CIE - Centre for International Heritage Activities
Centrum voor Internationale Erfgoedactiviteiten
Sri Lanka Fieldschools
Into the Project Design (IPD) Course.
Status: Complete
Duration: 2013
Overview:
This was a course organised for masters students from Leiden University, running for several months in 2013. It was designed to provide insight into the various stages of a project design for cooperative heritage projects. The course combined theory and practice in order to provide the students with invaluable tools with which to tackle the world field.
The students were assigned the World Heritage Site of Galle as a case study, around which their assignments and debates focused upon shared heritage and community involvement.
We arranged for presentations and discussions around the themes of community archaeology, cultural landscape management and public archaeology. The guest lectures were provided by Turkish archaeologist Dr. Nurcan Yalman, Jonathon Sharfman of the South African Heritage Research Agency (SAHRA), and Tharanga Arachchi from the Gall Heritage Foundation.
Results:
As part of the students work, CIE sent a delegation to Sri Lanka on an identification mission. The CIE representatives sought to identify local stakeholders, what their needs and priorities would be for future shared heritage projects. Partners and potential funding bodies were also investigated for future projects.
They met with many local stakeholders including:
Galle Heritage Foundation, Maritime Archaeological Unit, Postgraduate Institute of Archaeological Research, Central Cultural Fund, Galle District Chamber of Trade and Industry, Local Tourism Bureau, International School of Galle, Ambalangoda Mask Museum.
New York University Abu Dhabi Fieldschool
Status: Complete
Duration: 2013
Partners: New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), Galle Heritage Foundation
Overview:
CIE ran a fieldschool for bachelor students at NYUAD as part of the course 'Shared Cultural Heritage: Practices and Perspectives', taught by CIE's Director. The module was inspired by the history of trade and shipping networks, which connected many countries around the Indian Ocean with Asia and Europe.
On the fieldschool the students studied the basic theory surrounding cultural heritages and explored various perspectives of heritage management. They were then given a research assignment, to examine several themes of the World Heritage Site of Galle. Each group was given one theme to explore, Galle as a Shared Heritage site, as living heritage, as a colonial city and Galle as a maritime hub and regional centre.
The students interviewed local people, met with stakeholders, studied historical documents and collected video footage for their research. They then had to create a Heritage Impact Assessment using the documents and footage that they had gathered and edited into short films. All of the results were shared with locals on the final day of the fieldschool.