attended by Her Excellency Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, President of BACA, and Sheikh Hisham bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa, Governor of the Capital Governorate, as well a number of officials, media, and residents of Manama.
Her Excellency Shaikha Mai delivered a welcoming address in which she stressed importance of looking after the architectural, social and cultural heritage of Manama, noting that getting the city inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site can raise its profile and increase the number of visitors and tourists interested in culture looking for something exceptional and unique during their visit to the region, coupled with BACA’s initiative to transform the area into one of the leading creative cities worldwide.
Her Excellency went on to add that the city’s historical buildings and their identity should be preserved due to their irreplaceable architectural heritage value. She praised the support received from the private sector and the cooperation of several families from Manama BACA to preserve the unique architectural heritage of their homes.
Her Excellency’s address was followed by a joint presentation by the Architect and Cultural Heritage Specialist Mrs. Miray Wosinski and Eng. Fatema Abdali in which they talked about BACA’s efforts in the study and restoration of some of Manama's landmarks and economic and cultural activities that take place there in parallel.
They also highlighted some of the key services BACA provides to the residents of Manama, including reviewing requests concerning historical and ancient homes and helping people preserve their architectural heritage, as well as receiving emergency requests and daily personal communication with the residents.
This meeting and call to save the history and traditional features and landmarks of Manama, which are vanishing day after day. These include abandoned historical schools, shuttered shops and empty beautiful houses deserted by their original residents.
The layout of its neighborhoods and architectural composition of Manama stand out for their intricate details which bear the indelible prints of the cultures that lived there and made it a mosaic of cultural and religious coexistence. This, in tur, enhances the chances of BACA successfully getting Manama inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site following its inclusion in the preliminary list last year.
“Manama Calls” brings to light BACA’s celebrations of several noteworthy jubilees over the course of this year under the theme “From One Jubilee to the Next", including the first centennial of the establishment of Manama Municipality, one of the first municipalities in the Arab world and the first in the GCC region, as well as the start of formal education through the American Mission School 120 years ago and numerous other sites and landmarks of historical significance and value.
