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The Impact of the Natural Disaster on Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage:

Experience in Myanmar Mr. Kyaw Myo Ko Project Coordinator CER Prince Claus Fund Director Mandalay Marionettes Theatre Director Myanmar Upper Land | culture & travels kmk@myanmarupperland.com INTRODUCTION

Part of my work related to tangible and intangible heritage is supported by the

Cultural Emergency Response Programme (CER) of the Prince Claus Fund (PCF) in

the Netherlands. The Prince Claus Fund is a Dutch foundation aiming at increasing

cultural awareness as well as promoting exchange between culture and

development. The CER was initiated by the PCF in 2003, it provides grants to

conduct basic repairs and to prevent further damage on cultural heritage (Prince

Claus Fund’s Cultural Emergency Response (CER).

My city Mandalay is often considered the hub of Burmese traditional tangible and

intangible culture. Many cultural items are showcases of quintessential

craftsmanship in sculpture, glass and lacquer (Survey Report on International

Cooperation Survey Report on the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Republic of the

Union of Myanmar March 2013).

In this session I will mainly elaborate on climate change and the threat it poses to

tangible and intangible cultural heritage and on the importance of adopting disaster

risk reduction strategies.

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DISASTER RISK REDUCTION

Many heritage sites are continuously exposed to natural and man-made disasters.

The deterioration or worse, the loss of these heritage sites usually have a negative

impact on the communities, both for their cultural importance as a source of

information on the past and ass a symbol of identity, and last but not least for their

socio-economic value.

Hazards resulting from human activities can be avoided, natural disasters are

difficult to prevent or control and often unexpected. However, the vulnerability of

heritage sites to both human-made and natural disasters can be reduced, thereby

lowering the overall risk of damaging a heritage site and lowering the risk of loss of

intangible cultural heritage. Both, tangible and intangible cultural heritage is still

not given sufficient consideration in disaster risk management and climate change

adaptation strategies at national and local levels. Not even many of those heritage

sites included in the World Heritage List, have an appropriate disaster risk

management plan and also do not have a policy for managing risks associated with

potential disasters. Existing disaster preparedness and response mechanisms

seldom include heritage expertise in their operations.

Reducing loss of Tangible Cultural Heritage.

According to the WHO, the Strategy to reduce disasters risks identifies five

objectives and related actions (WHO: Reducing Disasters Risks at World Heritage

Properties) and are structured around the five main priorities for action defined by

the Hyogo Framework for Action, the main UN-wide policy on the subject of

Disaster Reduction, and are also in line with Article 5 of the World Heritage

Convention as well as the Strategic Objectives established through the Budapest

Declaration (The Budapest Declaration 2002). The five key objectives are:

1. Strengthen support within relevant global, regional, national and local

institutions for reducing risks at World Heritage properties;

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2. Use knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of disaster

prevention at World Heritage properties;

3. Identify, assess and monitor disaster risks at World Heritage properties;

4. Reduce underlying risk factors at World Heritage properties;

5. Strengthen disaster preparedness at World Heritage properties for effective

response at all levels.

The objectives and corresponding priority actions can be found in (WHC-

07/31.COM/7.2).

It is very important, therefore, to raise the awareness of those responsible for

disaster risk management by raising and discussing these issues in their policies

and programmes.

Reducing loss of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Although loss of tangible cultural heritage is often replaceable, digitized

information like detailed photographs can be a help in this, loss of intangible

cultural heritage can be a much bigger problem to restore or maintain. This loss can

be due to nature disasters -mainly indirectly- but also to dying out of artists

performing traditional art. Already in the eighties some of the performing

traditional art in Myanmar was getting rare and questions arose how the historical

legacy of traditional theatrical arts techniques and theatre performances in our

country could be preserved. This was the main reason of the founding of our

Mandalay Marionette Theatre in 1986, namely trying to preserve Myanmar String

Puppetry, which still holds its own traditional characteristic since it includes a wide

range of artistic works such as Myanmar dancing and music, sculpture, sequin

embroidery and painting (Mandalay Marionette Theatre).

