Istanbul workshop in memory of Martin Bachmann asks who should care for heritage

The German Archaeological Institute in Istanbul hosts a one-day workshop on Thursday 22 October 2026 under the title "Who Cares? Rethinking Heritage Protection Through Care". It is held jointly with the British Institute at Ankara, which listed the event, and the Netherlands Institute in Turkey (NIT). Sessions run from 09:30 to 17:30 Istanbul time (07:30 to 15:30 in London).

The meeting is held in memory of Martin Bachmann (1964–2016), second director of the DAI's Istanbul department from 2006 to 2016, who was closely involved in conservation projects at Pergamon and Oinoanda. The organisers single out his concern with the long-term preservation of monuments through maintenance and with keeping craft traditions alive.

The argument

The starting point is that protection is usually described in legal and technical terms, as if the value of a monument were obvious to everyone. The organisers propose looking instead at care: the upkeep, repair, recording and advocacy that a site needs year after year, the people who do that work, and the disagreements between states, local communities, researchers, owners and international bodies over what proper care means. They also put on the table whether caring for a place always means preserving it, or can allow change and even loss.

Speakers come from archaeology, anthropology, geography, law and heritage studies, and the Türkiye material centres on the foreign research institutes themselves and how they share responsibility with the Turkish heritage administration and the communities around their sites.

The programme

The morning session, on how heritage care can be conceived, has five invited speakers. Claire Nolan speaks on heritage loss, cultural amnesia and deep stewardship in Ireland; Andreas Pantazatos on the heritage of mental health care; Marit van Dijk on responsibilities in heritage work; Zaydoon Zaid on Yemen, from emergency protection towards a lasting culture of care; and Güldem Baykal Büyüksaraç on forests as heritage, sacred commons and care that goes unrecognised.

In the afternoon the DAI, BIAA and NIT hold one joint discussion, each institute bringing examples from its own work in Türkiye. A closing roundtable from 16:00 to 17:30 draws the day together, with the speakers, the three institutes, representatives of the Turkish heritage administration and other heritage organisations taking part.

Registration is by email to lectures.istanbul@dainst.de. The venue is the DAI building at İnönü Caddesi 10, 34437 Istanbul.