Vol. 5 | No. 10 | April 2019

N e w s l e t t e r This is the pdf version of our E-Newsletter

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M A S T E R S I N H E R I T A G E M A N A G E M E N T

Aspiring candidates are invited to apply for the two-year full-time degree programme ‘Master of Management

Studies in Heritage Management’ at Ahmedabad University. Applicants are also encouraged to set up an

appointment to visit the centre and discuss with faculty about potential enrolment, should they want to

explore more.

The Master’s Programme in Heritage Management is a two-year degree programme, the first of its kind in India. It emphasizes a critical understanding of heritage and a holistic management approach to the heritage sector. Areas of exploration within the curriculum include a diverse range of sectors spanning tangible and intangible heritage, cultural and natural heritage, historic and contemporary/living heritage, and so on, with emphasis on the management of these categories.

The programme practices mixed pedagogy and includes lectures, seminars, discussion and group work as well as field-learning through immersion and practicum programme, and a culminating thesis.

Eligibility

Admissions are open to a multi-disciplinary cohort: Candidates with a Bachelor’s Degree in History, Design, Anthropology, Archaeology, Architecture, Literature, Environment, Engineering, Economics, Crafts, Performing Arts and others (with a minimum of 50% marks, with exception to those applying under SC/ST category) with a demonstrated interest in heritage (through academic or professional works) may apply.

Students who have appeared or will appear for the final year examination of bachelor’s degree by June 2019, can also apply – provided that they are able to furnish the final results by September 30, 2019. International Students are advised to apply early to enable visa related processes to be completed on time.

Online Application

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CONTENTS

UNESCO meeting on Cultural Heritage Management Education in Asia .... 1

Students in Kutch, Gujarat for the module on Indigenous Knowledge Systems ........................................................................................................... 1

Students' Activities ......................................................................................... 3

'Heritage Management Practice – An Opportunity for Social Action' By Gurmeet Sangha Rai ....................................................................................... 4

ICOMOS india, West Zone Meeting at Centre for Heritage Management, Ahmedabad University .................................................................................... 5

Publications ..................................................................................................... 5

Announcements .............................................................................................. 5

International Conference on Heritage Management Education and Practice ..... 5

Call for contributions .......................................................................................... 7

Engage with us? .............................................................................................. 8

Ahmedabad University, Centre for Heritage Management ......................... 9

UNESCO MEETING ON CULTURAL HERITAGE MANAGEMENT

EDUCATION IN ASIA

Professor Neel Kamal Chapagain was invited to lead a session on ‘Academic Learning

Outcomes for Cultural Heritage Management at Masters Level’ at a UNESCO meeting

on Strengthening Collaboration on Heritage Management Education among Asian

Universities. This meeting was part of a series of experts meetings that UNESCO

regional office for Asia Pacific region has been organizing since last year. The

Singapore meeting marked the shift of focus from developing competency framework to

developing academic learning outcomes. This year, Professor Chapagain will be playing

a key role within a team of university professors from Asia Pacific region to create a

collaboration framework for heritage management programmes in the Asia Pacific

region. In his session at the Singapore meeting, Professor Chapagain reviewed the

professional competency framework for cultural heritage management provided by

UNESCO Bangkok, and discussed a methodology to translate the professional

competencies into academic learning outcomes for Masters level programmes.

Professor Chapagain also participated in several discussions exploring opportunities of

collaboration and modalities across universities in the region. The meeting was jointly

hosted by UNESCO Bangkok office and the Department of Architecture of National

University of Singapore at the NUS campus on 25 and 26 March 2019.

FIGURE 1: PROFESSOR NEEL KAMAL CHAPAGAIN AT NUS SINGAPORE DURING THE MEETING. PHOTO COURTESY:

NIKHIL JOSHI, NUS.

STUDENTS IN KUTCH, GUJARAT FOR THE MODULE ON

INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS

As part of their second semester, students of Masters in Heritage Management

programme were in Kutch for their week-long module on Indigenous Knowledge

System. The module focussed on understanding the community knowledge systems

that have been shaped by locally available materials such as mud, grass, rocks and

kala cotton over the centuries in the region of Kutch. During their field visits spanning

west to east Kutch, students interacted with various communities including Fakirani

Jats, Ahirs and Meghwals to learn about how these systems have evolved over the

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time; the changes and continuities; and how some of these communities have adapted

to respond to the contemporary situations. The module was facilitated by Ms Sushma

Iyengar, field staff of organisations involved (Sahjeevan, Satvik, Khamir, Setu, ACT) and

community members.

FIGURE 2: STUDENTS IN INTERACTION WITH RAMZU BHAI ABOUT THE SPECIFIC CLAY USED IN THE POTTERY.

FIGURE 3:STUDENTS WITH KALADHAR MUTWA, A SINDHI POET WORKING ON PRESERVATION AND PROMOTION

OF SINDHI LANGUAGE IN THE REGION.

