Tim Darvill, professor of archaeo-logy at Bournemouth University, who has been described as one of Britain's leading prehistorians, will be in Malta later this month to deliver a keynote speech during a conference titled Rethinking Cultural Heritage: Challenges And Dilemmas.
The international conference will be held by the Institute of Conservation and Management of Cultural Heritage (ICMCH) on September 15 in the St Angelo Hall at the Maritime Museum, Vittoriosa.
Heritage Malta's corporate communications manager, Pierre Cassar, said that when the call for papers and posters was published, there was an overwhelming response from international participants.
The conference has already attracted recent graduates and postgraduates from Italy, Greece, Turkey, Portugal, Britain and Malta who will be presenting papers and research in a variety of disciplines related to cultural heritage.
These include archaeology, architecture, conservation/restoration, history of art, geography, management, tourism studies, urban planning, chemistry and biology, geo-archaeology, photography and other documentation practices.
Among the presentations that have already been submitted are papers dealing with dark tourism (a branch of tourism associated with the lure of sites connected to death and suffering), visitor and guide interactions in museums and the Acropolis in political Greek cartoons.
ICMCH director Martina Caruana said the conference should be regarded as a launching pad for students. Dr Caruana stressed that it is not easy for students to be given the chance to present an academic paper in public. The upcoming conference is therefore an opportunity to give visibility to future professionals, as well as establish relevant contacts with stakeholders in the field. The conference is being supported by the University of Malta, the University of Bournemouth and Midsea Books.
It is being coordinated by Christian Debono, Helga Borg and Michael Portelli, three students who are in the process of completing their Master's degrees in Cultural Heritage Management.
The ICMCH has been collaborating with Bournemouth University for several years and this initiative is linked to the Institute's pilot Master of Arts in Cultural Heritage Management.
The conference registration fee has been set at a nominal €25 per participant. This is inclusive of all conference documentation as well as lunch and coffee breaks.
Registrations will be received until next Wednesday. The registration form and further information on the conference can be found on Heritage Malta's website www.heritagemalta.org, and all queries on conference arrange-ments should be addressed to icmch@heritagemalta.org.