Interview
Henry Cleere
1926-2018
World Heritage Convention
After studying English language and literature, Henry Cleere had a career in iron and steel for nearly twenty years before turning to archeology.
In 1980, he earned a Ph.D. from the Institute of Archeology at University College London for his research on the iron industry in Roman Britain. He was Director of the Council for British Archaeology from 1974 to 1991. He was a member of the Board of Directors of ICOMOS from 1981 to 1990, and contributed to the creation of the International Committee on the Management of the Archaeological Heritage in 1984 as well as to the drafting of the International Charter for the Management of the Archaeological Heritage of 1990.
It was not until 1992 that he became involved in the Convention, when he served as Coordinator of World Heritage for ICOMOS in Paris. Until 2002 he used his experience and professional knowledge to improve the evaluation process for cultural property, with a focus on the conservation and management of sites as well as the introduction of in situ missions. During this period, he presented about 350 sites to the World Heritage Committee and participated in the Nara meeting on authenticity. A founding member of the European Association of Archaeologists, he has also been an honorary professor at the Institute of Archeology, University College London, since 1998. In recent years he has worked as a consultant to the World Monuments Fund, the Global Heritage Fund and several countries, including China. He has published two major books on archaeological heritage management: Approaches to the Archaeological Heritage (Cambridge University Press, 1984) and Archaeological Heritage Management in the Modern World (Unwin Hyman, 1989).
Interview with
Henry Cleere
24 January 2008, London, United Kingdom
The audio excerpts come from an interview with Henry Cleere by Christina Cameron the 24 January 2008 in London. Mr. Cleere explains his role as an ICOMOS World Heritage Coordinator and draws on his long experience to comment on issues such as the performance of the Advisory Bodies, the Committee's political decisions and the recognition of new types of heritage.
- 1. The World Heritage Convention
- 1a. Involvement and role of Henry Cleere in World Heritage
- 1b. Key Objectives of the World Heritage Convention
- 1c. The World Heritage List
- 1d. Decisions having influenced the implementation of the Convention
- 1e. Successes and failures of the Convention
- 2. The World Heritage Committee
- 3. Advisory bodies: the performance of IUCN, ICOMOS and ICCROM
- 4. The UNESCO Secretariat
- 5. Conservation efforts of States Parties
Oral Archives of the
World Heritage Convention
Under the leadership of the Canada Research Chair on Built Heritage at the University of Montreal, an international team of researchers conducts interviews with pioneers of World Heritage to capture memories of important moments in the history of UNESCO Convention.
Launched in 2006, this initiative is part of the UNESCO History project that celebrated the 60th anniversary of the creation of UNESCO. The Oral Archives project records the precious witness of people closely associated with the creation and implementation of the Convention. Their recollections and views have greatly enriched the book by Christina Cameron and Mechtild Rössler, Many Voices, One Vision: The Early Years of the World Heritage Convention (Ashgate/Routledge, 2013).
