[VT] Luang Prabang cited as model of heritage city
Rik Ponne
*Luang Prabang cited as model of heritage city*
Vientiane Times, 24 September 2012
Luang Prabang is the embodiment of outstanding universal values, architectural values and living values, which are present amid the values of its layered history and cultural diversity, said Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Mr Savankhone Razmountry.
Mr Savankhone made the remarks when addressing the Fifth ASEM Culture Ministers’ Meeting held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on September 18-19. The meeting was attended by representatives from 36 nations in Asia and Europe as well as from the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), EU and representatives of UNESCO.
Asian and European nations will strengthen their links even further and more comprehensively during the highly anticipated Asia-Europe Meeting Summit set to take place in Vientiane, Laos, in November.
“Luang Prabang is a pilot site where the government initiated its policy to safeguard the urban network and outstanding architectural settings, including civic and religious buildings,” Mr Savankhone said.
“Being the first capital of the Lane Xang Kingdom, even after the capital was transferred to Vientiane in the 16th century Luang Prabang continued to be the home of the royal arts and traditions. It is the most ancient living city in Southeast Asia and has maintained its original traditions almost intact until now. The site demonstrates the exceptional fusion between traditional architecture and the colonial style of construction.”
Mr Savankhone reiterated that Luang Prabang illustrates the alliance between tangible and intangible heritages through the richness of Lao Buddhist architecture, traditional and colonial style buildings, and the living traditions that make the city animated. The site was inscribed on the UNESCO world cultural property list in 1995. Since then the preservation, restoration, infrastructure improvement and many management strategies regarding the harmonisation of protected properties and the socio-economic development of the whole city have been mobilised.
Mr Savankhone observed that the city of Luang Prabang has been appreciated worldwide by visitors and further built a reputation as the World Top City winner by UK’s “Wanderlust” travel magazine. It was voted top travel destination by readers for three consecutive years in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and again in the year 2010.
Heritage cities as well as historic cities play a very important role as a powerful magnet to attract large numbers of tourists from all over the world.
According to national tourism statistics for 2011, Laos received 2.7 million visitors. Almost 412,000 people visited Luang Prabang. It is expected that the number of foreign visitors will grow by about 200,000 each year. The great tourism potential at the same time reflects the success
that has resulted from the government’s policy on cultural preservation. These two poles are closely connected and create a kind of synergy to assure the sustainability and harmony of socio-economic development.
Under the theme “Managing Heritage Cities for a Sustainable Future”, the 5th ASEM Culture Ministers’ Meeting takes place at a time when the entire world is witnessing wider and deeper international integration in
all spheres, including culture, and as many cities face social and economic pressures, Mr Savankhone said.
“So I hope our discussions will focus on how Asia and Europe can advance cooperation and exchange so that we can achieve the objective of our meeting,” he added.
Mr Savankhone went on to say that, as we are aware, a city is a creation of the accumulation of mindsets, knowledge, faiths, wisdom, and countless material resources throughout various periods of evolution. It has been continuously protected and maintained from generation to generation; sometimes it has cost blood and human lives to defend such irreplaceable testimony. The surviving vestiges which have been handed down from past generations today represent the current generation’s legacy and pride in cultivating the roots of an ancient culture. This valuable material culture forever reminds people of where they came from and where they will proceed. Therefore any action that may harm or devastate those remnants brings humiliation and disgrace. The cultural heritage environment that has been created and constitutes the charm and value of cities can potentially contribute not only to socio-economic development but also to ensuring long-lasting sustainability as the soul of the
community.
Laos is among the oldest countries located in the heart of mainland Southeast Asia. The country has a complex and diverse cultural heritage, reflecting its long history, its many ethnic groups and the pattern of population movement within the region. There are many significant archaeological sites throughout the country, such as Vat Phou and its associated ancient settlement within the Champassak cultural landscape; the ancient city of Suvannakhomkham; megalithic sites in Xieng Khuang and Huaphan, and many others. Among Laos’ tangible cultural heritage, some features are very much alive. Much of the religious architecture in Buddhist temples or vats constitutes the most significant landmarks in Lao cities.
