Heritage in Resistance

In 2012, the destruction of the mausoleums of Timbuktu, listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites, marked a historic turning point: for the first time, the deliberate annihilation of cultural monuments was classified as a war crime by the International Criminal Court. An unprecedented international mobilization then began to rebuild the destroyed sites, drawing on archaeological excavations and the memory of Malian artisans.

While war has always brought destruction, the beginning of the 21st century reveals an intensification and a systematization of attacks on cultural and natural heritage. The exhibition sheds light on this contemporary reality and raises an essential question: how does war reveal what is irretrievably lost, while at the same time bringing forth acts of resistance that make future repair possible?

Through a remarkable ensemble of maps, texts, models, photographs, videos, contemporary artworks, and digital replicas produced by Iconem, the exhibition offers a journey in three sequences. Conceived as a major report, it weaves a documented, visual, and sensitive narrative, bringing together the perspectives of architects, artists, researchers, field actors, and witnesses.

Sequences of the Exhibition

Erasing
Today, the destruction of heritage takes multiple forms: the dynamiting of emblematic sites, the massive bombardment of cities, the deliberate abandonment of territories, the looting and trafficking of cultural property. This erasure also affects ordinary and intangible heritage through population displacement, “cultural cleansing,” urbicide, ruricide, and ecocide. Far from the image of a “clean” war, these practices reveal the extent of the violence inflicted on places and societies.

Resisting
In the face of erasure, forms of resistance emerge. Alongside major international institutions, NGOs, associations, citizen groups, architects, and researchers work to protect, document, and transmit endangered heritage. In conflict zones, every everyday gesture, every story, becomes an act of resistance, helping to preserve memory and support the physical and psychological survival of populations.

Restoring
In the 21st century, post-conflict repair goes beyond material reconstruction alone. It involves a holistic approach attentive to territories, bodies, and minds. To repair is also to “rebuild society,” to restore bonds, transmit knowledge, and place memory at the heart of processes of renewal. Heritage thus becomes an essential lever for imagining a shared future, in continuity with the past and with the living world.

This exhibition deals with conflict zones and contains material that may be distressing to sensitive viewers and children under the age of 12.

With the support of : 

Program and public events related to the exhibition “Heritage in Resistance: From Timbuktu to Odessa”

The screenings, lectures, and panel discussions organized at the Cité in conjunction with the exhibition “Heritage in Resistance” aim to foster dialogue and a diversity of perspectives. The opinions expressed on these occasions are the sole responsibility of their authors and should not be interpreted as reflecting the position of the Cité or its partners.

DISCUSSIONS

Auditorium of the Cité, 7pm

Thursday 24 September: "Working with: post-conflict repairs" (in English)

Faced with the destruction caused by war, how can we successfully advocate for repairs that are mindful of cultural and natural heritage, respectful of local know-how, and preserve social ties ? 

With: Alessandra Gola and AbdalRahman M Kittana, Yalla project (Tempere); Howayda Al-Harithy (Beirut), Oleh Drozdov (Lviv) Moderated by Elisabeth Essaïan, co-curator of the exhibition

Monday 19 October: "Documenting, cataloguing, mapping: sources under scrutiny"

How, and using which sources, methods and techniques, can we document the nature and extent of the destruction? To what extent do visual representations help raise awareness of this and contribute to the protection and restoration of heritage?

With: Yves Ubelmann (Iconem, Paris), Benoit Martin (Sciences Po, Paris), Martin Duplantier (Paris), Sipana Tchakerian (Inha, Paris) Moderated by Elisabeth Essaïan and Mathilde Leloup

Friday 6 November : “Teaching, Transmitting: the pedagogy of architecture in times of war”

Closing session of the conference, ‘Geopolitical Conflicts in Schools of Architecture’, with ENSA Paris-Malaquais

Where conflicts erupt, schools adapt. Education adapts, relocates, disappears or is reborn under the pressure of history. Three guests reflect on these episodes to discuss teaching methods and educational frameworks in cities under strain.

With: Myriam Radhouane (Geneva); Amra Hadzimuhamedovic (Sarajevo), René Elter (Intiqal, Paris), Moderated by Stéphanie Dadour and Mazen Haïdar

Thursday 26 November : "War as seen by artists"

From the immediacy of the event to the passage of history, at what point does an artist draw upon facts – such as their own experience of war – to create a work? Whether in the immediate moment or in retrospect, does the need to create arise as much to resist oblivion as to foster a kind of resilience ?

With: Emeric Lhuisset (Paris), Najah Albukaï (Paris), Kateryna Lisovenko (Vienna), Eraste Muthangi (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Moderated by Anne-Charlotte Depincé, artist and senior lecturer at ENSA Paris-Belleville

TALKS 

Auditorium of the Cité, 7pm

Monday 5 October with Iryna Matsevko, historian and rector of the Kharkiv School of Architecture, Lviv

FILM

Auditorium of the Cité, 7pm

A programme curated by Hervé Bougon, programmer for the War on Screen festival in Châlons-en-Champagne and co-founder of the Close-up Festival, in collaboration with the exhibition’s curators.

Friday 18 September : No Other Land

Directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Palestine, Norway, 1h35, L’atelier Distribution

Basel Adra, a Palestinian activist in the West Bank, films the expulsion of his community by the Israeli occupation and meets Yuval, an Israeli journalist, who supports him in his efforts. An unexpected friendship blossoms.

Friday 16 October : Do you love me 

Directed by Lana Daher, Lebanon, France, Germany, Qatar, 2025, 1h15, Les films de Force Majeur, Lightbox

A love letter to Beirut that explores the Lebanese collective psyche, marked by joy and intimacy, destruction and loss. The film reconstructs the fragmented history of a country without national archives, celebrating creation as a means of preserving memory.

Guests : Lana Daher, director. Lina Ghotmeh, architect (subject to confirmation)

Friday 11 December : Kosmina, trois fois

A work-in-progress film by Maxime Faure, featuring Bögdana Kosmina. France, Kepler22

As her country’s memory is threatened by war, Bögdana’s mission becomes clear: to shelter from the bombings everything she can save and bring to the world’s attention. From Paris to Vienna, from Kyiv to Venice, Bögdana travels across Europe, and at each new stage comes to terms with her own place in the world.

Guests : Bogdana Kosmina, architect, and Maxime Faure, director.

Bogdana Kosmina is an architect and curator of the Ukrainian pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2025.

Special screenings

War on Screen Festival, October 2026, in Châlons-en-Champagne
Close-up Festival, Île-de-France, November 2026, at the Cité auditorium

WORKSHOP

28–30 October: Model-making workshop for 11–14-year-olds on the theme of "repairing/rebuilding"

Held within the permanent collections, in conjunction with the exhibition.
 

MASTER CLASS

From wednesday 26 August to Friday 4 September 2026 : "Towards a memorial to lost heritage"

In conjunction with the exhibition “Heritage in Resistance”, participants will design a temporary, demountable memorial dedicated to heritage destroyed by a contemporary conflict, symbolically situated on the Parvis des Droits-de-l’Homme at the Trocadéro.

Led by architect Bita Azimi, the Faber studio, photographer Giame Meloni and curators Elisabeth Essaïan and Mathilde Leloup, this workshop offers a transdisciplinary approach combining research, design and storytelling. It explores the role of architecture in the transmission of memory and symbolic reparation. A lecture by Marc Barani and the participation of Philippe Prost on the jury round off this experience.

CATALOGUE

The exhibition catalogue expands upon and enriches the content presented.

MAGAZINE

Archiscopie, "Guerre et paysage", no. 43, may 2026, on sale at the Cité bookshop.