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AMMAN — A needs assessment was recently carried out by the UNESCO Amman office, in coordination with the Ministry of Culture (MoC), to provide guidance on how to strengthen the state of archives’ preservation, a statement from the UN agency on Thursday said. 

Several national institutions were involved in the project, including the National Library, the Royal Film Commission, the Royal Court/Hashemite Documentation Centre, the University of Jordan’s Centre for Documents and Manuscripts.

“Jordan possesses a rich and incredibly diverse collection of archives which represent a significant testimony to the cultural and historical memory of the country, and the region as a whole,” the statement read.

Ray Edmondson, a specialist in audiovisual work and pioneer of film and sound archiving, facilitated two workshops focused on audiovisual archiving in Jordan in April and September this year.

Travelling to Jordan from his native country of Australia, Edmondson shared some of the best practices surrounding audiovisual archiving in Jordan and discussed the mapping of collections in Jordan while stressing the importance of safely storing and managing such collections, according to the statement. 

“The archives here are just incredible! We absolutely have to do something: it is good for the archives, it is good for the country,” he was quoted in the statement as saying.

He noted that Jordan’s newly introduced “Documents Law” represents a positive legal protection step in Jordan. The new law represents a major achievement in the realm of preservation of documentary heritage, offering “legal backing” to preservation efforts, the statement said. 

The discussion also touched on the sharing of information including institutional and organisational responsibilities (current and anticipated), for storage, preservation, access and promotion. 

In addition to his contributions to audiovisual archiving, Edmondson has also worked on UNESCO’s “Memory of the World” (MoW) programme. 

According to UNESCO, this archived heritage “is the memory of humankind but is under constant threat of disappearing forever. It reflects the diversity of languages, peoples and cultures. It is the mirror of the world and its memory.” 

The MoW programme was established by UNESCO in 1992 as a result of the increasing awareness of the precarious state of preservation of, and access to, documentary heritage in various parts of the world. 

Social upheaval, as well as severe lack of resources, have worsened problems which have existed for centuries, threatening precious collections and the loss of heritage, according to the statement. 

Since the global UNESCO MoW programme began over 25 years ago, some previously missing documentary heritage has been rediscovered and significant awareness has been raised on the importance of preservation efforts. 

Following the needs assessment conducted earlier this year, it was recommended that the MoW programme be initiated in Jordan for the first time and UNESCO has been working closely with the Ministry of Culture to explore this opportunity.

Currently, the preservation efforts under way in Jordan are somewhat scattered and a streamlined coordination mechanism is required. Some of the material found in Jordan is in danger of being damaged or destroyed if action is not taken to digitise, restore and preserve some of the collections, the statement stressed. 

The archive preservation efforts initiated this year by the UNESCO Amman office are in alignment with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which marks a substantial step forward for sustainable development across many fields and particularly for culture, the statement read. 

“World Day for Audiovisual Heritage” is marked annually on October 27 to raise general awareness of the need to preserve and safeguard important audiovisual material for future generations, and for urgent measures to be taken to conserve this heritage and ensure it remains accessible to the public now, and to future generations.

This year’s celebration was held under the theme “Discover, remember and share”, the statement concluded.

AMMAN — Hundreds of Jordanians experienced Japanese art at Yuko Kawaguchi’s “The Colour Stories” solo exhibition which concluded on Wednesday at the Royal Cultural Centre. 

The exhibition attracted local and international visitors, including Iraqi artist Hani Dallah Ali and Jordanian artists Samer Haddadin and Juman Nimri. 

The show featured colourful works of mixed media on canvas, as a tribute paid to the closeness between Jordan and Japan. 

“I visited Jordan for the first time 10 years ago and I loved it,” Kawaguchi told The Jordan Times at the centre, adding that “Jordanians are the most peaceful and modest people”.

Recurring motifs of birds and butterflies were hidden in the artist’s abstract work, with each piece offering a feast to the eyes. 

Traditional Japanese paper and acrylic, mixed with ceramic powder gave the paintings a highly detailed and layered look, dominated by hues of pink, blue and green. 

When asked about the message she is trying to convey, the artist said it revolves around feelings. “I really just want people to feel happy when they look at my paintings,” Kawaguchi said, adding that she believes “art has the power to connect people”.

“I do not speak English or Arabic very well, but I believe art is a language in itself, which speaks louder than words,” the artist stated. 

Kawaguchi, who has public collections available at the Jordan National Art Museum and Al Qasr Metropole Hotel in Amman, is the recipient of several awards such as the Asia Modern Art Exhibition Award, the Price of Fuji Television, and the price of Sankei newspaper. 

