Make Heritage Fun! Imphal
Kshetrimayum Kamaljit Singh *
Today's a global world we have. It's a time where people from every part of the world can communicate with each other in an instant through internet. Speaking of this present generation, Social media like facebook, twitter, Instagram etc. has already become a part of our daily routine.
So with the help of such social media, GoUNESCO #makeheritagefun! started a global campaign for creating awareness and to draw attention to our Cultural Heritage. This campaign also provides a platform for heritage and cultural enthusiasts to share their local heritage in a global family.
With a simple task of, EXPLORING a local heritage, DOCUMENTING it by taking pics or video with #makeheritagefun theme and SHARING in the social media platform.
GoUNESCO is an umbrella of initiatives that help promote awareness of and provide tools for laypersons to engage with heritage. It was created by Mr. Ajay Reddy in 2012. It is supported by UNESCO, New Delhi.
The general population basically lacks the knowledge and awareness of the importance of our Cultural Heritage. Cultural Heritage, it is expression of the ways of living developed by a community and passed on from generation to generation, including customs, practices, places, objects, artistic expressions and values. (ICOMOS, 2002).
And generally, Cultural Heritage are often expressed as either Intangible and Tangible. Intangible refers to things that can be felt, but doesn't have a physical form; such as folklore, music, dance. Language etc. while, Tangible refers to those examples that possess a physical form i.e. objects that could be seen and touched by us; such as buildings, monuments (immovable tangible heritage), books, documents, moveable artworks machines, clothing, sculptures, paintings etc. (movable tangible heritage).
And we should understand that it's our duty to protect these heritages for our future generations. There are many threats that are acting upon these heritages from every angle, namely, Natural factors- bio-deteriorations, environmental factors like fluctuating temperature and humidity, natural calamities like earthquakes, floods etc. and man-made factors- deterioration caused by faulty restoration, vandalism, graffiti, etc. Sometimes ignorance of the importance of our Cultural Heritage can be more detrimental and also be a big factor of their deterioration. We must know their values if we want to preserve them for the future generations.
For instance, in case of our Kangla Fort, using of new materials for restoration or destroying the old structures to establish a novel construction is an act of utter ignorance and blasphemous and not only was against the ethics of Conservation-Restoration (ICOMOS, 1965).
Even if it was with the utmost good intention of the government to repair the deteriorated old structures, ignorance of its importance was unfortunately the worst outcome of an important heritage site like Kangla.
Because the past identity with the past materials and architectural designs of that time has already been lost; now what stands presently, is the Kangla of 21st Century restored with new materials and a new architectural design. But what's gone is gone, and to avoid such disaster in the future, first we must be cognizant of its importance.
So creating awareness and making people understand the grandness of our unique cultural heritages which cannot be replaced is a very important job and if possible everyone should take part in it.
[*ICOMOS- International Council of Monuments and Sites]
https://www.facebook.com/makeheritagefunimphal/
* Kshetrimayum Kamaljit Singh wrote this article for e-pao.net
The writer is Conservation Research Scholar at National Museum Institute, Janpath, New Delhi and can be contacted at kamaljitksh(AT)gmail(DOT)com
This article was posted on September 27 2016.
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