In least developing countries like Myanmar, most traditional theatrical

professionals develop their professional skills based upon tacit knowledge. These

are gathered through immersion in the theatrical environment, with these skills

being passed from generation to generation. Such knowledge implies highly

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personal rather than explicit skills, meaning they cannot be clearly stated or

documented (Dormer, P. 1997).

Therefore, one of the main challenges of our theatre was and is to continue efforts to

systematically transfer skills and knowledge onto the next generation of

performers, the younger artists. In this aspect it is important to take into account

the accessibility of appropriate learning resources, in terms of both the available

technology and sufficiently qualified trainers to support the lifelong learning

process of an artist. Further developments in this will require the development of a

national education strategy to promote the continuous learning opportunities in a

way that is appropriate and attractive to the performers (Naing Yee Mar).

CYCLONES, TYPHOONS AND HURRICANES

Natural disasters like cyclones, typhoons and hurricanes, are all the same weather

phenomenon; we just use different names for these storms in different places.

Climate change is expected to affect tropical cyclones by increasing sea surface

temperatures, one of the key factors that influences cyclone formation and

behaviour. Climate change can increase or decrease rainfall, influence agricultural

crop yields, affect human health, cause changes to forests and other ecosystems and

impact our energy supply (EPA. United States Environmental Protection Agency).

Interestingly, although science can explain all the ingredients that make a cyclone

possible there is still some mystery as to when an event will actually occur. All the

known factors that produce a cyclone can be present and yet a storm event may or

may not be born. The components for these storms include a pre-existing weather

disturbance, warm tropical oceans, moisture, and relatively light winds. If the right

conditions persist long enough, they can combine to produce the violent winds,

incredible waves, torrential rains, and floods we associate with this phenomenon

(Global Climate Change & Human Health). Nevertheless there are sometimes

conflicting results, the main stream of thinking in science is that the climate change

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will cause perhaps not more but stronger storms, cyclones and typhoons (Thomas R.

Knutson et al).

UN scientists forecast more severe droughts, cyclones and floods. The consequences

can be seen already in extreme weather patterns, particularly drought and flood,

and they will probably get worse this century (Environment). According to Camilo

Mora average annual temperatures will start to consistently exceed the highest

levels previously recorded in as little as seven years in tropical hotspots and within

four decades for the majority of the globe if nothing is done to stop climate change,

according to a study published in the journal Nature (Camilo Mora, 2013). The

study of Camilo Mora came two weeks after the release of a United Nations report

expressing widespread, rising confidence among scientists the climate is already

warming and that humans are responsible for at least half of the increase in global

surface temperatures since the 1950s (Gateway to the United Nations systems work

on climate change). The results suggest that countries first impacted by

unprecedented climates are the ones with the least capacity to respond and

"Ironically, these are the countries that are least responsible for climate change in

the first place". "This suggests that any progress to decrease the rate of ongoing

climate change will require a bigger commitment from developed countries to

decrease their emissions, but will also require more extensive funding of social and

conservation programmes in developing countries," the authors write in their study.

Almost all of the tropical cyclone damage from climate change tends to be

concentrated in North America, East Asia and the Caribbean–Central American

region and almost 80% of fatalities from tropical cyclones are concentrated in two

countries especially in Bangladesh and to a lesser extend in Myanmar (Robert

Mendelsohn et al). Time to go to our next chapter.

A NATURAL DISASTER IN MYANMAR: CYCLONE NARGIS, 2008

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Myanmar’s cultural heritage has been exposed to various natural disasters (1975

earthquake, 2008 hurricane, 2010 flooding), as well as human disasters (thievery,

grave robbing, smuggling) and drastic development pressure. Urgent measures are

sought for their protection, but the country’s domestic affairs are still too fragile to

address this issue (Survey Report on International Cooperation Survey Report on

the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Republic of the Union of Myanmar March

2013).

Cyclone Nargis, devastated the Irrawaddy delta on 2 and 3 May 2008, killing tens of

thousands of people and ruined Myanmar infrastructure. Figures of partially or

totally destroyed monasteries probably rose in the thousands. More exact

estimations of the damage of cyclone Nargis to monasteries are difficult to make.