AMMAN — Using Arabic calligraphy to convey her personal feelings towards the difficulty of change and the relation to one’s home, artist Dia Batal said she uses Islamic artistic practices to create objects that explore the meaning of place in an age of migration and refuge. 

In “Lines Within”, her latest exhibition showcased at Jacaranda Images until October 31, the artist explores the sociopolitical topics of belonging and identity through a deeply intimate lens.

“This series of work is more personal, with a few of the pieces including elements from my own family history such as routes of exile my family took, quotes from my late grandmother and pictures of my father and uncle ‘Sae’ed & Hasan’ from old family albums,” Batal told The Jordan Times via e-mail.

Forced to leave her home in Palestine and never able to return, Batal’s grandmother Palestinian heritage strongly influenced the artist’s work, which constantly refers to the idea of a homeland, depicted through fragmented narratives of a journey of displacement. 

Batal, who calls herself a “spatial designer”, uses 2D artworks including silk screen prints, works on paper and metal objects to shed a contemporary light on concerns of displacement.

“In ‘Lines Within’ we can sense that Batal is experiencing a critical time of change, as a new mother on one hand and as an Arab expatriate to the UK on the other,” Barbara Rowell, owner of Jacaranda told The Jordan Times at the gallery.

“Exploring the concept of homeland is especially relevant for her, as she is raising her two young children in a country other than the one she grew up in. She uses art as a learning resource to teach them about their heritage,” she said, referring to one of her piece using alphabet letters to remember the names of Palestinian towns before 1948.

“She used tools such as the alphabet or pictures of birds to introduce the sense of identity at a young age,” Rowell noted.

This sense of identity is embodied in a central piece in the exhibition “On Being”. This large metallic structure reads the words of noted Mahmoud Darwish “Be true to yourself wherever you are” in Arabic calligraphy.

“Although most of the topics I am interested in are context specific, inspired by my surrounding environment, they are also universal topics which we all experience as humans: love, motherhood, death, mourning, migration and the meaning of home, etc....,” the artist said.

The idea of staying true to “who you are and where you come from” is infused in all of Batal’s pieces, who stressed that she sees home as “an internal orientation”.

Asked about the influence of arts on societies, Batal responded: “I definitely think that art is a major contributor to societies at multiple levels. Not only can arts and culture illuminate lives and enrich our emotional world, it is important to realise the larger impact it could have on wellbeing, education and economy.”

She added: “Art can have a major role through documentation, therapy, reflections in order to keep some sort of sanity amid the chaos we are currently experiencing in the Arab world.”

Batal’s work has been showcased in solo and collective exhibitions in London, New York, Beirut, Sharjah and Amman. 

AMMAN — During a lecture last week titled “Who Were the People in the Neolithic Black Desert?” held at the American Centre of Oriental Research (ACOR), American scholar Gary Rollefson addressed the causes of population growth in the Black Desert of eastern Jordan.

He examined the reasons for the 10 to 20-fold increase of the population of the Black Desert around 6,600BC, as well as the origins of the people who lived there.

According to Rollefson, who is an emeritus professor of anthropology at Whitman College and the National Endowment for Humanities Fellow at ACOR, 6,600BC marked a crucial turning point as the population of the basalt desert switched from hunters and gatherers to more sedentary groups who developed a new subsistence economy. They then became hunter-herders who focused on hunting gazelle and herding sheep and goats, he explained.

The scholar described how the modern landscape of the arid basalt desert used to be a place where semi-nomadic populations built permanent yet seasonally occupied dwellings at Wisad Pools at the eastern edge of the Black Desert, in the Wadi Al Qattafi at the western edge, and at several other sizeable settlements in between.

“Furthermore, there is evidence that indicate a more humid and more vegetated environment, a grassland that thrived until the end of the Early Bronze Age around 2,000 BC,” he said, adding “the change of the environment in the Black Desert was both caused by the climate change and by human activity, probably as a consequence of overgrasing and a dramatic drop in rainfall.”

“It was not simply due to the removal of vegetation by voracious sheep and goats but the breaking of top soil crust by literally thousands of hooves, exposing the top soil to water erosion, with even more damaging impact and to deflating winds,” the anthropologist explained.

Rollefson also discussed the origin of people who populated the area of the Black Desert, exploring three predominant hypotheses.

According to some archaeologists, domesticated caprines were “adopted” from western farmers by badia hunter-gatherers, leading to increased population growth in the harra, he said, stressing however the “many weaknesses” carried in this hypothesis.

The second hypothesis claims the existence of two populations in the harra “one that has its origins in farming settlements, but remained close to home, and the other that developed as it was mentioned in the first hypothesis”, the scholar explained, noting that this hypothesis implies that there was an intersection between two territories where populations bartered their goods.