FIGURE 4:STUDENTS IN CONVERSATION WITH HAJI GUL MOHAMMAD SAAB ABOUT VARIOUS TYPES OF GRASSES

IN BANNI REGION OF KUTCH.

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On the occasion of World Water Day, March 22nd, Living Waters Museum at Centre

for Heritage Management, Ahmedabad University joined the global communication

campaign curated by the Global Network of Water

Museums [link https://www.watermuseums.net/] and supported by UNESCO's

International Hydrology Program [link https://en.unesco.org/themes/water-

security/hydrology ]. The campaign endorses the UN World Water Development Report,

2019 - Leaving No One Behind. [link https://en.unesco.org/water-

security/wwap/wwdr/2019#download ]

STUDENTS' ACTIVITIES

Sukrit Sen, a student of Masters Programme has been selected to be a part of the US/ICOMOS International Exchange Program. He will be based at the National Centre for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) under the National Park Service for the summer of 2019 as part of practicum of the Masters’ Programme. This is a fourth year in the row that a student of our Masters Programme has been selected for this exchange program. The students selected from earlier batches were Chirashree Thakkar, Richa Pandey and Aanchal Mehta.

Sukrit Sen, as part of his internship at Living Waters Museum, organised multiple 'Jal Tarang' events over the past month. The first one was, 'Water for Peace' as part of the Artists United for Peace event on March 2nd at the Project Otenga Cafe. Sukrit also demonstrated the practice of Jal Tarang to children at the Anand Mela organised by students at Ahmedabad University on March 3rd. He organised an experiential setup to inaugurate "Ekatra" an exhibition organised by Manthan and DICRC, CEPT at the Kanoria Centre for Arts. He engaged the crowd by using the earthen pots as an instrument and performed with the visitors and the potters from the Gundiyali Village of Kutch. In association with Sharitage Club, Sahapedia and French Haveli, he would also be organizing a sketch walk at Dhal ni Pol on 7th April.

FIGURE 5: SUKRIT SEN, STUDENT PERFORMING DURING THE EVENT .

As part of their social responsibility component of the Masters Programme, the second year students of the Centre, in collaboration with Living Waters Museum, are planning to create awareness about the history and significance of stepwells, by engaging youth and local communities. For the scope of this

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project, students have chosen Ambapur stepwell near Gandhinagar as their site, and are working on conducting interactive sessions with school children local villagers of Ambapur village. Their detailed activities shall be published in upcoming issues of the newsletter.

'HERITAGE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE – AN OPPORTUNITY

FOR SOCIAL ACTION' BY GURMEET SANGHA RAI

Gurmeet S. Rai, Director and Principal Conservation Architect, Cultural Resource

Conservation Initiative (India) Pvt. Ltd., spoke at Centre for Heritage Management,

Ahmedabad University, on 6 March 2019. The Vice President, COMOS-India Expert

and Voting Member, International Scientific Committee on Cultural Tourism, ICOMOS-

India delivered a talk on 'Heritage Management Practice – An Opportunity for Social

Action', where she shared her experience of working on the city of Amritsar, Punjab and

inferred insights with the audience. The renowned conservation architect established

CRCI over two decades ago and has done pioneering work in cultural heritage

conservation and management practice in India.

FIGURE 6: TEMPLE AT STEP WELL AT AMBAPUR VILLAGE.

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ICOMOS INDIA, WEST ZONE MEETING AT CENTRE FOR

HERITAGE MANAGEMENT, AHMEDABAD UNIVERSITY

ICOMOS India west zone meeting held at CHM-AU in the presence of Centre's Director

Professor Neelkamal Chapagain, Gurmeet Sangha Rai, President, ICOMOS

India, Poonam Trambadia, Regional Representative, West Zone, ICOMOS India and

Ashish Trambadia, Director, World Heritage City Trust, AMC at 7 PM on 6th March

2019.

PUBLICATIONS

Chapagain, Neel Kamal; South Asian Approaches to Heritage and

Conservation; in Conversaciones... con Ananda Coomaraswamy, Number 6,

December 2018. ISSN: 2395-9479 (for the digital version).

ANNOUNCEMENTS

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HERITAGE MANAGEMENT

EDUCATION AND PRACTICE

ENSURING FAIR ACCESS AND INCLUSION IN HERITAGE MANAGEMENT PROCESSES

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS | LAST DAY FOR SUBMISS ION: 15 MAY 2019 THROUGH THIS L INK

Building upon the first two editions of the conference - which explored intersections

across disciplines and stakeholders, and developing integrated practices respectively,

we now begin to look into specific aspects of heritage management education and

practice as relevant to society. To facilitate the development of integrated practices and

collaboration among stakeholders, it is important to ensure that we are fair in our

approach of heritage management in terms of who is involved and who has access to

various levels of heritage management process – from planning, decision making to

interpretation and implementation, and further to benefits and responsibilities. It also

means to ensure that the very process of identification of heritage is based on a fair

recognition process, and the narratives are also inclusive of multiple voices. In the same

line of thought, it is also important to enable access for all (to our heritage sites

including museums physically and mentally) as well as pursue an inclusive practice

whereby the heritage management process is inclusive to the best possible extent in a

given context. However, as ideal as these propositions sound, the reality may be

different in different contexts for a variety of reasons. At the same time, there may be

good practices that can be looked up as sources of inspiration and trend setters.