One of the reasons is the huge devastated area in the south where the

infrastructure is rudimentary and where the best way of travelling is by using a

traditional wooden boat with an outside motor.

Myanmar is one of the least developed countries. Being a cultural worker from

Myanmar I was aware that the location and situation of the project were not within

the compass of the Ministry of Culture.

Other renovations in the -large and remote- area were done by the Government, the

public sector and also by International aid organisations (NGOs).

Fortunately funding came from the PCF for the following three sites:

1. the restoration of Kanner Monastery, the Kyunlone Kutkar Pagoda and the

theatrical office building in Moulmeignyun;

2. the restoration of the Shin U Pa Goata Shrine, the Koe Myo Nan Shrine and the

theatrical office building in Bogolaythe;

3. the repairs and replacement of instruments and equipment used in traditional

orchestras and theatres in Bogolay and Moulmeignyun

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The projects fell under two main headings: reconstruction of heritage buildings,

and theatrical support for restoration of tangible cultural heritage and safeguarding

intangible cultural heritage.

For all three sites apart from skilful engineers from elsewhere, only local and

traditional craftsmen and locally available labour force were used. During the

restoration process for the first two sites only traditional building materials, like

lime mortar and lime based paints were used for the monastic buildings and objects

of religious significance, including the Buddha images. The use of cement and

plastic paints was not accepted. The theatrical office building was rebuilt

completely. Musical instruments and puppets were replaced. In contrast to the

other projects, the use of cement and plastic paints was accepted in the theatrical

buildings. Important items for the third project were replacement of damaged

instrument sets and timber to build a new stage.

Even though the locations of the projects were in a remote area, the projects were

an enormous success.

In the short run the monks and local people could take up their religious and social

activities again. All people from this rural community are devotee Buddhists. And

in the long run it is expected to strengthen the community life. Through the

achievements of the projects local people became more aware of their cultural

heritage by contributing and safeguarding their own tangible and intangible

heritage. The historical, cultural and religious objects are restored for many

generations to come. The artist and the theatre could resume their activities.

The restored historical buildings, the theatrical performances and the upcoming

tourism may lay the foundations for a sustainable tourism, taking into

consideration the economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs

of the visitors, the environment and the communities. All this hopefully contributes

to a better economic future of the area.

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When we finished the project, we organized the transferring ceremony. Mostly we

do this ceremony in a religious way at the local place of the project. This is because

the objectives of the project are closely related to the culture of ancient Buddhism.

For these ceremonies we invited all the stakeholders of the community, heads of the

communities and general public.

The projects had several spinoffs:

• Discussions with the locals not only on restoring and conservation of their

tangible cultural objects but because of my background also discussions on

traditional art resulted in more awareness of their intangible culture heritage

and hereby encouraging and safeguarding their own traditions.

• Traditional culture based community development programmes and related

training programme are in development.

MYANMAR’S POLICIES TOWARD REDUCING CULTURAL HERITAGE

RISK IN THE LIGHT OF THE COUNTRY’S PROBLEMS

There are lots of huge problems facing our country and its development.

Since 1962 Myanmar has been under military rule. This brought our country in a

political and economic isolation with a disastrous outcome. It has contributed to the

rapid and often uncontrolled depletion of the nation’s natural wealth (OECD

Development Pathways. Multi-dimensional Review of Myanmar).

After a general election held in 2010 a new government came to power in March

2011. This government has inherited problems like poor access to capital and credit;

poor trade facilitation and high customs-related fees; cumbersome business and

trade licensing and permits; shortages of electricity; weak telecommunications; and

inefficient transportations systems. Other challenges include a shortage of spare

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parts and raw materials, a low level of advanced technology utilization, machinery

and equipment deficiencies, and shortages of foreign currency.

And the needs in our country are great: education, infrastructure and social and

health related issues all have to be tackled and all urgently. For instance, education

levels are low, less than half of Burma's 18 million children complete five years of

primary schools and less than 1 percent of the country's GDP is spent on education

(Burma's Reforms and Regional Cooperation in East Asia).

