report of the international conference on living heritage, march 2014

Report of the International Conference on Living Heritage, March 2014

1

World Living Heritage Festival 2014 and

2nd International Conference on Living Heritage

March 13-16, 2014

Organized by

Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation, Udaipur

In Association with

UNESCO New Delhi


2

Under a joint initiative of Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation, Udaipur

and UNESCO New Delhi, the 2nd International Conference on Living Heritage

was organized from March 13-16, 2014 at the City Palace, Udaipur, as part of

the four day-long World Living Heritage Festival.

The Festival programme commenced

with the inauguration of Rang: Digital

Dimension to Living Heritage wherein

seven selected traditions of arts and

crafts were displayed at the historic

Sabha Shiromani ka Darikhana of the

Mardana Mahal. The display-stalls included Miniature Painting, Terracotta,

Wooden Carving, Thikri, Marble Sculpting, Kavad, and Nail Art.

Rang was inaugurated by His Excellency Mr. Francois Richier, Ambassador of

France to India. During the inauguration

he visited each of the seven stalls and

took a close look at their work. He heard

from them the stories of their craft

traditions and age-old techniques. He

appreciated the initiative of Maharana

of Mewar Charitable Foundation,

Udaipur (MMCF) for providing a digital identity for these traditional art and

craft forms, thereby enhancing their visibility on the Internet and increasing

their marketability.


3

Later, His Excellency Mr. Francois

Richier inaugurated the photographic

exhibition on the theme “Seeking the

Sacred in Strasbourg and Udaipur” at the

picturesque Chowmukha pavilion in the

Lakshmi Chowk of the Zenana Mahal.

On display were photographs of Ms. Anuradha Sarup (from Udaipur, India)

and Mr. Albert Huber (from Strasbourg, France), discovering the cultural

sacred traditions of the two cities. The photographs depicted similarities in the

culture and traditions of the two cities however the manifestations of the

sacred were amazingly different. The exchange of the two photographers was

organized under the Joint Cooperation

Programme between Indian Heritage Cities

Network Foundation, UNESCO India Office

New Delhi; Udaipur Municipal Corporation;

the City of Strasbourg (Municipalite de

Strasbourg) France, and Maharana of

Mewar Charitable Foundation (MMCF) Udaipur. Strasbourg and Udaipur are

now ‘Twin Cities’ which are committed to foster heritage-based sustainable

development through community participation, protection and conservation of

cultural and natural resources and the promotion of income and employment

generating activities for local people through heritage.


4

It was at the majestic Sabhagaar, The

Durbar Hall of Fateh Prakash Palace,

where the 2nd International Conference

on Living Heritage commenced with the

lighting of the lamp. It was followed by

a floral welcome for the chief guest, His

Excellency Mr. Francois Richier, Ambassador of France to India, and Ms. Moe

Chiba, Programme Specialist for Culture, UNESCO, New Delhi by Shriji Arvind

Singh Mewar of Udaipur, The Chairman and Managing Trustee, Maharana of

Mewar Charitable Foundation.

Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar of Udaipur, delivering the welcome address, said,

“Our focus today is on living heritage. Living heritage is a constantly evolving

model of managing heritage and keeping it alive, dynamic and relevant to

changing times. It covers both the intangible and tangible forms, as defined by

UNESCO. We firmly believe living heritage has the inherent dynamism to

trigger development of modern facilities

in ancient environments. This

development leads to enrichment of local

economies, enhancement of quality of

life in communities, higher employment

generation, stemming of the rural

migration to urban areas and generating greater pride in traditional

professions, crafts and culture. It injects dignity in heritage and enriches the

societal fabric.” Living heritage, thus, bestows a distinct identity to those who


5

live by its values and principles and celebrate its authenticity every day. “For

long Udaipur has been on the international map as a tourist destination,

however we see it being acknowledged as a city of excellence,” he said. He

wished the Conference a great success in charting road-maps for the future of

promoting living heritage.

Ms. Moe Chiba, Programme Specialist for

Culture, UNESCO New Delhi in her address

highlighted the recommendations of the

First World Living Heritage Conference

2012. She set the tone for discussion by

raising the issue of empowering the

stakeholders, including artisans to make them feel proud in continuing with

their heritage and also raising their standard of living.

