HomeCultural and Heritage Property and Products in Africa, MENA Region and Beyond

Cultural and Heritage Property and Products in Africa, MENA Region and Beyond

Biens et produits culturels et patrimoniaux en Afrique, Région MENA et au-delà

الممتلكات والمنتجات الثقافية والتراثية في إفريقيا ومنطقة الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا وغيرها

Development, Circulation, Framework and Emerging Technologies

Développement, circulation, cadres et technologies émergentes

التنمية، التداول، الأطر والتقنيات الناشئة

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Published on Thursday, August 28, 2025

Abstract

Français English العربية

The School of Information Sciences organizes the second edition of The International Conference on Cultural Engineering and Heritage Development. Already anchored in the interdisciplinary scientific line of this manifestation, the theme of this second edition focuses on the development and the circulation of cultural and heritage property and products while facing the digital technologies and artificial intelligence. It questions the framework and the issues of this dynamic and movement as well as the issues raised by the use of digitalization, technologies and artificial intelligence tools in the fields of culture, art and cultural heritage.

Announcement

Français English العربية

Argument

The School of Information Sciences organizes the second edition of The International Conference on Cultural Engineering and Heritage Development. Already anchored in the interdisciplinary scientific line of this manifestation, the theme of this second edition focuses on the development and the circulation of cultural and heritage property and products while facing the digital technologies and artificial intelligence. It questions the framework and the issues of this dynamic and movement as well as the issues raised by the use of digitalization, technologies and artificial intelligence tools in the fields of culture, art and cultural heritage.

By focusing on this theme, research of the second conference edition questions the ongoing changes and transformations within the cultural and patrimonial fields and within the sectors of cultural and creative industries. The scientific approach is based on analytical and empirical investigation. Bastions of societies, nations and civilizations, culture, art and cultural heritage are considered nowadays in light of social and ecological paradigms: community, sustainability, inclusion, resilience and sustainable development.

In fact, the mobilization of these social and ecological paradigms by international organizations, public policies, cultural and patrimonial institutions, as well as actors of development in general would attest to the mission and the role of art, culture and heritage in the development of societies and the preservation of diversity. In this regard, the technological solutions would be a factor of diffusion, accessibility and democratization of art and heritage among the general public and the concerned communities. However, the issues of translating this inclusive and sustainable social vision and the uses of technological solutions are numerous.

Digitalization is largely used in the fields of culture, art and heritage for research purposes, as well as for objectives of documentation, management, communication and democratization of access to cultural and patrimonial contents. It allows in certain cases and situations such as disasters and conflict zones to preserve the memory of a place, a site, an object and to recreate these based on scientific and social data using digital technologies. In addition, cultural and patrimonial institutions, particularly libraries, museums and archives, engage in the digitalization process such adapting to this connection of the real and the virtual worlds. Alongside the major missions of development and preservation of funds and collections, museums undertake the digitalization of their collections and their exhibitions with an objective of diffusion and communication, accessibility and democratization of artistic and patrimonial contents. The use of technological solutions such as digitalization of textual, sound and audiovisual documents, image processing, 3D reproduction of artwork, contribute to a large communication and mediation, especially in museums via online visits, immersive and playful experiences and augmented reality. Additionally, they contribute to hosting new competencies and jobs within museums. Thus, a new virtual economy is developing in museums and cultural and patrimonial organizations in general.

Similarly, artificial intelligence is being introduced in the cultural and patrimonial fields: The first “artwork” generated by AI, the first introductions of this “artwork” to the international art market as well as the organization of the first exhibition on deepfakes entiltled Deepfakes and You in 2024 at the ONU in New York. The exhibition alerts the risks of images manipulation by AI tools. In the same year was shown an exhibition in Paris: Apophénies, interruptions: Artistes et Intelligences Artificielles au Travail at George Pompidou Center.

We could highlight the contributions of the use of AI technologies for cultural and patrimonial institutions, and emphasize the development of research on the contributions of AI for documenting and preserving living heritage, in this case the project I-treasures of the European Union and UNESCO in collaboration with research centers. However, the use of AI in the cultural, artistic and patrimonial fields revives the debate on the legal regime, on ethics and on opening and protecting of data.

The development of heritage and cultural properties and their production resulting of social and institutional processes of communities, societies and nations also face new rises in the postmodernist era. Nowadays, one can indeed identify the interference and the superposition of logics and dynamics such as social and communal, state, economical and entrepreneurial as well as the interference of frameworks and governance modes such as local, national and supranational.

In fine, from the circulation of traditional knowledge and skills to the “circulation” of artwork, funds and physical or virtual collections, manuscripts and books, to the organization of supranational exhibitions, the debate on the movement of cultural property and goods goes on. In the 1950s, Aimé Césaire had already been defending and claiming the circulation of cultural property between nations and continents, between the North and the South facing the illicit traffic of African cultural heritage and in the world as a whole. In 1978, Amadou-Mahtar M’Bow, General director of the UNESCO (1974– 1987), formulates a call for the return of cultural property to the countries that had lost them, and for a more just exchange of cultural property that falls within the spirit of the 1970 UNESCO convention concerning the illicit traffic of cultural and patrimonial property.

