Myanmar heritage in times of political transition

DPU Dialogue in Development
Myanmar heritage in times of political transition

Join us for an 'Urban Transformations' research cluster event!

Urban heritage increasingly features in debates of all sorts, from climate change, sustainable development, human security, multiculturalism and conflict resolution. Critical Heritage studies have greatly contributed to shift the meaning of heritage from the idea of a homogeneous single identity toward a polyphony of values, and from the idea of authoritative expertise to that of dissonance. Yet this remains disconnected from the practice, while heritage is still very much framed by normative discourse that leaves many people and places underrepresented. Myanmar’s political transition offers an unparalleled opportunity to examine the potential of reconfiguring multiple urban heritages and foster more just urbanisms. This event brings together scholars and practitioners from Myanmar and elsewhere to understand how civil society and other organizations and communities shape their agency in the city transformation and to confront institutional positions and challenges of heritage conservation in the midst of political transition.

Speakers: Dr Su Su, Professor, Mandalay Technological University; Moe Moe Lwin, Director, Yangon Heritage Trust; Dean Sully, Senior Lecturer in Conservation, UCL Archaeology; Dr Felix Girke, Universität Konstanz; Dr Clare Melhuish, Curating the city, Director, UCL Urban Laboratory.

Organised by: Dr. Catalina Ortiz and Dr. Giovanna Astolfo, DPU.

The event is possible thank to the support from UCL Urban Lab, Centre for Critical Heritage Studies https://www.ucl.ac.uk/critical-heritage-studies/ and Global Engagement Funds www.ucl.ac.uk/global/funding-opportunities/global-engagement-funds/global-engagement-funds