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Jacques Dalibard

fl. 1974–1976 · Canada

Canadian restoration architect sent by UNESCO to Cyprus in the 1970s to look into the condition of cultural property, whose mission ended abruptly and whose 1976 report was later criticised.

Biography

Jacques Dalibard, a Canadian restoration architect, was sent by UNESCO to Cyprus. Kyriakos Nicolaou writes that he was to investigate conditions in the occupied zone and take protective measures, but that the mission ended abruptly without achieving its object1.

He wrote a report for UNESCO, Cyprus: Status of the conservation of cultural property (Paris, 1976)3. Summerer records that the report was later condemned as too favourable to the Turkish side2.

Life and work

  1. 1974
    Appointed by UNESCO as adviser for the cultural heritage of Cyprus, to help with conservation and restoration of cultural property.

    Cyprus

  2. 1975
    Inspected a number of sites in both the occupied territory and the Republic of Cyprus; access in the north was limited and newly pillaged sites such as Antiphonitis could not be inspected (the article cites Fielding 1976: 13). Van der Werff (1989) says he made several visits there in 1975.

    Cyprus

  3. 1975–1976
    Nicolaou records that his mission ended abruptly without achieving its object; the JEAMS article says he was sent home under pressure from the Turkish side after proposing a permanent UNESCO presence.

    CyprusNicolaou 1976, p. 34

  4. 1976
    UNESCO report 'Cyprus: Status of the conservation of cultural property' (Paris). Described by the JEAMS article as heavily edited; the 1989 Council of Europe memorandum (quoted there) says the commissioned report was never published. Summerer (2023) says Dalibard's UNESCO report was condemned as too Turkish-friendly.

    ParisSummerer 2023, p. 32, p. 47

On Ancient Cyprus

1 page

Sources

  1. 1.K. Nicolaou (1976). “Archaeology in Cyprus, 1969-76”. Archaeological Reports 22.
  2. 2.Lâtife Summerer (2023). “In Fear of Blacklisting. How the Division Shaped Archaeology in Cyprus”. New Approaches toward Recording, Preserving and Studying Cultural Heritage in Divided Cyprus. Kyrenia, ARUCAD Press.
  3. 3.J. Dalibard (1976). Cyprus: Status of the conservation of cultural property. Paris, UNESCO. Online