Communication Design 3 : Main Book

BRICKS AND ASHES

A Documentation About the Erasure Of History

“All that is solid melts into air.”

—Karl Marx

Contents

6

Preface

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Introduction

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CH. 1 Decay of history

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Ani-Archaelogical Center

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Ellis Island

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My Son Temple Complex

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CH. 2 NATURE’s WRATH

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Erwang Temple

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Nepal Heritage Site

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CH.3 Mankind’s ignorance

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Angkor Archaeological District

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Prague Historic Center

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Mostar Historic Center

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Mosul Central Museum

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Colyphon

Preface

It has happened to us all, In the name of progress, through some catastrophe, or even simply for the sake of change, a precious touchstone in our lives is swept away. A wonderful old 6

building is torn down to widen a road, a fire or an earthquake destroys an entire neighborhood, a beautiful church is abandoned and deteriorates beyond repair. A sense of place is lost, and with it a piece of our identity.

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Introduction

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Everything began with one word: antiquarianism.

It means the act of collecting relics, artifacts, or past cultural remains as a mean to study that culture’s civilization. It has close connection with archaeology, and the conservation of historical heritages. Before diving into antiquarianism, one must ask “What is the purpose of collecting/ preserving products of history when there is no practical use for them anymore?� The answer is identity. History is a forever evolving and changing stream of events, and these relics, heritages are products of the stream. Without them, history will eventually become lost and dissolve into abyss. This is the significance of antiquarianism.

When historical heritages are destroyed, it severely damages history, and that consequently affects cultural identity, too, making a nation incomplete and powerless. History has demonstrated countless time that if people of power wish to control a nation, they first control its culture. Hitler, Emperor Qin, Cultural Revolution in China, Terrorists of Middleeast, the list goes on. Strip a civilization from its culture, it loses its identity.

The Decay of History 10

CH. 1

THE DECAY OF HISTORY

No thing in the world is eternal, not even lifeless form, and architecture like all other beings will eventually fade and become one with the earth.

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In this chapter:

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Ani Archaeological Site Ellis Island My Son Temple Complex Battleship Island

THE DECAY OF HISTORY

“Decay is just another senseless borderline between the whisper of the ghosts of past days and the roar of painfully recovered memories. It is the heavy boots of time and the luster in the countless tiny eyes of rats. Time, rats, time, rats . . . so goes the unbearably slow pace of decay turning dust into ash and ash into nothing.�

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—Majeed

Although difficult to visualize, but inorganic matter can decompose all the same as living things. They crack, breakdown, and eventually settle into dust in the eternity of time. Today, the world holds many cultural heritage of the past.

These heritage all represent and convey something about the identity of a culture or society. One could say cultural heritages is the DNA foundation of the entire human race.

Of the countless cultural heritages around the world, many of them are endangered. One primary reason being the absence of maintaneance. Buildings, like house plants and pets, need the care of people. Without the care, they will sure fall, and once they do, the cultural identity is damaged.

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Ani Archaeological Site Ocarli Koyu, Kars, Turkey Third to fourteenth centuries

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Remote, abandoned for nearly seven hundred years, and lying in an earth quake prone region high on the eastern Anatolian plateau

Decay of History 16

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Remote, abandoned for nearly seven hundred years, and lying in an earth quakeprone region high on the eastern Anatolian plateau, it is something of a miracle that the city of Ani survives in any recognizable form. Originally an Armenian settlement, its natural topography provided for its defense, making it a natural center for traders as commercial routes moved north from the vulnerable Mediterranean for safety.

Ani was important at the end of the first millennium as a place where East met West, and where through mutual tolerance and cooperation the communities of the city prospered, creating a uniquely amalgamated culture. Having endured successive conquerors-among them Islamic Muslims and Byzantines-in 1336, during the Mongol rule of Asia Minor, Ani's citizens were forced out and the city was never again inhabited.

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Despite the precarious state of the surviving structures, the city retains a dramatic beauty in this spectacular natural setting. Among the most important structures that remain are several dramatic proto-Gothic-style churches that were built some one and a quarter centuries before the Gothic had spread throughout Europe. The ruins indicate the medieval city's importance, evinced by the quality of the religious architecture and the inventive fortifications.

Time is of the essence in the conservation of Ani. Ten great churches and the one major mosque require immediate consolidation. One of the most striking ruins is the Church of the Redeemer, which was built in 1036 to house a relic of the True Cross.