Prof. Vinayshil Gautam, Senior Advisor, KPMG and Chairman, DK International

Foundation delivered the key note address

on ‘Living Heritage with one Tear and Two

Cheers’. Dr. Gautam described that heritage

exists in three stages – frozen, sleep and

living. He further explained the relationship

between the frozen state, sleep, and living

state of heritage through a schematic diagram and emphasized that we need

to break the frozen state, combat the state of sleep and celebrate living with

our heritage.


6

“There exists confusion across categories of the components of heritage from

one culture to another as the perspective and the experiences earned in the

course of evolution of different cultures are not same,” he said, quoting the

example of ‘Aranya’ the literal meaning of which is “jungle” and explained that

in Indian culture it signifies a positive aspect of life as it means a place of

“dhyan” (i.e. meditation) while the same has a negative connotation in

western cultures wherein it signifies lack of law and order. He described Indian

heritage as encyclopedic and accentuated the need for skill of interpretation of

the heritage seeking compatibility with the current perspective, and

appropriate adaptation by operationalising the cultural traditions and practices

to fit in the changing socio-economic context. He cautioned that we should not

wait for the recognition and approval of international fraternity to care for our

heritage, rather we should be proud of the richness of our heritage and

develop our own standards and yardstick of respect and development.

In his address as the Chief Guest, His

Excellency Mr. Francois Richier,

Ambassador of France to India, Embassy of

France in India congratulated Shriji Arvind

Singh Mewar of Udaipur for his initiative to

preserve India’s heritage in general, and the

heritage of Mewar and Udaipur in particular.

He shared the experiences of France for preserving its heritage and mentioned

that initiatives started as early as in the 19th century. Heritage preservation was

included in French governmental policies. People were asked to keep records


7

of their traditions and practices. He specified that it may not be possible to

preserve everything of heritage therefore we need to preserve the historic

element to know our heritage and to connect to that. He emphasized that

preserving monuments alone is not sufficient we need to preserve the entire

environment which sustains the monument.

“In France, we are providing financial support for preserving our monuments

and its whole environment,” he said, explaining that the context and

perspective of preserving heritage keeps changing with ongoing development

in the country. He illustrated it with the examples of heritage preservation in

Pondicherry and Chandanagore, the former French colonies in India. . He

appreciated the French and Indian initiative to preserve heritage in their

respective countries, but also felt that much more needs to be done.

On the occasion, a book titled Living

Heritage of Udaipur City was released by

the dignitaries on the dias – His

Excellency Mr. Francois Richier, Ms.

Moe Chiba, Prof. Vinayshil Gautam and

Shriji Arvind Singh Mewar. Later, Ms.

Vrinda Raje Singh, Coordinator – World

Living Heritage Festival 2014, Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation,

proposed a vote of thanks.


8

In the first session on ’Introduction of Living

Heritage of Udaipur’, Dr. Rajeshwari Narendran,

Associate Professor, University College of

Commerce and Management, Udaipur,

presented her thoughts on ’Living Heritage of

Eternal Mewar: Leadership Beyond time’. She

drew an analogy between the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh and living

heritage, presenting the constituents of living heritage namely Art, Culture,

Architecture, People, Living Patterns, Language, Mannerism, Habits, Stories,

History, Folklore, Songs, Dance Forms, Rituals, Fine Arts, Creative Arts and

Religion.She further described the 10 characteristics of leadership and

discussed the paradigm shift in the leadership from SMART to WISE. She

illustrated the styles of great Maharanas of Mewar who practiced the

Custodian style of leadership and worked for the welfare of the State as the

representatives of “Shree Ekling Ji”, the Supreme Ruler of Mewar They valued

culture, respected humanity, and created large impact on the people by

demonstrating a behavior of care, courtesy, equity and progress for all. She

also discussed the vision of creating ‘A City within the City’ in the City Palace

which kept alive the culture and traditions, especially through the celebration

of Festivals and different ceremonies.

