Culture Journalist Samira Ahmed to Deliver Icon’s Annual Lecture 2024
In Icon's sixth annual lecture Blue Plaques, anniversaries, and the art of reporting heritage, award-winning journalist and broadcaster Samira Ahmed will discuss her career reporting on heritage, and what the public response reveals about the modern world and the future of heritage.
Drawing on more than 30 years in broadcast news, Samira will reflect on a wide range of UK and international heritage conservation stories she's covered over the decades, including the changing attitude to Los Angeles' pre-war picture palaces and her visits to several of Iran's 22 UNESCO heritage sites during the filming of her 2020 BBC4 documentary series Art of Persia.
A member of Historic England's national Blue Plaques advisory board, Samira – who uncovered the earliest complete UK concert recording by The Beatles after spotting an unofficial blue plaque at Stowe School two years ago - will examine what preserving and marking our historic buildings reveals about a nation's sense of self, and what the safeguarding of heritage means to younger generations.
Known as the presenter of BBC 1’s Newswatch, BBC R4’s Front Row and a regular writer for the Guardian, Observer and New Humanist, Samira will also share her experience of reporting on the 200th birthday of the National Gallery, the launch of the national Blue Plaques scheme and the proposed A303 tunnel beneath the Stonehenge UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Samira will explore these stories and more, sharing insights into the level of public engagement and the surprisingly varied responses she has seen.
Samira said:
As a journalist I've always been fascinated by the battles over architectural heritage and how they connect to social change and political identity.
“For example, unlike its Arab near neighbour Saudi Arabia, how and why did the Islamic Republic or Iran come to preserve its pre-Islamic cultural heritage? What can we learn through the value placed on our historic buildings across the world? I'm really looking forward to reflecting on some of these stories.”
This will be Icon’s sixth annual lecture, with previous speakers including Dr Nick Merriman, then chief executive of the Horniman Museum and Gardens, Sarah Scaturro, the Eric and Jane Nord chief conservator at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and the president of ICOMOS-UK Clara Arokiasamy.
Icon’s chief executive Emma Jhita said:
"We are delighted to host this lecture by respected culture journalist Samira Ahmed. Through her passion and genuine connection with heritage, Samira uses her work to connect new audiences with the heritage stories of the day and helps us all to understand their relevance to our lives. I’m very much looking forward to hearing Samira speak at Icon’s sixth Annual Lecture, which promises to be thought-provoking, challenging and inspiring.”
