IV Forum for the Debate on the Maritime Heritage of the Mediterranean Malta, Malta 1997

In the wake of the successful 1994, 1995 and 1996 meetings held at the Maritime Museum of Barcellona, the Museums Department and the Maritime Museum of Malta have taken the onus of organising the forthcoming IV FORUM FOR THE DEBATE ON THE MARITIME HERITAGE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. All sessions of the FORUM will be held at the Maritime Museum, Vittoriosa on the 12, 13 and 14 November 1997.

The event will be officially inaugurated by the Hon. Evarist Bartolo, Minister of Education and National Culture. The opening ceremony will take place on the 12th November at 09.00 hrs in the newly set up Functions/Lecture Hall at the Maritime Museum.

THE FORUM FOR THE DEBATE ON THE MARITIME HERITAGE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN was originally initiated by the BARCELLONA MARITIME MUSEUM 1994. This annual international conference has now established a direct line of communication between Museums, Institutions and individuals concerned with the safeguard, conservation and dissemination of the Mediterranean's heterogeneous and vast Maritime Cultural Heritage. The FORUM is, in effect, proving an effective vehicle in bringing about closer collaboration and a better understanding between the different peoples and nations that cohabit the Mediterranean basin.

Due to a complexity of reasons much of the rich Mediterranean Cultural Heritage is in danger of being irretrievably lost. The FORUM aims at precisely finding ways and solutions to this problem and foment a spirit of collaboration between all those concerned. It provides the right ambience in which all those concerned can air their views, table their problems and make new and useful contacts.

The 1997 FORUM at the Maritime Museum of Malta will be attended by 70 participants representing cultural institutions and museums from 10 different countries.

THE IV FORUM FOR THE DEBATE ON THE MARITIME HERITAGE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN is being organised within the ambit of a project within the EU RAPHAEL PROGRAMME in which the Maritime Museum of Malta is actively in partnership with the Maritime Museum of Barcellona.