This year, ICOM (The International Council of Museums) has designated 2008’s theme as “museums as agents of social change and development."  With this theme in mind, our society will again host an excavation and activities booth that will deal with the concepts of popular media images and news and the impact of current affairs on world heritage and archaeological sites and artifacts.  In collaboration with the Iranian and Iraqi Consulate, as well as the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, we wish to demonstrate the archaeological heritage and cultural richness of this war torn part of the word and why defending these museums and the cultural properties of countries such as Afghanistan (Bactrian hoard is current news here), Iraq and Iran is so important.  A parallel focus will be played upon sites in Portugal and Spain and how the destruction of sites and irretrievable loss of architectural monuments and material culture equals to the loss of cultural memory and a rich cultural heritage – just as these things are happening in Afghanistan (destruction of Buddha statues and the misplaced Bactrian hoard) and the current issues which the AIA concerns itself with, education, legislation and conservation of archaeological finds in Iraq.  

Although these are rather complex issues, they can be addressed in ways that children and families can digest them more easily:

Concepts such as ownership and property = world property, cultural property vs. personal property (the law in Portugal is clear that some things are national property and that the destruction of these sites and items are illegal and an offense to the cultural preservation of the country.  Even the language is considered national property as much as an archaeological site)

 An appreciation of cultures who are represented as constantly war-torn, desolate, and in the eyes of children and the general public, poor and without material culture and how this is not a true reality of the people and the heritage from these countries.  

 A non-political/non-nationalistic approach will allow the society members to reach across cultural boundaries as Portugal is a country with much cultural diversity.