Dr. Shikha Jain of DRONAH, Gurgaon, explained

the linkage between living heritage and livability

in the context of the City Palace, Udaipur. She


9

highlighted the history of Mewar dynasty and discussed the contribution of

Royal Custodianship in preserving and carrying forward the living heritage of

Udaipur. She highlighted the continuing value of heritage and discussed the

cultural linkages between Chittorgarh Fort and Udaipur’s City Palace. She

further elaborated the close connect between the City Palace and Udaipur in

terms of its location and accessibility and involvement of people in rituals,

celebrations and carrying forward the traditions of Mewar. She highlighted

initiatives of city planning in ensuring livability while preserving the heritage by

building ‘Crafts Clusters’ to help artisans in earning their earnings and at the

same time preserving the traditions and heritage of the city.

Dr. Rachna Khare of School of Planning and

Architecture, Bhopal, made the

presentation on ‘Enhancing Livability

through Universal Usability – A case of

Historic City of Udaipur’. She emphasized

on creating space for, and access to, all

stakeholders and developing a system of living joyfully and growing together to

ensure sustainability of the heritage. She shared the universal design for

accommodating the diverse and extended users of heritage coming from

different nationality, different age groups, having different physical challenges

and having different purposes of association with the heritage. She said that

for sustainable preservation of heritage, a comprehensive system serving the

varying interests of diverse stakeholders needs to be developed.


10

Ms. Minja Yang, President and Professor at

Raymond Lemaire International Centre of

Conservation, KU/Leuven (Belgium), while

discussing the ‘Lessons Learnt from

International Collaborations in the context of

Udaipur ’, compared the heritage similarities

and preservation though developmental planning for Strasbourg and Udaipur.

She further explained the case of Strasbourg, France and UNESCO choosing the

Udaipur as a pilot project to help preserve its composite culture, diverse

heritage and its rich natural wealth. She advocated decentralized cooperation

for the heritage-based urban development of Udaipur. And illustrated the

initiatives of Strasbourg, towards developing an eco-city through urban

planning which includes building blue Infrastructure (i.e. rivers) green

infrastructure (i.e. forests) and public transport.

She discussed the innovative scheme of creating a climate fund of one per cent

of the domestic budget to develop green energy. She shared the legal support

available to protect heritage in France and discussed ‘Vision 2030’ for

developing Udaipur as a model city where history, heritage and modernity

could co-exist. She shared the recommendations of the pilot project of

UNESCO and Government of France to work out a strategic plan for preserving

the rich cultural heritage and natural wealth of Udaipur.


11

Dr. R. P. Sharma, Ex-Secretary Urban

Improvement Trust, Udaipur and Registrar,

Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur

presented the master plan 2030 for

development of Udaipur. He said, “The area

under Udaipur Municipal Corporation in the

Master Plan, 2030, has been doubled. There is provision for building a highway

corridor and two satellite towns, and 30 per cent additional green area in the

new master plan,” visually showing the changes with Google maps .

This session was chaired by Dr. Shikha Jain of DRONAH, Gurgaon.

On March 14, 2014, the second day, the conference began with session – 2 on

‘Ensuring Livelihood of Heritage Practitioners’ chaired by Ms. Moe Chiba –

Programme Specialist for Culture, UNESCO New Delhi. In the session were

presented initiatives of various

organisations in linking art, culture and

traditions to earning livelihoods and

sustainable development of the

stakeholders. The first speakers on

‘Empowering Communities: Barefoot

Stories’, Mr. Ram Niwas and Ms. Shweta Rao of Barefoot College, Tilonia,

shared their initiatives for empowering communities engaged in traditional

occupations such as music and dance, and addressing the local issues of health

and sanitation.


12

“Volunteers of Barefoot College choose the

day to day problems of the local

community to reach out to them and build

trust. We train men and women of the

villages to repair and maintain hand-pumps

for smooth supply of water,” Ms. Rao said,

adding that the trainees did not face any handicap due to their lack of formal

education. Barefoot College has facilitated water harvesting programs, and

helped local people store and harvest the rain water. The presenters also

revealed how Barefoot College has successfully provided medical training by

the best of the doctors from India and Italy to unlettered village people in the

area of midwifery, dentistry and lab technologies.

