Unfortunately, the 5th ICTMD Forum, “Musical Heritage and Artificial Intelligence in the Middle East and the Mediterranean,” which had been planned together with the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (IAML) and the IMS, had to be canceled. Please see the organizers’ statement below.

Dear Colleagues,

Yesterday, we received the official message from the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA), confirming the cancellation of the ICTMD—IAML—IMS Forum, which was scheduled to take place in Manama (BH) in May 2026. A couple of weeks ago, as co-chairs of the Forum’s Local Arrangements Committee, we sent an update on “postponement until further notice” to the confirmed active participants. The event is now formally cancelled.

First and foremost, we would like to reiterate our sincere thanks and support to our colleagues at BACA as the hosting institution, and to people in the Kingdom of Bahrain and in the wider Gulf region in these challenging war times. We also express deep gratitude to all those ICTMD, IAML, and IMS members, whose abstracts were accepted by the Program Committee. Together, after months of excellent collaboration, we were very much looking forward to the important and intellectually enriching Forum on Musical Heritage and Artificial Intelligence in the Middle East and the Mediterranean within the Spring of Culture festival in Bahrain’s capital city Manama. However, despite our best wishes and shared hopes, we regret to state that under the current security situation we stand united with BACA and Presidents of the three sister societies (Tan Sooi Beng, Rupert Ridgewell, Kate van Orden) in cancelling the Forum.

Should you have any immediate concerns or require further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us.

With warm regards and loud calls for peace,
Svanibor Pettan and Noor Alqassim