Nowadays many frameworks, methodologies and tools allow to regulate this circulation. Similarly, many public and private organizations such as museums, archives, libraries, foundations, companies of the art market contribute to various forms of national and supranational circulation of cultural property. In addition, the digital offer of institutions and cultural and patrimonial organizations contributes to this movement of artworks, collections and documents in the virtual world. In this sense, the frameworks and regimes that regulate this movement, and the issues raised by the circulation of cultural and patrimonial property and goods will be questioned on national and supranational levels.

The conference scientific axes

I. Cultural heritage: perspectives and issues of development, digitalization and artificial intelligence

  • Cultural heritage valorization, sustainable development and social inclusion
  • Heritage and cultural goods/products, cooperatives and digital transformation
  • Living and immaterial heritages, orality, digital technologies and artificial intelligence
  • Documentation, management and cultural heritage governance
  • Open access to cultural and patrimonial contents and artificial intelligence
  • Digital transformation and artificial intelligence in libraries, museums and archives

II. Cultural and creative industries: from the artwork to the industrialized and/or digitalized product

  • Frameworks and economic, legal and social issues
  • The strategic and structural upgrade in the sector of the cultural and creative industries
  • Management of artistic and cultural activities: specificities and solidarity-based economy
  • Cultural and creative industries and emerging technologies
  • Entrepreneurial innovation within the sectors of cultural and creative industries

III. Circulation of cultural, artistic and patrimonial property and products: frameworks and issues

  • International exhibitions, biennials, fairs and book fairs
  • Digital platforms
  • Global art market
  • Restitution of cultural heritages issues
  • Scientific Research and Open Science

Procedures

Languages

Arabic, French, English

Abstract submission procedures

Contributors are invited to send a 500-word abstract in one of the conference languages (Arabic, French, or English). It should include the main issue dealt with, the research subject investigated, the methodology adopted, and 5 keywords. It should be sent to the following address: https://ciicdp25.sciencesconf.org/submission/submit

The first page should include the name, status, and institutional affiliation of the author(s) as well as the contact details. The second page should include the title of the paper, the paper proposal, and 5 keywords.

Paper submission procedures

The first page should include the name, status, and institutional affiliation of the author(s) as well as the contact details. The second page should include the title of the paper, the paper proposal, and 5 keywords.

The paper should be between 3000 and 5000 words, in Times New Roman size 14 for titles and Times New Roman size 12 for the text. Bibliographic references should be written according to the APA standard.

Selected papers by the scientific committee will be published in 2026.

Ways of participation and supporting

The conference is in a hybrid mode.

For speakers who prefer face-to-face participation, they have to bear transportation and accommodation costs, while being exempt from the fees for participation in the Conference.

Calendar

September 30th : Deadline for submission of paper proposals.

  • October 20th : Response from the scientific committee.
  • December 10th : Reception of final papers.

Coordination and committees

General coordination

  • Hayat ZEROUALI

Scientific Coordination

  • Ibrahim ASSABANE
  • Hanae LRHOUL
  • Hayat ZEROUALI

Coordination of partnerships and international relations

  • Nezha HACHAD

Organizing Committee

  • Ibrahim ASSABANE
  • Hanae LRHOUL
  • Nezha HACHAD
  • Meryem HNIDA
  • Maha WALIA-ALLAH
  • Nora SAAD
  • Amine SENNOUNI
  • Hayat ZEROUALI