In the decades since the beginning of the last century, some towns in Laos have been influenced by European colonial styles in urban planning and architecture, as is evident in some administrative buildings, shophouses and churches. Some of them are nearly 100 years old; they are still standing and have become a historic part of the townscape. This characteristic architectural design is typical of that entire period and cannot be found elsewhere, even in the original provenance of the coloniser. During the struggle for national liberation in the 1950s-70s the complex of cave sites and the karst formations in the northeastern province of Huaphan were converted into the resistance administrative headquarters of the Patriotic Force Neo Lao Hakxat. The district of Viengxay and its picturesque natural setting is nowadays recognised to be of historic significance. War memorials have become the legacy of the nation’s modern history and help us to remember. The series of caves together with their surroundings which once protected the Patriotic Force from aerial bombardment have been declared a national memorial and are being promoted as a new historic tourist destination.
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Eisel Mazard
There are many things that are fundamentally wrong with Luang Phabang as an historical site and as a cultural conservation project.
Anyone who has visited the "Buddha Cave" repeatedly over a number of years has seen that most of the Buddha statues have been looted (certainly, all of the statues that were of financial/historical value were taken, and the total number has declined considerably) --and this transpired under the banner of (foreign-funded) conservation and "world heritage" status.
The historical "research" that I've seen published under the UNESCO banner is shoddy at best, and full of lies and evasions at worst. I can honestly say that the Lao government's own history textbooks (used in high-schools) are better than the UNESCO books (and yes, I realize that both are quite problematic).
The official UNESCO version of history in question was apparently written by a Thai university (where I am sure they assigned the job to a group of graduate students and/or interns, who are certainly not experts, and who certainly did suffer from Thai nationalistic bias) producing a set of folders that became publicly accessible in the Luang Phabang library.
Temples are said to be 500 years old (etc.) when the buildings are entirely made of steel-reinforced concrete, and they were first constructed in the late 20th century (often enough, these buildings have their year of construction written on them, in Lao numerals, to commemorate the date: I have directly asked a tour-guide why he said that a temple was so many hundreds of years old, when the number written on the side of the wall was 1968, or whatever it was; he was surprised that I could read Lao numerals).
Would this sort of mendacity be acceptable at a UNESCO heritage site in Italy, France, or any other country? I honestly don't know --but the standard applied to Laos is abysmally low (for truth and accuracy in interpretation, not to mention standards of conservation).
As I recall, also, the "dotted line" around the central hill was drawn very carefully, to allow the construction of the (entirely new/modern) concrete statues that occupy the "far" side of the hill (i.e., further from the palace, as I recall: that would be the south-east side of the hill?).
The preservation of palm-leaf manuscripts, of course, has been a disaster, along with the progressive loss of literacy of the "old" languages contained within those manuscripts (including Pali, but not Pali only).
In many ways, Luang Prabang is a hollow attraction, and it receives so much praise only because it is contrasted to modern cities like Bangkok: there is almost nothing of historical significance that any visitor can see there (even in contrast to Lopburi) and most of what they are told is "500 year-old architecture" is instead 100% modern concrete (the small temple on the peak of the hill is an especially absurd example of this).
Whatever cultural vitality really exists there would be found in the active monastery-schools that are generally on the outskirts of the town (and, I note, each temple fairly openly states their particular ethnic affiliation, and draw students from that particular ethnos, etc.). I have repeatedly tried to draw attention to the factoid that 35% of Lao students are educated in the monastic system (NB: not 35% of male students, but 35% of all enrolled students, and, thus, the number will represent a much higher proportion of male students). That statistic dates from 2006.
This deserves more research than it receives --and probably deserves more U.N. support than whatever sideshow is used to entertain tourists.
E.M.
http://a-bas-le-ciel.blogspot.ca/