American Mosaics Expert and Director of National Setif Museum to Host Press Conference

The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce its support, in partnership with the National Museum of Setif, for a project to ensure the conservation of the museum’s ancient archeological collections.  Mr. Michael Morris, an American expert in mosaics, arrived in Algeria this week to lead workshops with staff from museums in Setif, Constantine, Annaba and Algiers on the cleaning and conservation of mosaics.

On Sunday, January 22, members of the press are invited to attend a press conference at 13:00 at the National Museum of Setif.  Mr. Morris and National Setif Museum Director, Ms. Chadia Khalfallah, will host the conference.  Journalists are invited to RSVP at AlgiersPress@state.gov.

This project was made possible by an award of $41,666 to the National Museum of Setif in 2015 through the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation.

The U.S. Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation provides direct grant support to cultural heritage preservation projects in countries around the world. The program was established by the U.S. Congress in 2001 with $1 million. To date, the Fund has supported more than 500 projects worldwide. Funded projects include technical support for the restoration of historic buildings; assessment and conservation of museum collections; archaeological site preservation; documentation to save threatened traditional crafts; improved storage conditions for archives and manuscripts; and documentation of indigenous languages.

Since 2001, The Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation has supported projects at the following locations in Algeria:

2001: Museum of Cherchel, Tipaza, Algeria
2002: National Museum of Arts and Folk Heritage, Algiers, Algeria
2003: Zawiyat Ali Bin Umar of Tolga, Biskra, Algeria
2004: Saint Augustine Basilica of Annaba, Algeria
2005: National Museum of the Bardo, Algiers, Algeria
2006: El Pacha Mosque, Oran, Algeria
2007: University Emir Abdelkader of Constantine, Algeria
2010: National Museum of Cherchel
2012: National Museum of Cirta