Every aspect of Burmese society suffers from a lack of capacity, and there is a

significant chance of aid being wasted. The need for aid in our country is severe and

the humanitarian situation is dire. Yet, even if significant amounts of aid and

investment are allowed to flow into Burma, an enormous question of capacity still

lingers.

Besides these important issues, we have many heritage sites, almost all of them in a

bad state of conservation. And the cost of conservation and restoring our heritage

sites are immense. We simply do not have the means, the money and the required

technical conservation of our many heritage sites. As an example of the cost,

Hurricane Katrina, which hit the US states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama

in 2005, did cost roughly US$125 billion, represented only about 0.1 percent of the

US Gross Domestic Product. Cyclone Nargis caused damages that amounted to 30

percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (IDA At WORK. Managing Natural

Hazards, Reducing Risks to Development).

Before the (although still ongoing) change of our government, protection and

preservation of our cultural heritage was ‘’not its priority’’. On our current road to

liberalisation, privatisation and decentralisation all in the sake of democracy and

with the challenges of a transient economy steps are being made on the road to

conservation of our many heritage sites but (much needed) central funding has only

marginally increased, and mainly for the tangible heritage sites.

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Myanmar has a central government but consist of several different states

(comprising The Union of Myanmar) all of them having their own habits, cultures

and wishes. The laws are made by the central government, but the forces of the

different states and even at lower levels are still strong in our newly developing

country which has to learn how to deal with all these problems.

The concepts of environmental governance and democracy in conservation and

decentralization are huge and often do not coincide and are also completely new to

us. Decentralization and conservation are rooted in very different histories and

paradigms and both are confronted with a democratic deficit. At its heart,

decentralization is but an extension of the historic movement of the state to

penetrate and rationalize society along modernization ideals. (Mariteuw Chimère

Diaw. Elusive meanings: decentralization, conservation, and local democracy).

The first laws in Myanmar on protection our cultural heritage sites were made in

1998; these laws were only about tangible cultural heritage sites, intangible

cultural heritage was not mentioned (Government of the Union of Myanmar

Ministry of Culture. The protection and preservation of cultural heritage regions

law). Revision of this law took place in 2009, and supplemented in 2011.

Often (and I’m sure also here) the will to reform in Myanmar is present with new

laws coming up; however the execution and implementation of the law is a much

more difficult path to walk.

To establish the supremacy of the law, the effective separation of executive,

legislative and judicial powers will be critical. Myanmar’s present laws do not

require the use of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIAs) for major projects nor

do they provide a framework and standards for their use.

Nevertheless, in my opinion governments have an obligation not only to protect by

law but also by implementation of the law, our transient and intransient cultural

heritage sites even though the economic benefits hardly ever outweigh the cost of

preservation or restoring.

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Our Ministry of Culture (MOC) is completely responsible for the administrative

functions connected with the protection of our Cultural heritage. In recent years,

the Ministry of Culture comprises three departments each of them having their own

field and responsibilities:

1. The Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library;

2. The Department of Historical Research; and

3. The Department of Fine Art.

The first, sporadic conservation measures were already done under British rule and

continued after independence in 1948. All these and later restoration and

conservation measures were done by people from Myanmar without any help from

foreign experts in the different field. Actions were either a local initiative or

centrally, from the MOC. The political and economic isolation did not much help in

this, and instead of advanced foreign technologies and foreign expertise on different

field of restoring ‘we did it our own way’. Alterations and restorations were done in

the past on cultural heritage sites, but often with wrong and different than the

original (e.g.: concrete instead of wood) material (Survey Report on International

Cooperation Survey Report on the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Republic of the

Union of Myanmar March 2013). The results are such that because of the current

bad status of many buildings, due to the small budgets and the lack of

conservational measures, none of the huge amount of rich cultural heritage sites,

with among them some very world-wide famous buildings, are on the World

Heritage List. The latest was a visit in October 2013 by the World Heritage center

at three ancient Pyu Cities. These cities date from the 7th and 9th centuries A.D. by

the Pyu, who dominated central Burma for almost a millennium before their culture

died out. Acceptance on the World Heritage list will be decided by the World

Heritage Committee to be held in June 2014. Some of the problems that have to be

addressed too are the bad conservation state they are in nevertheless the recent

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foreign cultural heritage advisers and experts in these cities and the fact that

displaced people are living on these heritage sites.

