Events
‘Project Mausam’: India’s Attempt at Trans-national Heritage by Prof Himanshu Prabha Ray
| Date | : | 08 May 2019 |
| Time | : | 16:00 - 17:30 |
| Venue | : | AS8, Level 4, Seminar Room 04-04 |
| Contact Person | : | TAY, Minghua |
| Register | ||
CHAIRPERSON
Prof Kenneth Dean, Asia Research Institute, and Department of Chinese Studies, National University of Singapore
ABSTRACT
India’s presentation of ‘Project Mausam’ for potential transnational World Heritage status at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee meeting in Doha, Qatar in June 2014 led to comparisons with another transnational project titled ‘Maritime Silk Routes’ sponsored by China in 2017. It has also been suggested by some scholars that while the latter draws its title from the romanticism of the ‘Silk Road’ that linked China with the Mediterranean by sea as popularized by early 20th century writers, ‘Project Mausam’ was an attempt at reviving the theory of ‘Indianization’ first proposed by Indologists like George Cœdès (1886 – 1969) and taken up by the Greater India Society in the 20th century.
How does transnational World Heritage nominations fit into UNESCO’s 1972 Convention that underscores the five Cs: Credibility, Conservation, Capacity-Building, Communication, Communities? In 2001, UNESCO adopted the universal declaration of cultural diversity, which elevated cultural diversity to the rank of common heritage of humanity. The reality however is somewhat different in most countries and the emphasis continues on conservation and monuments bereft of their cultural context and community moorings.
One of the objectives of this seminar is to address a vital issue relating to the role of the disciplinary specialist in the framing of themes to be considered for UNESCO World Heritage status, with special reference to the ‘Chinese Pagoda’ on the Tamil coast, which also served as a lighthouse in the 18th and 19th centuries. These questions are important to the narratives that are universalized for global recognition and have far-reaching implications for the protection of the maritime heritage of South and Southeast Asia.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Himanshu Prabha Ray is Senior Visiting Research Fellow, Asia Research Institute and Anneliese Maier Fellow (2014-2019) at Distant Worlds Programme, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich. She is former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University and former Chairperson, National Monuments Authority, Ministry of Culture, New Delhi. Her most recent edited book is De-Colonising Heritage in South Asia: The Global, the National and the Transnational, Routledge, 2019.
REGISTRATION
Admission is free. We would greatly appreciate if you complete the form below to RSVP.