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Material Authenticity and Conservation Traditions in Nepal
Abstract
In Nepal, the maintenance of temples and the tradition of reconstruction via replacement of deteriorated components have been upheld for a long time. If the definition of material authenticity is restricted to the building material and restricted to a building’s initial construction, then very few extant buildings in Nepal are “originals.” The Nepalese tradition of conservation has built on a sense of authenticity bodied forth in the design of a temple or its elements and in craftsmanly skills and experience passed on from one generation to the next. This article contends that the practice of conservation—an intangible but defining factor in Nepalese building traditions—deserves to be seriously examined in order to promote a sophisticated understanding of authenticity both in the local context and in the framework of “universal” conservation standards for use in Nepal.
... Though this framing has seen increasing critique and interrogation in recent years, particularly as Asian perspectives on heritage and its management have gained prominence (see, e.g., ICOMOS 1994; Silva and Chapagain 2013;Byrne 2014;Byrne 2019;Rico 2014), debates on reconstruction are, for the most part, still unresolved. In Nepal, centuries of catastrophic earthquakes have meant that the concept of cyclic renewal is embedded within the building culture of the country (Chapagain 2008;Tiwari 2017). This is informed by historic Vaastu texts and knowledge systems, popular in both rural and urban contexts, through formalized patronage as well as quotidian practices of care. ...
The following chapter is an essay that emerged from a thought exercise during anthropological fieldwork carried out in São Paulo, Brazil. Calvino’s Invisible Cities became both a methodology and epistemology with which I could interpret and re-create the city.
... Within the heritage literature there is widespread recognition of the peculiarity of Western notions of authenticity, which have tended to reify the physical remnants of old buildings and sites. This has been compared with Eastern examples of authenticity as found within the practices of repair and restoration of structures (Gao & Jones, 2020;Tiwari, 2017) and critical scholars have even talked of the 'weaponization of authenticity' (Song, 2020, p. 4) globally, to impose particular visions of development on historically and socially diverse areas (Zhang, 2018). International efforts, such as the UNESCO convention on safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage, have sought to extend the notion of authenticity beyond a focus on physical fabric. ...
Researchers increasingly embrace co-production as fundamental to knowledge-building about local history(ies) and heritage(s); community insights must be encompassed in professional reports, interpretation and, ideally, publication. This chapter reports on fieldwork and related story-mapping I undertook with members of a community in the northeast of England—the Sunderland suburb of Ryhope, once a colliery (coal mine) settlement in its own right. When a local museum decided to relocate an iconic cinema/bingo hall to a recreated 1950s setting, the museum and residents expressed an interest in celebrating local stories and memories of Ryhope that went beyond the materiality of the building itself. The underlying aim was to reanimate the rich vernacular and creative spirit of the Northeast, beyond the deindustrialized ‘ex-coal mining’ canon by which the area is mainly known.
Heritage resources both tangible and intangible carry a sense of belongingness
and enrich urban landscapes. They also portray an authentic community formation
with its generic identity; enabling cultures to inherit and memories to reverberate
in historic cities. Conserving these resources not only transforms historic cities into
a cultural centre with a nourished city environment for city dwellers but also secures
collectively as fundamental elements of urban heritage. However, historic cities
which are sensitive to development are equally complicated to conservation. Apart
from the traditional sponsorship from the head of the state or government and
international donors, heritage conservation in Bhaktapur and other valley towns
is unique because of ‘Conserving conservation trends’. Music and Dances, rituals
and festivals, feasts and Worships still prevail in Bhaktapur, the cultural capital of
Nepal. This study examines how such rituals are still retained by the inhabitants
with very less funding from the central government but by their own capacity. It
also highlights the significant ways these rituals and community initiatives adopt
a traditional mechanism to renovate monuments and heritages in the modern
context. In other words, conservation trends in such ways flourished to maintain
social order in historic cities even before conservation policies were promulgated
globally. This paper generally presents the findings from a study of the sociocultural
context in one of the traditional neighbourhoods located at the edge of
Bhaktapur, especially the Guthi system of Newars and the impacts of economic
aspiration of the communities in this globalized context.
A visitor to the city of Bhaktapur in Nepal will be greeted at one of its several entry points with a small blue sign welcoming them to a “heritage city,” a “traditional city,” and a “cultural capital,” phrases that are echoed on entry tickets, guide maps, brochures, and signage. A mere 13 kilometers from Kathmandu, the capital, Bhaktapur is often described as a different universe, ancient and unchanging, resisting the march of modernity and globalization. However, the visitor will notice immediately that the city is a mass of contradictions. In the years that followed the devastating 2015 Gorkha Earthquake, much of Bhaktapur has been reconstructed. The city skyline changes every month, as old temples, palaces, and rest houses which had collapsed are built again and the decaying remains of old homes are replaced. Reconstruction effectively reshapes, and is in turn shaped by, the city’s collective memory and desire. This chapter examines memory and desire in Bhaktapur, two fundamental themes in Invisible Cities. I explore the many hidden cities of Bhaktapur as relayed to me by its residents over seven months of fieldwork. Their stories, which are a mix of memory and desire, fact and fiction, are each unique representations that are partly shaped by religion, caste, gender, and ethnicity. A dalit woman who works as a butcher describes Bhaktapur as clean, if a bit unwelcoming, while a Hindu male priest is confounded by how much the city has changed and lost in his lifetime. In retelling their stories, I examine the ways in which Invisible Cities can be used to inform ethnography and how cities in Asia can be seen through the thematic lenses used by Calvino.
The existence of an authentic relationship with the past may intensify emotional and experiential attachments to a place and justify claims on its future. Yet established framings of authenticity tend to abstract and universalise, potentially leading to an overly comfortable sense of what does and does not count as authentic. This chapter attends instead to the crafting through struggle of a situated sense of authenticity, developed through dialogue with elements of a constructed past. Assemblage theories are used to attend to both relations of interiority and relations of exteriority in this process of emergence. Empirical support is provided by a detailed exploration of the struggle to save the undercroft skateboarding spot on London’s south bank. The chapter concludes with some thoughts on what heritage practitioners might gain from attending to authenticity as fluid, situated and emergent.
This book outlines a complete programme for the restoration and preservation of historic structures and historic sites throughout the world. It is a basic text for both the novice entering the field and the specialist. Dr Fitch covers the many disciplines, concepts and technologies needed by the preservationist. He also includes discussions of the economic, legal and legislative forces acting upon historic district planning. He provides useful information on how old buildings can be moved (either intact or disassembled) to new sites via truck, rail or barge; how to heat, cool and light old buildings and still maintain the aesthetic integrity of their interiors; and how a country can develop a comprehensive policy for the care of its artistic and historic heritage.
Nara Conference on Authenticity in Relation to the World Heritage Convention
- Knut Larsen
- Einar
Management Guidelines for World Cultural Heritage Sites
- Bernard M Feilden
- Jukka Jokilehto
Bhaktapur Development Project Experiences in Preservation and Restoration in a Medieval Town
- Yogeshwar K Parajuli
Temples of the Nepal Valley
- Sudarshan Tiwari
- Raj
Naxal Bhagwati Temple to Be Reborn
- Ankit Adhikari
- Pragati Shahi
Newar Towns and Buildings. An Illustrated Dictionary Newārī-English
- Niels Gutschow
- Bernhard Kölver
- Ishwaranand Shresthacarya
Building Conservation in Nepal. A Handbook of Principles and Techniques
- John Sanday