In short, Myanmar’s tangible cultural heritage is facing a conservation crisis with a

definite shortage of human resources and facilities. Only lately and sporadically is

help coming from other countries with high Tech mechanisms to prevent cultural

heritage from natural disaster. But we are still a long way from being faced with

questions like: how can high-tech solutions be evaluated in comparison to

traditional methods (retrofitting versus authenticity)?

SOME LESSONS LEARNT

Restoring tangible and intangible heritage did safeguard a sustainable social and

economic development of the region, not only during the recovery stage but also on a

longer term, with some important aspects:

-­‐ It created awareness by the local community for their tangible and intangible

cultural heritage.

-­‐ It was a source of employment, by supporting the local workers but also the

traditional craftsmen, like the mason, carpenter et cetera, thereby using the

potential of traditional knowledge;

-­‐ It attracted investments after renovation (such as for tourism purposes)

-­‐ and last but not least: it became an essential support for the social and economic

well-being of the communities in distress.

Overall important is the decisive role of the local community in implementing and

achieving the goals. This we did by making the locals aware of their tangible and

intangible culture heritage.

We became aware that local authorities played a crucial role in many ways, they

could activate and involve the local communities, and they helped not only to access

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environmental damage but were also crucial in implementing the support. Their

active engagement turned out to be essential in carrying out integrated disaster

preparedness strategies.

Tangible and intangible cultural heritage can be important components of economic

innovation and for local development. Local involvement and local ownership is a

precondition for a successful project. Successful projects should be based on local

definitions and local perceptions of cultural heritage and require broad partnerships

of different kinds of knowledge and expertise.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Myanmar is very rich in tangible and intangible cultural heritage. A lot of our

heritage is in danger, many of the sites are in a bad state of conservation and

intangible cultural heritage is diminishing for various reasons.

During the last years with the help of the Prince Claus Fund I managed to restore

some of our heritage sites; with my own theatrical company we revived some of our

intangible cultural heritage. And with my travel company I try to promote tourism

in order to contribute to economic development of some of the regions of our cultural

heritage sites.

Our new Government has a huge task in restoring and preserving our tangible and

intangible cultural heritage but is willing. In this process it faces also many other

and huge problems that people and the nation needs.

To further strengthen our restoration programmes and to bring them up the next

level the research and education sector should be recognised as a central

stakeholder in capacity building and sectorial development projects for cultural

heritage (Evaluation of Norwegian support to the protection of Cultural Heritage,

2009) and future assistance is needed particularly for technical transfers and

human resource development in the field of conservation and restoration

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technologies, the development of a tourism environment with due consideration to

cultural heritage, and the formulation of a comprehensive plan from the perspective

of regional development (Survey Report on International Cooperation Survey

Report on the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Republic of the Union of Myanmar

March 2013).

It is very important, therefore, to use the opportunity offered at the 2013 Global

Platform to raise the awareness of those responsible for disaster risk management

and to invite responsible for heritage management of the importance of integrating

heritage concerns in their policies and programmes, both for its intrinsic value and

because of its major role in supporting the resilience of communities (Global

platform for disaster risk reduction. Heritage and Resilience).

References • Burma's Reforms and Regional Cooperation in East Asia:

http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/publications/articles_papers_reports/0164.html • Camilo Mora, 2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/10/science/earth/by-2047-

coldest-years-will-be-warmer-than-hottest-in-past.html?_r=0) • Dormer, P. (1997). Craft and Turing Test for Practical Thinking. Peter Dormer

(ed.), The Culture of Craft, Manchester: Manchester University Press, p.137. • Environment: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/un-

scientists-forecast-more-severe-droughts-cyclones-and-floods-20111113-1ndu0.html

• Evaluation of Norwegian support to the protection of Cultural Heritage, 2009. http://www.oecd.org/countries/nepal/43971499.pdf

• EPA. United States Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/.

