Studies and Projects

2023
DAM has contributed in setting up a museum in the monastery of Our Lady of Balamand. The exhibit consists of about 50 varied artefacts, selected among the highlights of the rich collection of the monastery. It is divided into three major sections:

1. An introduction that includes the historical timeline of the monastery and its surroundings, and the history of the first Byzantine evidence from the site with two bread stamps of Byzantine tradition, used for Communion bread.
2. A medieval period section that is represented by decorative architectural stone elements belonging to both the Romanesque (12th century) and the Gothic style (13th century).
3. The largest section is devoted to the most recent historical period, the Ottoman one, which is subdivided in turn into several themes. After an introduction about the revival of the place in 1603 by the Orthodox community, the visitor can follow a thematic path which includes funerary stone objects, ceramic tiles from Damascus, manuscripts and illuminations, several icons, a liturgical dress, various liturgical implements such as crosses, chalices, patens, buckles and oil lamps, as well as Patriarch Gregory IV private collection.

Our Ethnography Museum Curator, Mrs. Rita Kalindjian, participated in the H2020 ERA Chair Mnemosyne two-day workshop about Digital Heritage. The event was within the joint action between Anfeh and Fikardou as part of the H2020 TExTour project. The workshop took place at the Cyprus University of Technonlogy and highlighted the difficulties of holistic recording, documentation and digitization of intangible heritage. Noting that Fikardou and Anfeh encompass Architectural and Natural landscapes and both villages are on the tentative list of Unesco World Heritage.

Under the theme of sustainable tourism and preservation of ecosystems and biodiversity in artisanal Salinas, Mrs. Rita Kalindjian- member of Anfeh and Neighborhood Heritage Committee and Hima Anfeh- joined the Sustainable Management Model for Mediterranean Artisanal Salinas program on 22 and 23 February in Tunis.
MedArtSal project is led by the University Consortium for Industrial and Managerial Economics (Italy) in partnership with Fair Trade Lebanon and the Lebanese Association for the Development of Rural Capacities, and other similar institutions from Tunisia, Spain and Italy.

2019 
Under "Youth Projects", in collaboration with Fighters for Peace (NGO), the Lebanese University-Faculty of Social Sciences, the Institute for Foreign Relations (ifa) and Foreign Office Federal- Republic of Germany and in cooperation with UNESCO.
Participation in:
Researching testimonies and collecting oral history interviews of former Lebanese militia and thus, contributing to save and document the collective memory of Lebanon.

- "Mapping Bourj Hammoud Artisans", in collaboration with Nahnoo and Badguer (NGOs).
Participation in:

Mapping of 51 artisans in Burj Hammoud, looking at the challenges they face, and the opportunities that exist for developing intangible heritage culture in the area. 

2017
Signature of "HIMA Anfeh" between the municipal council of Anfeh and the SPNL (Association for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon) and appointment of Dr. Nadine Panayot-Haroun as Director of "Hima Anfeh".

2014-2015 
An ethno-anthropological study was undertaken on Enfeh’s salt, its history, its production as well as the various extraction techniques that have evolved over time while remaining ancestral, in collaboration with Anfeh and Neighborhood Heritage Committee (NGO).
Published in:
Kalindjian, R. La production de sel à Enfeh : une tradition en voie de disparition. In N. Panayot (Ed.). (in press). BAH (Hors-Série).

2014 
Anfeh Maritime Ethnography Field School"   Anfeh Maritime Ethnography Field School" In response to this direct threat to the maritime traditions of the fishermen community in Anfeh, the Anfeh Maritime Ethnography Project was established. The aim of this project was to conduct training in maritime ethnographic techniques and record Anfeh’s rich maritime cultural heritage. 
Published in:

Van Rensburg, J. J., & Kalindjian, R. ( in press). The Lebanese felucca in Anfeh and el Mina, Tripoli: An ethnographic study of form, fit and function. 
Van Rensburg, J. J., & Kalindjian, R (in press). The Ethnographic Maritime Heritage of the Anfeh Fishing Community, Lebanon. In PanayotBAH, (Hors-Série).

- Participation of Rhea Dagher (research assistant) in an international training programme for museum and heritage professionals run by the British Museum for a period of six weeks in the UK. This programme seeks to expose participants to various aspects of museum work, to develop skills, disseminate best practice, increase specialist knowledge and create a global network of colleagues. 

2013
Anfeh oral history preservation. Interviews of Anfeh’s inhabitants were collected and will be published as soon as the project is completed. Through intergenerational oral history and lore, people share their knowledge and life experiences according to their own understanding. The long term objective of collecting this kind of data is to engage with the local communities and preserve their customs and traditions.