An exhibition highlights the great cultural capital of heritage in Mediterranean countries
22 May 2025 | Press release
The exhibition opens in Barcelona on May 26 after a day of debates with experts on the challenges of heritage management in the region
The numerous sites, monuments and places of great heritage interest found in the Mediterranean constitute a great cultural capital that is fragile and must be preserved to face contemporary challenges from a dialogue and sustainability perspective.
This is the main message of the exhibition “The Mediterranean. A sea of heritages. Dialogue, diversity and fragility”, organised by the IEMed and opening on Monday 26 May at 6pm in the cloister of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans. It will be displayed until October 31st.
Daniel Duran Duelt, historian and curator of the exhibition, will be speaking to the media on Monday 26 May, at 11 am.
Duelt explains that the exhibition highlights that the cultural capital that the Mediterranean treasures in material, natural and intangible heritage can be a driving factor for sustainable development that faces current challenges in social, economic, environmental and cultural aspects. At the same time, the exhibition also underlines the need to protect a heritage that is the result of centuries-old human interactions and great cultural diversity.
The exhibition is structured in 17 panels and 4 thematic areas (heritage of wealth and fragility, human footprint, space of interactions, a world in transition) and displays a large map with the more than 300 assets of the Mediterranean inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, as well as 48 photographs of some of the most representative examples of the region’s tangible and intangible heritage. Quotes from writers and historians such as Ferdinand Braudel, Paul Balta, Goethe and Amin Maalouf highlight the importance of all this heritage.
The opening of the exhibition will take place just after a day of debates with national and international experts on the richness and diversity of the Mediterranean’s heritage and the main challenges it faces. Among others, participating are Marc Mayer, professor emeritus of Latin Philology (UB); Desirée A.L. Quagliarotti, researcher, Institute for Studies on the Mediterranean; Isber Sabrine (Syria), CSIC researcher and president of the International Heritage for Peace, and Faïka Bejaoui, president of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS).
Organized by the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), with the collaboration of the Institute of Catalan Studies, Rehabimed and the Spanish Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and within the framework of the Barcelona edition of MONDIACULT 2025, the UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development.