• Gateway to the United Nations systems work on climate change: http://www.un.org/climatechange/ and Global Issues. Climate Change http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/climatechange/.

• Global Climate Change & Human Health: http://climatechangehumanhealth.org/activities/natural-disasters-cyclones/

• Global platform for disaster risk reduction. Heritage and Resilience: http://www.preventionweb.net/globalplatform/2013/programme/featuredevents/view/480

• Government of the Union of Myanmar Ministry of Culture. The protection and preservation of cultural heritage regions law: http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs15/1998-SPDC_Law1998-09-Protection_and_Preservation_of_Cultural_Heritage_Regions_Law-en.pdf

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• Government of the Union of Myanmar Ministry of Culture. The protection and preservation of cultural heritage regions law. http://www.jcic-heritage.jp/doc/pdf/2012Report_Myanmar_eg.pdf

• IDA At WORK. Managing Natural Hazards, Reducing Risks to Development: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/IDA/Resources/IDA-Risk_Management.pdf

• Mandalay Marionette Theatre: http://www.mandalaymarionettes.com/ • Mariteuw Chimère Diaw. Elusive meanings: decentralization, conservation, and

local democracy. http://www.cifor.org/publications/pdf_files/events/documentations/durban/papers/Paper20Diaw.pdf

• Myanmar upper land and travel: http://www.myanmarupperland.com/ • Naing Yee Mar (not published). APPROACHES TO EDUCATION FOR

TRADITIONAL PERFORMING ARTS IN THE DIGITAL AGE: A CASE STUDY OF MYANMAR. Multicultural Learning and Media Literacy in the Modern World. International Conference, 21-23 May 2006, Hämeenlinna, Finland. http://www.unevoc.unesco.org/go.php?q=UNEVOC+Publications&lang=en&akt=id&st=&qs=3779&unevoc=0

• OECD Development Pathways. Multi-dimensional Review of Myanmar. http://www.oecd.org/dev/Pocket%20Edition%20MYANMAR2013.pdf

• Prince Claus Fund’s Cultural Emergency Response (CER) http://www.princeclausfund.org/nl.

• Robert Mendelsohn et al. The impact of climate change on global tropical cyclone damage. Nature Climate Change 2, 205–209 (2012) doi:10.1038/nclimate1357. http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v2/n3/full/nclimate1357.html

• Survey Report on International Cooperation Survey Report on the Protection of Cultural Heritage in Republic of the Union of Myanmar March 2013. Published by Japan Consortium for International Cooperation in Cultural Heritage 13-43 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo, 110-8713 JAPAN Tel:+81-3-3823-4841 Fax: +81-3-3823-4027 URL: http://www.jcic-heritage.jp/

• The Budapest Declaration 2002 http://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/1217/ • Thomas R. Knutson et al. Tropical cyclones and climate change. Nature

geoscience 21 February 2010  |  doi: 10.1038/ngeo779. www.nature.com/naturegeoscience. and http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/Landsea/knutson-et-al-nat-geo.pdf

• WHO Reducing Disasters Risks at World Heritage Properties http://whc.unesco.org/en/disaster-risk-reduction/

• WHC-07/31.COM/7.2 http://whc.unesco.org/en/sessions/31com/documents/

Biodata Part of Mr. Kyaw Myo K’s work related to tangible and intangible heritage is supported by the Cultural Emergency Response Programme (CER) of the Prince Claus Fund (PCF) in the Netherlands. The Prince Claus Fund is a Dutch foundation

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aiming at increasing cultural awareness as well as promoting exchange between culture and development. As director of the Mandalay Marionettes Theatre, he organizes daily performances of traditional Marionette plays, music and dance in Mandalay and in other parts of the world. Furthermore, he is the director of Myanmar Upper Land | culture & travels (MUL), a travel company specializing in cultural tours to our many heritage sites and my organization for these purposes, working to achieve the goals of restoration, conservation and safeguarding the historical, cultural and religious objects of Myanmar (Myanmar upper land and travel).