“We have established a sanitary pad-manufacturing unit in the village which

supplies the pads and creates awareness among the village women on issues

of reproductive health and hygiene,” Ms. Rao said, adding, “We conduct night

schools for vocational training and education to children who are engaged in

domestic work during the day-time. A Children’s Parliament is functional which

ensures proper management of the various facilities in the village. We also

manage a project on solar energy wherein uneducated women from 11

countries are trained as solar engineers.” In order to create employment in the

villages, Barefoot College has established a ‘craft store’ which aids artisans and

facilitate marketing of their output.


13

Ms. Sayantini Raychaudhuri of Banglanatak.com shared the experience of “Art

for Life: Making Traditional Cultural Skills a Source of Livelihood”. She

demonstrated how the poorest among the poor could use ‘cultural means’ to

achieve tangible growth. She narrated that how Banglanatak.com identified

people having some traditional knowledge and skills (singing, music, painting,

craft, artisanship etc.), then identified the market for such cultural products

and connected the two to generate incomes and livelihoods.

Banglanatak.com collaborated with the Government of West Bengal to

promote such cultural and traditional practices in form of community-led

cultural tourism. She proudly shared that ever since they started the

organization 8 years ago, the income of artists (who were working as an

unskilled labourer and earning Rs.500 per month) has now increased to

Rs.3000 per month. For continuing the local traditions, “Guru Shishya” form of

institutionalized learning has been created; now young kids learn the

traditional arts, music, and dance from elder, and more experienced, artists in

the villages.

Speaking on “Bring Heritage Back to People: Work of DEF”, Mr. Osama

Manzar, Mr. Muzaffar Ahmad Ansari and Mr. Rohit Dhal from Digital

Empowerment Foundation (DEF) and Chanderi Weaver’s Community shared

the initiatives of their organization in documenting and digitalizing their

heritage. DEF focused on weaving and designing, literacy and education,

creating alternative livelihoods, and connecting the weavers to market on their

own terms i.e. without the middlemen.


14

The digitalization of art, culture and heritage of

the Chanderi and online marketing of the

sarees and other weaved materials (without

middlemen) has connected the weavers with

the global market and substantially increased

their incomes over a period of time.

On the subject, “Ensuring the Livelihood of the Communities of Heritage

Bearers”, Ms. Yaaminey Mubayi, New Delhi, discussed her projects on

commercializing the cultural heritage for empowering the traditional

craftsmen and helping them earn their living while continuing their traditional

occupations. She discussed four projects: Integrated Coastal Zone

Management Programme; Mapping a Crafts Community: Jandiala Guru,

Punjab; Developing Heritage for Tourism, Uttarakhand; and Amritsar Craft

Walk.

Under the first three projects, they conducted multi-stakeholder consultations

at village level focused on heritage site for participatory planning to

incorporate community concerns in tourism plans and development

programmes. They also mapped historic markets and neighbourhoods,

established interactions with traders and manufacturers, and documented the

manufacturing process. Through these initiatives they made it economically

viable and sustainable for traditional craftsmen to practice their occupations.


15

Ms. Vrinda Raje Singh - CEO, Joint Custodianship Initiative, Maharana of

Mewar Charitable Foundation, Udaipur, presented the “Eternal Mewar

Festivals” which embodied the living heritage of Mewar through its

celebrations and ceremonies in the City Palace. Through examples of Holika

Dahan and Kartik Poornima, she explained how the Custodian of the House of

Mewar, along with all Family-Members, participated in the festivals which

involved the extended clans, community leaders and guests. “The living

heritage of a community adds intrinsic value and plays a pivotal role in its

development,” she said, elaborating that Mewar’s living heritage is in fact

Vedic heritage which has been preserved and practiced over the centuries. She

further highlighted that Eternal Mewar is conceptualized to provide the vision

for the House of Mewar in the 21st century. It expresses, embodies and

encompasses the core values, principles and the legacies of the House of

Mewar; Eternal Mewar covers all the activities of the House of Mewar. Eternal

Mewar has also emerged as a unique heritage brand exemplifying hospitality,

cultural preservation, philanthropy, education, sports and spirituality for global

audiences.

The 3rd session on ‘Holistic Promotion of

Living Heritage in Urban Space’ included

the programmes and initiative to

preserve the living heritage in Nepal and

Europe vis-à-vis in India. The session was

chaired by Ms. Minja Yang.


