Dr Arturo Rey da Silva

Marine Cultural Heritage Specialist

Honor Frost Scholar

Dr Arturo Rey da Silva is a maritime archaeologist with a large experience in the field of international cooperation, capacity-building, and heritage diplomacy. Between 2011 and 2018 he was part of the UNESCO Secretariat for the 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, where he worked giving technical assistance to the Member States to advance research and capacities in maritime archaeology research and heritage protection, as well as providing guidance for heritage policy development. Since 2018, Arturo has worked with UNESCO Headquarters as well as with several UNESCO Field Offices, notably in Africa, Central Asia and Latin America, establishing regional capacity-strengthening strategies, outreach initiatives, policy-oriented programmes, and results-based frameworks. Previously, He worked at the Spanish National Museum for Underwater Archaeology ARQVA (2009-2010).

He got his Ph.D. in January 2021 from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, after undertaken a research fellowship at the Spanish School of History and Archaeology in Rome, with a thesis that looked into the institutionalization of underwater archaeology within international cooperation schemes, and its contribution to sustainable development. Arturo is also visiting lecturer in several universities (i.e. The University of Alexandria in Egypt, the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, The University of Cadiz in Spain, or University Externado in Colombia) and was elected Member of the ICOMOS International Committee for Underwater Cultural Heritage (ICUCH) in 2019.

Arturo is a member of the ICOMOS International Committee of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (ICUCH) and sits on the Scientific Committee of the PERICLES Project.