For Rollefson, this hypothesis also has a weakness insofar as it does not explain the suddenness and the importance of the population growth, nor does it provide criteria to distinguish between the two populations or reasons why there were territorial boundaries if the size of the group had remained small.

The third hypothesis, which Rollefson believes to be the most accurate, states that in order to relieve pressure of goat and sheep herding on the farmland, part of the population took caprines away from their original settlements in the western part of Jordan and went to eastern badia during growing seasons, returning to settlements after the harvest until mid-autumn.

The reason for the dramatic increase in the population of the Black Desert was a major decrease of rainfall in the farming areas, and around the major settlements such as Ain Ghazal, Basta, and Kharaysan (between Jerash and Zarqa).

The combination of the drier climate and the exhausted soil made it impossible to feed the immense populations of the megasites, Rollefson said, noting that, altogether, up to 20,000 farmer-herders were forced to leave the permanent farming towns, most of whom took their sheep and goats east into the rich grasslands of the Black Desert.

The anthropologist finally suggested the presence of many different populations in the Black Desert in view of highly contrasting architectural traditions, difference in hunting practices, marked variability in group sizes and a noticeable degree of sedentism, all of which indicate heterogeneous groups in the basalt desert.

AMMAN — The State Security Court (SSC) on Wednesday began the hearing of seven defendants who allegedly attacked security forces and gendarmes during a security crackdown to arrest a wanted man in Maan in June 2016, which resulted in the death of the man's two brothers, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The State Security Prosecution accused the seven defendants of carrying out terrorist acts using weapons and explosives that led to the death of a person and causing damage to public transportation.

The court adjourned the session till Monday to allow sufficient time for the revision of the case.

According to the indictment, the accused and his two deceased brothers are Daesh supporters living in Maan and they are wanted by security forces. The court statement added that the other six defendants are closely associated with the first defendant and his two deceased brothers.

In 2015, the six other defendants, allegedly used to provide shelter for the first defendant and his deceased brothers, and helped them to hide. During that time period, the first defendant and his deceased brothers were allegedly preparing weapons and explosives, which they hid in the fifth defendant's house, Petra reported.

On June 15, 2015, while the Gendarmes conducted a raid in Maan in search for the first defendant and his two brothers and other defendants, the others involved allegedly monitored the security movements and informed the first defendant and his two brothers of the Gendarmes arrival at their hideout.

The first defendant and his deceased brothers reportedly used explosives against the security forces. There was an exchange of fire between the security personnel and defendants, which led to the death of the first defendant's two brothers, according to Petra.

AMMAN — Minister of Social Development Hala Lattouf on Wednesday said strong collaboration should be maintained between the government and civil society organisations working on gender issues.

“We constantly strive to support and empower the civil society and have allocated JD2 million annually for this purpose,” Lattouf said.

The minister’s remarks were made during a one-day workshop on “Strengthening Capacities of Women Organisations” that was organised by the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe, in partnership with Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD).

However, the minster was quick to add that “the government wants to ensure that the support for civil organisations is equal and should reach all the institutes that work on promoting human rights and gender equality”.

“We have to focus, in collaboration with the civil society, on some of the main problems in our society such as early marriage, drugs, the high unemployment rate among women, the modest rate of women in the political and economic spheres and the gender gap in the salaries,” Lattouf told the gathering.

The minister pointed out to a number of positive legislative changes related to women that occurred in Jordan, as well as success stories in other fields such as judges, inventors, ministers, engineers among many other professions that increased their presence in the social and political fields.

“These successes could not have been achieved without the noticeable collaboration between the government and civil and grassroots organisations,” Lattouf told the gathering.

Lattouf called on the organisers and participants, most of whom are experts in the gender and civil society movement, to “make use of the workshop and come up with recommendations that the ministry is happy to implement if possible”.

The workshop aimed at encouraging the exchange of knowledge and practices between Jordan and the European and Southern Mediterranean countries on empowerment of women and the promotion of women’s rights through strengthening capacities of women organisations, said ARDD co-founder and CEO Samar Muhareb.

The workshop also aims to ensure dialogue and articulation between various parties of the quadrilogue, as well as emphasising the contribution of women’s civil society organisations and issuing practical recommendations to achieve gender equality in the European and Southern Mediterranean regions, Muhareb told the gathering

“Working for the empowerment of women in Jordan is one of the core pillars of ARDD’s mission. So, building the capacities of women-led organisations is essential,” Muhareb added.