16

Mr. Kai Weise – Chairperson, Planners’

Alliance for the Himalayan and Allied

Regions, shared his work on “Living

Heritage in Urban Space of Nepal”. He

discussed the history of the city of

Kathmandu and elaborated how the urban

planning in collaboration with the government and the municipal corporation

provided urban space for the cultural traditions and rituals to survive over the

years. He further discussed the role of the festival wherein the Chariot of Setu

Matchhendra Nath is constructed and pulled across the city by the community

every year. He emphasised that since the change is obvious, the continuous

adaptation to strategically deal with change is needed to preserve the heritage

and thereby the identity of the city.

Dr. Ravina Aggrawal of Ford Foundation spoke the topic “Heritage Space for

Communal Harmony”. She discussed the causes of communal conflict

between Buddhists and Muslims in Ladakh

region and the initiative to promote

communal harmony to preserve its

heritage. Dr. Aggrawal cited examples of

preserving the legacy of Mirza Ghalib and

Amir Khusrau at the Dargah of Nizamuddin

Auliya have been effective in creating space for communal harmony and

simultaneously preserving its heritage which goes back to at least 700 years.

She emphasized the need for having a policy framework and


17

dynamic view of culture to sustain the initiatives for communal harmony and

cultural heritage preservation.

Dr. Anju Upadhyay from Malviya Centre for

Peace Research, Banaras Hindu University,

took the city of Varanasi as a case to discuss

“City as a Place of Community Rituals”.

Describing the historical roots of Varanasi,

one of the oldest continuously inhabited city

of the world, she said, “It offers very diverse and multicultural space from

which many lessons of communal harmony and collective living can be learnt.

It is a city with a Muslim population of around 33 per cent.. However, the

culture of the city is such that the people from all the religions and

communities participate in the rituals and festivals of each other with a feeling

of brotherhood.”

She mentioned important festivals like Dev Deepawali, Ram Leela, Bharat

Milap, Nath Nathaiya, Chhat, Holi, and Muharram wherein the spirit of

brotherhood overrides the religious feelings. People from different religions

and communities come together to celebrate these festivals. She also referred

to the 1300 Muslim shrines in and around Varanasi where people from all

faiths participate equally in rituals and offerings. She felt cultural roots of

different places can be utilised in building and preserving the heritage of those

cities and also foster a sense of collective ownership needed for the

perpetuation of these cultural legacies.


18

Ms. Mary McCarthy, Director – National Sculpture Factory, Cork, (Ireland)

presented the case of “Cultural Capital of Europe Programme”. She took the

case study and learnings of Cork. “The programme of making a city the capital

of European Culture was set up in 1985. It was set up to celebrate the cultural

diversity of different countries of Europe. Initially the bigger cities were made

the cultural capital to rejuvenate the culture in the city and brand it as a

cultural icon,” she said.

It focused on fostering the participation of citizens living in the city, the region

and raising their interest, as well as the interests of tourists, to promote long-

term cultural and social development of the city. The selection criteria of the

cities, as cultural capitals included European Dimension, ability to foster co-

operation between cultural operators, artists from the host county and other

EU countries, ability to highlight the richness of European cultural diversity and

celebrate common aspects of European culture. The selection was done well in

advance (over ten years) to provide enough time for preparation and

promotion, Ms Mary revealed.

The city of Cork in Ireland was selected as the capital of culture for its inherent

strengths: its rich historical legacies, significant cultural infrastructure and

international recognition. It offered Cork an opportunity to reposition itself

nationally and internationally, for collaborations, creation of new networks and

articulation of aspirations to celebrate creativity.


19

Dr. Shikha Jain, Director-DRONAH presented on the topic “Recognition as a

Creative Cities: Jaipur and Udaipur”. She discussed various UNESCO

Conventions and cited the new definition of culture adopted by UNESCO

wherein it emphasizes that “in today’s interconnected world, culture's

power to transform societies is clear”. Its diverse manifestations – from

cherished historical monuments and museums to traditional practices and

contemporary art forms – enrich our everyday lives in countless ways. Heritage

constitutes as a source of identity and cohesion for communities, often

disrupted by bewildering change and economic instability. Creativity

contributes to building open, inclusive and pluralistic societies. Both heritage

and creativity lays the foundations for vibrant, innovative and prosperous

knowledge societies.

