2014 IIC Forbes Prize Lecturer Announced

The Organising Committee requests the honour of your presence at the 2014 Forbes Prize Lecture at the forthcoming IIC 2014 Hong Kong Congress Opening Ceremony! The Forbes Prize Lecture will be delivered on Monday 22^nd September at Hong Kong City Hall, the main venue for the Congress.  The IIC Congress will take place from 22^nd to 26^th September, 2014.
The Forbes Prize Lecture is one of the most important awards in the field of conservation and the lecture is delivered by a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession. This year IIC’s Council has been delighted to announce that Dr. Jixiang Shan (單霽翔博士), Director of the Palace Museum in Beijing, will be delivering the 2014 lecture.
Dr Shan was formerly the Director-General of China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) before his appointment as the Palace Museum Director in 2012. Dr Shan graduated from the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University with a Doctor of Engineering degree in urban planning.  Since then, Dr Shan has been a pioneer in China’s historic preservation movement and has developed his profound research interest in urban planning towardsseeking the preservation of cities of historic and cultural importancein an era that has witnessed an ever-accelerating pace of urbanization. In 2005, Dr Shan received an International Leadership Award from the American Planning Association, honouring his outstanding efforts and achievements in the field.
During his term of office at SACH, Dr. Shan has promoted China’s heritage preservation development by launching nationwide surveys of heritage sites and setting up a legal conservation framework through the introduction of National Cultural Relics Protection Law. His efforts have led to the successful implementation of many major heritage conservation projects, as well as the partnership with World Monuments Fund to restore the Qianlong Gardenand other renovation projects in the Palace Museum. Focusing on the Museum’s ancient complex of buildings and gardens, its unique collections of artifacts and objects, and on the safety and guidance of visitors, Dr Shan implemented the “Secure Palace Museum” Project in 2012. Looking forward, he is committed to nurturing future museum and conservation professionals, and resolving the limitations on museum development within the Forbidden City, with a view to passing down this splendid site to the generations of the next 600 years.
More details of the IIC 2014 Hong Kong Congress can be found at the IIC web-site: www.iiconservation.org