While Jordanian civil society can do a lot in this regard, Muhareb continued, support is also needed from “government institutions and the international community, like the Council of Europe. This is why we must engage in dialogue and exchange ideas on achieving progress together.”

President of the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe Jean-Marie Heydt added during the opening session that “it remains essential to listen to the needs of the beneficiaries and to learn from their experiences and benefit from the expertise of those who are working in the field in contact with women and women organisations”.

It is then, with a particular attention to the context and needs of beneficiaries, from global challenges to geographical specificities, related to “political and strategic recommendations, that the North-South Centre envisages its action”, Heydt maintained.

Senator Sawsan Majali also addressed the gathering saying that “the civil society is not united and most of the organisations work individually rather than collaborating on important issues. All their work revolves around funding”.

Another obstacle, according to Majali, is that the “strategies are drafted at all levels, including women, but we fail in applying them”.

That is why it is important for civil society to collaborate among each other and with the government on certain topics to ensure success, she added.

EU Ambassador to Jordan Andrea Matteo Fontana spoke at a panel on “Promoting Participatory and Transversal Approach: The Jordanian Case” saying that women’s organisations shoulder a vital role in achieving inclusive sustainable development.

“They are also one of the key building blocks necessary to ensure empowering women and strengthening their voice and participation at all levels of society to eventually enhance and protect their rights,” Fontana told the gathering.

Fontana added that the EU realises the challenges facing women in Jordan, specifically when “we see the low participation rates in different key spheres of life, including labour market, decision-making process, as well as political and public participation”.

Accordingly, support to women and gender equality has been a prominent feature of the EU Support Programme in Jordan, according to Fontana.

He pointed to one of many civil society programmes being supported by the EU under the title “Support to Civil Society in Jordan” that aims at strengthening democracy in Jordan through increased participation of citizens in political life and through increased independence, quality, credibility of media and CSOs.

“As part of this project, around 60 per cent of total civil society grantees have implemented interventions related to women empowerment in different areas of Jordan, while around 25 per cent have implemented interventions around political, social, cultural and human rights,” according to Fontana.

Meanwhile, Jerash Deputy Wafa Bani Mustafa said that “the government is still not serious about including women in decision-making positions despite the tireless work of the civil society in this regard”.

“We want our government to really believe in gender equality and not to appoint women in few decision-making positions. Women should be present in all spheres of life in equal roles as men,” Bani Mustafa stressed.

The event was also supported by the Jordanian National Commission for Women and financed by the government of Portugal.

AMMAN — Seven social media users and journalists were held in detention on Wednesday after allegedly publishing a corruption accusation against a senior official, a senior official source said.

Amman Prosecutor Abdullah Abul Ghanam decided to detain the seven after the senior official filed a complaint against them that they "were publishing false accusations against him on social media", the senior official source told The Jordan Times.

"The seven were detained because they failed to show up on time for questioning when they were summoned by Abul Ghanam" the official source said.

The source added that no charges have been levelled against the seven yet and "the case is in no way against freedom of the press".

"It is just a case against individuals who used social media to spread false, slanderous and defaming information," the senior official source added.

The seven individuals are expected to be questioned by Abul Ghanam on Thursday, the source added.

Jordan Press Association President Rakan Saaydeh was unavailable to comment on the incident Wednesday night.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday attended the King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD) annual ceremony, where announcements were made for plans to set up more digital gaming labs in the country and launch new cycles of projects to support and reward the talented youth and innovators.

His Majesty also toured an exhibition on the sidelines of the ceremony that displayed several success stories and projects benefiting and supported by KAFD in fields of research, innovation, virtual reality, heritage, environment, development and community services, among others.

Addressing the attendees at the ceremony in the presence of Royal family members and senior officials and experts from various sectors, Imad Fakhoury, chairman of KAFD’s board of trustees, said KAFD is currently working on establishing new digital gaming labs in Zarqa, two others in Muta University in Karak and another at Karak Innovation Centre following the success witnessed at gaming labs already established in Amman, Irbid, Zarqa and Maan.

Fakhoury added that KAFD will also launch several projects in 2018 including the fifth edition of the King Abdullah II Award for Youth Innovation and Achievement and a new cycle of a project to support talented Jordanians. In addition, a mobile digital gaming lab will be launched to reach all areas across the country next year.

Highlighting the role KAFD plays to ensure the effective participation of the Jordanian youth upon directives by His Majesty, Fakhoury said KAFD has created around 65,000 job opportunities across Jordan through its various projects and initiatives.

The number is expected to rise to 100,000 in 2018, Fakhoury added.

This year, the fund has supported nine projects that address the needs of local communities including one to combat extremism on the web and another providing equipment for the blind.