She then requested the case for inclusion of the city of Jaipur and Udaipur as

members of ‘UNESCO Creative City’. She emphasized that Jaipur is ideally

suited to be a member of the UNESCO Creative City Network which aligns with

its goals to project itself as a World Class City, a Cultural Tourism Destination

and A Platform for Crafts and Folk Art. Currently there is no Indian city in the

UNESCO Creative Cities Network and Jaipur has the opportunity to become a

national representative as well as a state representative within the network.

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network is a unique opportunity for Jaipur to

highlight its myriad crafts and folk arts and ensure that these traditional forms

of creative expression are equipped to meet the needs of the present and the

future while preserving their integrity and authenticity. She further explained

the process of getting membership of UNESCO Creative Cities Network for


20

Jaipur and discussed the case of Udaipur to be recognized as the ‘Centre of

Living Heritage’ and become a Hub for all debates and forums on Living

Heritage in the world.

At the concluding session of the second

day of the conference, Mr. Lakshyaraj

Singh Mewar of Udaipur, Trustee of

the Maharana of Mewar Charitable

Foundation, gave an inspiring address.

Referring to the schema presented by

Prof Vinayshil Gautam, he said, “We should move from the ‘frozen’ state to the

‘living’ state. Living heritage should not be a ceremonial topic to be discussed

once in a year but it should remain alive in our thoughts and be reflected in our

daily actions, every day.” He expressed his gratitude to all the participants of

the conference and urged everyone to “be alive themselves and open to new

ideas and influences. We cannot become ambassadors of ‘living heritage’ if we

are not alive ourselves.”

On the third,and last day of the conference, three detailed action plans were

shared. These plans are to be taken up with UNESCO and the Government of

India; the Government of Rajasthan and Udaipur Municipal Corporation, the

Indian Heritage Cities Network and the Maharana of Mewar Charitable

Foundation; and for the Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation.


21

The action plan to be taken up with UNESCO and the Government of India for

its effective implementation included the following:

Filing for World Living Heritage Day

World Living Heritage Week

• UNESCO New Delhi Office association –

for Future WLHF Conferences

• ‘Cultural Capital’ Concept with Ministry

of Culture– IHCN-UNESCO to develop this concept for presenting to the

Government.

• Ambassadors of European Cultural Festivals

• Lecture Series at IIC – Living Heritage theme with ‘Culture and

Development’/ Next step to smaller cities

• An affiliation with the International body of Anthropological Association.

The second action plan to be taken up to Government of Rajsthan and UMC,

IHCN, MMCF for its implementation included the following:

• Recommendations for Heritage based Udaipur Master Plan MMCF as nodal

agency for facilitating public space for the city festivities and rituals - in

coordination with UMC Heritage Cell

• Udaipur Green–Boulevard from Airport to the city – as part of ‘I LOVE

UDAIPUR’ Campaign by MMCF

• Mobility Plan and Heritage Walk development/ for pedestrians

• Walks to ‘Crafts Cluster’ in the city: Extend Heritage Walks from the City

Palace to homes of former nobility to craftsmen houses and ritual spaces in


22

the city. UNESCO endorsed narrative – Working Group to develop a Living

Heritage Walk

• Building Public Toilets and other facilities

• Civic Education/ Public awareness programmes in Udaipur – involving

school children – cleanliness, use of toilets

• Bye-laws for white colour wash, controlling heights, signage

• General guidelines that government should follow for public spaces, private

owners for new buildings and for rectification of buildings

• Mapping of public spaces for rituals and ensuring their protection

• City-Level database on socio-economic impact of heritage events/activities

– Mohanlal Sukhadia University and MMCF

• Private owners to be provided incentives in tax benefits for heritage

conservation works.

The third action plan to be implemented by MMCF included the following:

• Hosting of WLHF annually – Organise programmes in city spaces

• Universal Access Plan – to be implemented on site.

report of the international conference on living heritage, march 2014

Documents