The Penn Cultural Heritage Center Presents:

“Saving Haiti’s Heritage”

Speaker: Dr. Richard Kurin, Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture, Smithsonian Institution


The Haiti Cultural Recovery Project was initiated by the Smithsonian Institution in the weeks following the devastating January 12, 2010 earthquake. Its purpose was to rescue, recover, safeguard, and help restore Haitian artwork, artifacts, documents, media, and architectural features damaged and endangered by the earthquake and its aftermath, as well as train Haitians in conservation and collections management, so they could take on that responsibility in the years ahead. The Smithsonian forged partnerships with the Government of Haiti, Haitian NGOs, American and international organizations and established a Cultural Recovery Center in the former UNDP building and compound in Bourdon, Port-au-Prince. The Cultural Recovery Center has employed dozens of Haitians, utilized scores of volunteer Smithsonian and U.S. conservators and other experts over an 18-month period, and has now saved more than 30,000 Haitian cultural items from dozens of public and non-profit collections, restored more than 100 Haitian national treasures, and provided basic training to more than 100 different Haitians involved in the cultural sector. Items saved include the surviving world-renowned Biblical wall murals from the Holy Trinity Cathedral, the entire paintings collection from the famed Centre d’Art, rare books documenting Haiti’s past, Taino artifacts, sculpted busts of Haiti’s founding fathers, contemporary art from the devastated National Palace, and historical documents from Haiti’s war of independence. This talk describes the project, examines American and international responses to cultural crises, and the implications for future work.

Dr. Kurin serves as the Smithsonian Institution’s Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture with responsibility for most of its museums including the National Museum of American History, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Freer Gallery, the Hirshhorn, the Cooper-Hewitt, the Anacostia,  the National Museum of African Art,  the National Postal Museum, and others including the soon to be built National Museum of African American History and Culture. He also oversees research and outreach programs, including the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, the Archives of American Art, the Smithsonian Latino Center and the Asian Pacific American Program. He also has responsibilities for the Smithsonian’s Libraries, Archives, Fellowships, Collections and International Programs, and has overseen the Smithsonian’s Traveling Exhibition Service, The Smithsonian Associates, and the Smithsonian Affiliates—a network of 165 museums across the U.S. Additionally, he oversees the Smithsonian Channel, a cable television partnership with Showtime and the institution’s major international education and training initiatives.

This lecture is free and open to the public.

The Penn Cultural Heritage Center Spring Lecture Series is sponsored, in part, by the PoGo Family Foundation

For more information, please visit http://www.pennchc.org/PennCHC/HOME.html