The expatriate researcher Hala Kasaks launches the Damascene Heritage Archive website

Ottawa-Sana

The Syrian expatriate researcher Hala Qasas launched a website entitled The Damascene Heritage Archive Project, with the aim of making it an open database in which all interested researchers can contribute to its content and benefit from what was published in it.

About this project, Sana Cultural had the following dialogue with the researcher, stories?

1- What is the purpose of launching the Damascene Heritage Archive project?

The project is an institution that was launched from Canada with the aim of documenting the heritage of Damascus, both tangible and intangible, as it began its work by launching a research documentary website.

And because the city of Damascus has an open nature that includes various types of fabric, I left membership open to all within this project with the aim of exchanging knowledge in the hope of enriching our mutual understanding of the history of Damascus.

2- How did this idea come to reality and who helped you in that?

She established the site individually and it took nearly six months, from creating the site, designing the visual identity, arranging and tabulating the sections and other technical operations, and then contacted many researchers interested in documenting the heritage of Damascus, for example Imad Al-Armashi, who has great merit in documenting the architectural monuments of this city And Elias Boulad, who writes about its history with regard to its churches and flags, from Christian clerics, Nabila al-Qusi, who documents Damascus flags and other researchers.

The door is open for any researcher who wishes to publish his articles on the Damascene Heritage Archive website, as the site has been linked to social media pages, where all articles will be shared successively, and a series of videos, not exceeding two minutes, about Damascene archaeological sites, professions and arts will be prepared to be shown on the site's YouTube channel, and this will strengthen the site and help its spread And attract the recipient.

3- To whom is this site directed and what sections will it contain, and will it be in more than one language?

The site contains six main doors, which are historical buildings, and it documents all the archaeological buildings in Damascus of all ages, including mosques, churches, schools, taverns, baths, soil, cemeteries, markets and cafes, in addition to houses and palaces.

As for the second chapter, it is the folklore and includes everything related to the arts presented by the Damascenes, such as the visual theater of shadow fiction or narrated, such as the storyteller, music and other arts, with lighting on the names of the families that are famous for.

The third chapter is for traditional crafts and includes all the professions that Damascenes were famous for, who was mentioned by the scholar Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi in his book “Dictionary of Damascene Industries” with documentary images in black and white to enrich the reader.

Chapter Four chronicles figures and flags of Damascene personalities or who passed through this city and had a great impact on it, including princes, governors, clerics, scholars and notables, in addition to the gentlemen of Damascus.

The fifth chapter contains a reading in a book of analytical articles about books that talked about the history and heritage of Damascus, with the possibility of downloading some new and old books and sources that any researcher can benefit from.

The sixth chapter, Image and Commentary, is a rich archive of images that includes old black and white photos, and others that have been colored by professional specialists and modern colored photos, with a simple explanation of each image and specifying its source, identity and location.

5- Have you received financial or technical support from any party, and is there a possibility to contribute to the content of this site, whether from individuals or institutions?

So far, I have not received any financial or technical support, and I am trying to communicate with the parties concerned with heritage to obtain financial support.

6- What are the goals that you seek to achieve through the website in the short and long term?

My primary goal is to create a research site based on articles and research documented with approved sources and references, and to facilitate finding information for the interested reader without the need to acquire references and sources, especially since obtaining it has become difficult due to the spread of many heritage researchers in different countries.

Hala Qasas is a Syrian writer and researcher in Damascene heritage and Islamic architecture. She has five books and several research papers published in refereed Arab research journals.

Mohammed Samir Tahan