And... Action

Everyone is feeling a slight nervousness and tension when the German film team sets up their cameras. For five days, participants and cooperation partners of the programme Train the Trainers in Gadara/Umm Qays (Jordan) were accompanied by the camera and interviewed. The result was a film that documented the activities of the Damascus Branch and Research Unit of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) in Amman on site. The film is now available in Arabic and German on the YouTube channel of the DAI.

Since 2016, the German Archaeological Institute realises, in cooperation with the Jordanian Department of Antiquities, training programmes in stone masonry in Gadara/Umm Qays. The initiative Train the Trainers aims at preserving local material and immaterial cultural heritage and train craftspeople in practical building preservation and conservation.

In close collaboration and exchange with Jordanian, Syrian and German craftspeople, traditional techniques in craft are conveyed, tested practically and revived. The trainings are tightly connected with the restauration of the Bait Hussein Al Rousan since 2018, a partially destroyed courtyard from the late 19^th century in the historical part of the upper village Alhara Alfoqa in Umm Qays. The courtyard is since then a central place of knowledge sharing, exchange and encounter in the style of a so-called “Werkhof” – a work yard. In the meantime, the first parts of the Werkhof are completed and a diverse programme has become established. Besides training in crafting technique, a Summer School in pottery processing was carried out for the first time in 2023. In the long term, the aim is to establish a permanent meeting place, which is open to all interested parties, for the mediation and exchange of information on the topics of building conservation, monument preservation and cultural heritage mediation.

The documentary developed in 2023/24, presents the transdisciplinary programme Train the Trainers and provides insight into the successful German-Jordanian collaboration. The documentary is available on the YouTube channel of the DAI (in Arabic and in German).

Project director, idea and concept: Claudia Bührig, DAI

Assistance to the director and project coordination: Olga Zenker, DAI

Editorial supervision and production coordination: Hanna Hamel, Berlin

Translation: Sausan Sahleh, Berlin

Production: SchwabenFilm

Director: Sven Falge, SchwabenFilm

Camera: Sven Falge | Dennis Dermann, SchwabenFilm

Cut: Dennis Dermann, SchwabenFilm

Cooperation: Department of Antiquities of Jordan

Funding: Auswärtiges Amt

The initiative is funded by the Ta’ziz partnership of the German Federal Foreign Office and is part of the projects of the Archaeological Heritage Network.

Further outreach material: https://www.dainst.org/en/departments/orient-department/about-us/branches-and-research-units/damascus-branch/outreach

Documentary (Arabic version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivmXfr5nX5Q&t=7s

Documentary (German version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsdF5fcTVRU&t=1s

Train the Trainers: https://www.dainst.org/forschung/projekte/noslug/5590