The workshop aims to address the topic of cultural heritage, national identity and State practice in the Gulf region from an interdisciplinary perspective. Cultural heritage is increasingly playing a role in the formation and preservation of identity narratives in Gulf States, including nation-building narratives, and cultural policy making initiatives aiming at identity preservation. The workshop will examine the correlation between heritage and identity, as well as between cultural practices, politics and applicable legal frameworks. It will further investigate the evolving relationship of Gulf states and societies to cultural heritage (museums, private collections, etc.) in the context of sociocultural, economic and political developments in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The workshop will focus on three main areas:The politicized role of cultural heritage in shaping overlapping and sometimes conflicting identities at the regional and local level.The effectiveness of the existing legal framework protecting tangible and intangible heritage in Gulf countries, and potential for reform.The growing problem of trafficking in cultural goods, terrorism finance, and changing regional attitudes to it.