We, therefore, propose to delve deeper into the issues of access and inclusion in the

broader domain of heritage management, such as archaeological excavations and sites

management, architectural and urban heritage management, museums and curatorial

practices, cultural and creative economies, crafts and community development, legal

and administrative processes as well as educational frameworks for heritage

management. The following are a non-exclusive list of potential thematic areas for

various sessions that may be considered:

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Potential Session Title Issues to be addressed in the presentations

Heritage identification and documentation Whose heritage, how values are identified, and what is being documented, etc.

Heritage Management and Planning Less-represented voices, Evaluation of consultation process, participatory issues, etc.

Museums: Collection and Curation Challenges of inclusive narrative, representations

Visitors Management Physical accessibility issues, engaging with different age groups, controls vs facilitating visitors experience, etc.

Heritage Conservation and Preservation Consideration to indigenous worldviews and maintenance practices, community participation in preventive conservation, Which layer to be preserved and who decides, etc.

Global heritage debates Regional/geographic representation, Multi-cultural issues, universal principles vs local or regional approaches, standard setting instruments and their relevance etc.

Heritage Education and Training Education/Training for whom? Is our education/training catering to different stakeholders? Etc.

Archaeology Who will do my ‘archaeology’? Whose site is this? Archaeology for ‘all’, etc.

For further details about the conference, please visit our website:

www.ahduni.edu.in/chm or email us at heritage.conference@ahduni.edu.in Submit your

abstract following this LINK.

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CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

On the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8th, Living Waters Museum launched a call for contributions on 'Women, Water & Work'. [link : https://livingwatersmuseum.org/upcoming-event/ ] These will be curated in a global digital exhibition to be launched on June 5th, World Environment Day.

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INTERESTED IN HERITAGE MANAGEMENT?

EXPLORE HOW TO

ENGAGE WITH US?

If you are in a mood to pursue your higher studies

related to heritage, our master of management

studies in heritage management could be a good

option. Know more about the programme and

upcoming admissions process, by visiting our

website: www.ahduni.edu/chm

If you are an individual or institution with an

academic or professional interest in integrated

heritage management, you can fill up this form and

share your suggestions or ideas with us.

Centre for Heritage Management Ahmedabad University Asmita Bhavan, Central Campus, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad – 380009 Gujarat, India

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AHMEDABAD UNIVERSITY

CENTRE FOR HERITAGE MANAGEMENT

Ahmedabad University is a private, non-profit university dedicated to rigorous academic pursuit

with a focus on building enquiry as a value through interdisciplinary learning. Ahmedabad

University is a research university with a strong liberal education focus. Located in one of

India’s most vibrant cities, the University has a unique mindset to develop cultural and

entrepreneurial sensitivity in our graduates. Established in 2009 by the Ahmedabad Education

Society (AES), Ahmedabad University is centrally located, amidst a repertoire of highly reputed

institutions. The University’s DNA comprises of eminent founders, a congregation of inspiring

teachers and engaging scholars, and a talented pool of highly motivated students.

It is with such spirit, that Ahmedabad University set up the Centre for Heritage Management

(CHM) with focuses on academic, practice and research issues in the domain of Heritage and

Culture. CHM is one of its kind in India and specialises in Heritage Management to promote

conservation and management of heritage assets. Through CHM, Ahmedabad University offers

a unique two years Master’s Degree Programme on Heritage Management and a few executive

programmes for mid-level professionals. It also conducts collaborative action research such as

the recently completed Cultural Heritage Management & Venture Lab, Ahmedabad, which was

funded by the European Union and was pursued in partnership with the University of Valladolid

and Valladolid City Council in Spain and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation as well as a few

other partners. CHM has recently launched an international Journal of Heritage Management,

in association with the SAGE publications. It is in this scheme of initiatives to strengthen the

field of heritage management, that the international conference on Heritage Management

Education and Practice is being organised.

Volume 2

Issue 2

2018

To submit the paper, please email at heritage.journal@ahduni.edu.in

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Applications accepted until 15 February 2019

Centre for Heritage Management, Ahmedabad University, Asmita Bhavan, Central Campus,

Navrangapura, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India 380009

+91 79 26308523, +91 79 61911552 | E-mail: info.chm@ahduni.edu.in | www.ahduni.edu.in/chm