Scientific Committee

  • Abdellah KARROUM, Researcher, Artistic Director and Art Critic, United Kingdom.
  • Abdelmjid LAFRAM, Professor and Researcher at the School of Information Sciences, Morocco.
  • Abdelouahed BEN-NCER, Professor and Researcher at the National Institute of Archaeology and Heritage, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Abderrahmane TENKOUL, Researcher and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Euro-Mediterranean University, Fez, Morocco.
  • Ahmed AYDOUN, Researcher, Visiting Professor at the School of Information Sciences, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Ahmed SKOUNTI, Professor and Researcher at the National Institute of Archaeology and Heritage Sciences, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Alain BIDJECK, Founder of the Movement for Creative Africa (MOCA) platform and Expert in Music and Cultural Industries of the Diaspora and Africa, Cameroon.
  • Amina METTOUCHI, EPHE, CNRS, Paris, France.
  • Anas MAMOUNY, Professor and Researcher, School of Information Sciences, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Ateba Ossende Fernand GHISLAIN, Researcher in Cultural and Creative Industries, Cameroon.
  • Driss KSIKES, Researcher, Director of the Economia Research Center, Institute of Advanced Studies in Management, Morocco.
  • Edouard VASSEUR, Professor of Institutional History, Archival Science and Contemporary Diplomatics, École Nationale des Chartes, Paris, France.
  • El Mostafa FAYAD, Professor and Researcher at the School of Information Sciences, Morocco.
  • Elsa MARGUIN-HAMON, Archivist-Palaeographer and Heritage Curator, Director of Research and International Relations, École Nationale des Chartes, Paris, France.
  • Eugène EBODÉ, Administrator of the Chair of African Literatures and Arts, Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco.
  • Fatima AIT MHAND, Researcher in Heritage Studies, Morocco.
  • Fatima Zahra SALIH, Professor and Researcher, Mohamed V University, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Hanae LRHOUL, Professor and Researcher, School of Information Sciences, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Hassan EL OUAZZANI, Professor and Researcher at the School of Information Sciences, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Hayat ZEROUALI, Professor and Researcher, Member of ICOMOS, School of Information Sciences, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Ibrahim ASSABANE, Professor and Researcher, School of Information Sciences, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Issam EL YOUSFI, Professor and Researcher at the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts and Cultural Animation, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Jamaa BAIDA, Researcher, Former Director of the Archives of Morocco, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Jamal BOUTAYEB, Professor and Researcher, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Fez, Morocco.
  • Jean-Philippe ACCART, Researcher and Head Librarian, Sciences Po Campus, Reims, France.
  • Khaled AZAB, Heritage Researcher, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt.
  • Khalid AICH, Researcher, Archives of Morocco.
  • Khalid EL HARROUNI, UNESCO Chair in Education and Research in Sustainable Bioclimatic Urbanism and Architecture, Deputy Director for Research, National School of Architecture, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Luc Bertrand ONDOBO, Researcher, Department of Arts and Archaeology, University of Yaoundé, Cameroon.
  • Mina EL MGHARI, Researcher, University Institute for Euro-Mediterranean, African, and Ibero-American Studies, Mohamed V University, Morocco.
  • Mohamed BEN DAHHAN, Professor and Researcher, Mohamed V University, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Mohamed MEHDI, Professor and Researcher, National School of Agriculture, Meknes, Morocco.
  • Mohamed OUBENAL, Researcher, Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture, Morocco.
  • Moulay Driss JAÏDI, Professor and Researcher, Higher Institute of Audiovisual and Cinema Professions, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Mouna EL GAIED, Professor and Researcher, University of Lorraine, France.
  • Moustapha MBENGUE, Professor, School of Librarians, Archivists and Documentalists (EBAD), Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal.
  • Nabhan Bin Harith Al-HARRASI, Associate Professor, Information Studies Department, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.
  • Najima DAOUDI, Professor and Researcher, School of Information Sciences, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Nogo Marie DESIREE, Researcher, Department of Educational and Humanities Studies, National Education Center, Cameroon.
  • Nouzha BOUDOUHOU, Professor and Researcher, Mohamed I University, Oujda, Morocco.
  • Nozha IBNLKHAYAT, Professor and Researcher, School of Information Sciences, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Nozha SMATI, Professor and Researcher, University of Lille, France.
  • Ramzi TURKI, Professor and Researcher, University of Sfax, Tunisia.
  • Salwa Mikdadi, Professor of Practice of Art History; Director of al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art, New York Abu Dhabi University, United Arab Emirates.
  • Samir KAFAS, Professor and Researcher, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Beni Mellal, Morocco.
  • Sylvestre KOUAKOU, Professor and Researcher, School of Librarians, Archivists and Documentalists (EBAD), Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal.
  • Tarek OUERFELLI, Head of the Department of Records and Archives Management. Faculty of Business Administration – Al-Sharqiya University.
  • Valentina SCHIATTARELLA, Researcher, University of Naples “L’Orientale”, Italy.
  • Wahid GDOURA, Professor and Researcher, Higher Institute of Documentation, University of Manouba, Tunisia.
  • Walid CHERIF, Professor and Researcher, School of Information Sciences, Rabat, Morocco.
  • Yacouba KONATÉ, Curator, Art Critic and Professor of Philosophy, Félix Houphouët-Boigny University, Cocody, Côte d’Ivoire.
  • Yahya EL YAHYAOUI, Researcher and Lecturer at several universities and higher education institutions, Morocco.
  • Yassine AKHIATE, Researcher, High Authority for Audiovisual Communication, Rabat,  Morocco.
  • Youssoufa Halidou HAROUNA, Researcher, Independent Center for Research in Cinema and Audiovisual Studies, University of Niamey, Niger.
  • Zoubir CHATTOU, Professor and Researcher, National School of Agriculture, Meknes, Morocco.

Places

  • Ecole des Sciences de l'Information, Madinat Al Irfane
    Rabat, Kingdom of Morocco (10000)

Event attendance modalities

Hybrid event (on site and online)


Date(s)

  • Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Keywords

  • bien culturel, produit culturel, patrimoine, développement, circulation, cadre, technologie émergente

Contact(s)

  • Hayat Zerouali
    courriel : hayatyzerouali [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Nezha Hachad
    courriel : nhachad [at] esi [dot] ac [dot] ma

Information source

  • Hayat Zerouali
    courriel : hayatyzerouali [at] gmail [dot] com

License

CC0-1.0 This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.

To cite this announcement

« Cultural and Heritage Property and Products in Africa, MENA Region and Beyond », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Thursday, August 28, 2025, https://doi.org/10.58079/14isb

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