Heritage as Placemaking Spring School 2024 in partnership with Echoes in the Valley This year, the research project Heritage as Placemaking:
The Politics of Solidarity and Erasure in South Asia is offering an International Spring School in the Kathmandu Valley on performance, living heritage, and placemaking. As part of this 6-day, intensive program, participants will be provided with the theoretical and methodological tools to understand heritage as performance through experiential learning. Students will have the opportunity to visit sites, participate in daily as well as special religious rituals, observe ritual and folk dances, and interact with the bearers of traditional knowledge from various communities, researchers and policymakers. This year, the Spring School is partnering with Echoes in the Valley Festival of Folk Music, offering a unique opportunity to consider the intersections of living heritage, placemaking, and folk music. WHAT? An International Spring School on performance and living heritage WHERE? Kathmandu Valley, Nepal WHEN? March 20-25, 2024 APPLICATIONS DUE January 8, 2024 Photo: Monica Mottin, Jhijhiya dancers, Janakpurdham Living heritage refers to the knowledge, practices and expressions that are handed down from generation to generation in communities across the world. But what makes heritage ‘living’, and what are the challenges and contradictions that communities face in trying to maintain heritage’s living dynamics? During the HaP Spring School, we use performance theory as a lens through which to explore heritage-making and the elements that keep heritage ‘alive’. Looking at heritage as performance means regarding heritage as a process —produced, reproduced, invented, re-invented—and exploring the messy paths of crosspollination from the streets to the stage. The setting for examining these questions is Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley. Such a location is ideal for exploring dimensions of placemaking in performance and living heritage. The urban design of the valley is intricately woven into the social and cultural lives of its denizens. For example, any traditional settlement maintains designated areas of worship and performance (e.g. a raised platform, called dabu or dabali) that are vital for living traditions to flourish. During our Spring School, case studies such as masked dances and charya dance will be highlighted to investigate how performances are embedded in place, which we will explore not only through attending and observing performances but also by experiencing rituals in a guided context. Additionally, we will consider heritage performances from outside the Kathmandu Valley. Over the course of six days, participants will have the chance to explore events in Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur, where two days of the Spring School will be located within the Echos in the Valley Festival and will benefit from collaborative activities in a community setting.
Learning objectives As a result of taking part in the HaP International Spring School 2024, participants will be able to…
- Challenge assumptions that ritual and traditional practices remain stable in time and space
- Explore how traditions are constructed
- Experience how ritual performances are embedded in daily life
- Understand tangible-intangible interconnectedness through space
- Appreciate cross-pollinations between folk-contemporary stage performances
- Recognize the complex agency of local communities, the state and international organisations in maintaining ritual and folk performances
- Sharpen one’s sense of how dimensions of space and place impact performance and living heritage
- Recognize placemaking as a tool for creating and maintaining heritage
- Expand awareness of repatriation of sacred objects as performance Admission and application The Spring School is designed for PhD and graduate students as well as junior experts in the fields of heritage studies, performance studies, Himalayan studies, and related areas. Applications from all over the world are welcome, and students and young professionals from underrepresented minorities are particularly encouraged to apply. Places in the Spring School are limited, and accepted students must commit to full participation (attending all 6 days and producing a final reflective output). In addition to its rich didactic programme, the Spring School provides admission for all relevant performances/ cultural events, food/drink, and accommodation for the duration of the Spring School (for students who are attending from out of town). Unfortunately, we are unable to cover travel to/from the Kathmandu Valley. The Spring School offers a certificate of participation to students who complete the programme but cannot provide transferable academic credits. To apply, please submit the following documents (in a single file with the applicant’s family name as the file name) to Emily Hyatt (emily.hyatt@hcts.uni-heidelberg.de) no later than January 8, 2024, with the email subject line ‘Application for HaP Spring School 2024’. Your application should include the following:
- CV in English
- Please be sure to include your name, email, telephone number, address, and current institutional/organizational affiliation (the name of the institution, your department/ field, and your position)
- Motivation letter (one page) in English, including…
- Why you are interested in attending a spring school on performance and living heritage
- How participation will help you meet your educational and/or professional goals
- Whether you need accommodation provided for the duration of the Spring School (for applicants from outside the Kathmandu Valley)
- If you have any accessibility needs The International Spring School ‘Living heritage, performance and placemaking’ is organised by Dr Monica Mottin (Heidelberg University), Dr Monalisa Maharjan (Social Science Baha) and Binita Magaiya (Social Science Baha). It is part of the research project Heritage as Placemaking: The Politics of Solidarity and Erasure in South Asia, a collaboration between Social Science Baha (Nepal), SOAS University of London (UK), South Asian University (India) and Heidelberg University (Germany). The HaP International Spring School is funded by the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.