He added that Oasis500, a startup incubator, has invested JD4.1 million in 122 fledgling businesses in the field of ICT and creative industries, adding that these startups have attracted investments totalling JD33.6 million and created more than 600 jobs.

He also referred to Forus.jo portal, which includes a section listing all microfinance institutions and opportunities for the benefit of young Jordanians.

Referring to KAFD-affiliated All Jordan Youth Commission, he said the entity has created some 26,700 opportunities for young Jordanians through 516 activities it held this year.

Fakhoury also highlighted the fund’s projects to develop the eastern shores of the Dead Sea through several projects to support the tourism sector.

During the celebration, a documentary was screened highlighting several success stories of young Jordanians and projects they implemented in fields of technology, volunteerism, industry, food, community service and others.

KAFD was established by a Royal Decree in 2001 as an NGO to support the local community by driving human and infrastructure development.

The fund works to develop key sectors in Jordan and improve local standards of living for all segments of the community through initiatives targeting individuals as well as the public, private and civil society sectors, according to its website.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday received a telephone call from Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas Political Bureau, who acquainted the King with the recently signed Palestinian reconciliation accord.

 The King congratulated Haniyeh on signing the reconciliation agreement and reiterated Jordan’s full support for the Palestinians, according to a Royal Court statement.

 His Majesty also stressed the importance of unifying efforts in defence of “our rights in Jerusalem and in supporting the Palestinian issue”.

 “This is a priority for us in Jordan and should remain so for all Arab and Muslim countries in order to take a unified stance”, King Abdullah said.

 Haniyeh outlined the difficult conditions the region is going through, stressing that “Palestine is Palestine and Jordan is Jordan, and our security is one.”

 The Hamas leader commended His Majesty’s historic role in protecting Al Aqsa Mosque and Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.

He said Hamas is serious about moving forward in unifying Palestinian factions, in a manner that fulfils the Palestinians’ hopes and aspirations.

AMMAN — A group of leading young people presented to HRH Crown Prince Hussein on Wednesday models of their creative projects hosted by FikrTech "an innovation and technology collective for youth by youth", organised by the Crown Prince Foundation (CPF) at the Ras Al Ain Hangar.

The initiative, the first of its kind by CPF, is open for all youth free of charge from October 25, till October 29, from 10am-9pm, and interested individuals can register via Sajilni.com. 

It aims to reach out to youth through workshops in different fields of technology.  There will be 20 speakers and influencers to talk about their experience in the creative technology field, Nour Abu Al Ragheb, acting CEO of the foundation, said.  

Abu Al Ragheb noted that CPF is looking forward to launching similar initiatives in the southern and northern regions of Jordan, adding that the foundation seeks to give opportunities to all youth in the Kingdom to showcase their creativity and share their ideas with the world. 

The foundation’s executive stressed that CPF targets for the purposes of the initiative all private, governmental and official institutions, including the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education. They are willing to take in any ideas as long as it fits their strategy and criteria, and they provide youth with the equipments to unleash their innovative minds.

Abdulrahman Asfour, a graphic design graduate, was one of the speakers at the opening event. He outlined his Auto-Art, a “one-of-a-kind project” in which he uses scrap materials from bikes, cars and aircrafts turning them into furniture and custom pieces.

His project started at his home garage and now he has his own workspace. The young man worked with King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD), and was sponsored by Red Bull and Harley Davidson.

There are 10 workshops going on for four days, where other CPF initiatives showcased their achievements and plan, including NASA, FabLab and Masar.
CPF has been sending students to intern at NASA in Silicon Valley, California, since 2014 and to the NASA interns booth/workshop at FikrTech, said Muhy Eddin Za’ter, who is currently studying electrical engineering. He explained what a NASA intern does during his work at the agency and the process of application and the impact of the experience on the trainees.

Noor Al Khatib of FabLab, an electrical engineering student, told The Jordan Times about the project, which is basically a laboratory that assembles rapid prototypes ready to be displayed and used immediately for any technology project. The laboratory offers all facilities and materials for students and youth interested to work there. FabLab will be launching in the first quarter of 2018, Khatib said.  

Another electrical engineering student, Hamza Issa, who was at Masar workshop, explaining about the initiative team’s experience in building Jordan’s miniature satellite (JY1-SAT) project, whose design was suggested by former NASA Jordanian interns. He added that the CubeSat Satellite which is the first of its kind in Jordan carries the name JY1-SAT to commemorate His Majesty the Late King Hussein, for his radio call was JY1. The Crown Prince recorded an audio message that will be later uploaded to the satellite’s memory and broadcast in space.