Today the ruin resembles a cutaway architectural model-half the building has fallen away. Complex solutions are under discussion to prevent the loss of any more of the majestic ruin. In the church of St. Grigor Tigran Honez, built in 1215, the only mural paintings to survive at Ani give a remarkable idea of the rich decoration of the church interiors. The rarity of these murals makes their immediate protection paramount. fig. 1 The ceiling for the Site as seen from inside fig. 2 The great hall of Ani Archaeological site

Decay of History 18

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Since 1996, an international advocacy campaign has trumpeted the conservation dilemma of Ani. A preliminary survey of the site was completed in 1996, followed by a specific plan in 1998 for the conservation of the Church of the Redeemer. To date, only minimal testing and consolidation works have taken place. Project managers have developed plans for the complete consolidation and conservation of the ruins and hope that funding will be available in the future. Currently, though, Ani's security amounts to a single guard, and it is consequently raided and damaged with regularity. Political and military sensibilities in this volatile region also continue to be a barrier to the rescue of this former center of civilization.

fig. 3 The ruins of the Bagratid period bridge located on the present-day border between Turkey and America

fig. 4 The collapsed entrance of the abandoned relic

Decay of History 22

Ellis Island, South End New York, U. S. A. 1892–1954

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In 1954 the last immigrants to pass though the halls of Ellis Island were processed and given entry into the United States.

This event marked the end of one of the most important and poignant periods of the country’s history

Decay of History 24

In 1954 the last immigrants to pass though the halls of Ellis Island were processed and given entry into the United States. This event marked the end of one of the most important and poignant periods of the country’s history. From 1895 until its closing, approximately twelve million people came through Ellis Island on their way to a new life in the United States. Today, some forty percent of American citizens are the descendants of immigrant ancestors who arrived in America via Ellis Island.

Ellis Island, located in the upper New York Bay, was open in 1892 and quickly became the principal federal immigration station in the United States. As the flow of immigrants increased, the island and its facilities were expanded through landfill and new construction. By the 1920s, the island ceased to be as important as it once was. After 1954, the island was left largely vacant, and maintenance came to an end. It was not until President Lyndon B. Johnson made Ellis Island part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965 that the island was taken over by the National Park Service and restoration plans began. Twenty-five years later, the north side of Ellis Island was completely restored and opend as an immigration museum, and is now one of the top five attractions in New York City.

The restoration of the south side of the island proved more elusive. This side of Ellis Island contained the bulk of the hospital facilities including general, psychiatric, measles, and isolation wards, and also administration, kitchen, and recreation buildings. These were in a state of advanced deterioration by the 1990s, and a campaign by the City of New York and the State of New Jersey was initiated for their preservation. Resuse of the buildings became major issue, and a lively debate ensued which resulted in several strong proposals.

In January 2000, New Jersey officials announced a $300 million plan to restore and adaptively reuse the south sude of the island for new museums addressing immigrant heritage and public health, as well as a world-class conference center.

The first step toward the fulfilment of this ambitious scheme is the emergency stabilization and conservation of several of the most deteriorated building on Ellis Island’s south side. Funding from the State of New Jersey, the Federal Governemnt, and private donations will, it is hoped, secure these vulunerable buildings until their complete restoration and ultimate reuse.

fig. 5 A room in one of the dilapidated wards

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Decay of History 26

My Son Temple Complex Qang Nam Province, Vietnam Fourth to Thirteenth Centuris

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Decay of History 28

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The Indochinese peninsula of Southeast Asia has always been a crossroads of civilizations, Vietnam, in particular, has been a crucible of Indian and Chinese cultures vying for control of various provinces, and attempting to make lasting statements of cultural supremacy. My Son, in central Vietnam, was the royal seat of the Hindu kingdom of Champa from A.D. 300 to 1200. Its monumental temple complex, perhaps the kingdom’s most significant architectural feat, is often ranked in size and importance with Angkor Wat in Campbodia, and Pagan in Myanmar. My Son served as the chief intellectual and religious site of the Cham people for nearly a thousand years, and at the time of its abandonment in the thirteenth century, it had seventy temples. The temples were constructed of brick rubbed smooth and held together with a mortar made of organic resins.

These materials created surfaces that could be easily carevd as means of decoration.

My Son was abandoned at the end of the thirteenth century after the Champa kingdom was conquered by Vietnamese armies from the north. It was gradually consumed by the surrounding jungle and remained hidden for five hundred years. The site was uncovered in 1898, when Vietnam was a French colony.

Archaeologists and anthropologists from the Ecole Française D’Extrême Orient studied and documented the site, renewing international interest in Cham art fig. 6 One of the last intact temples at My Son

and architecture. In 1945 Vitnam began its long war of liberation. My Son

fig. 7 This pedestal and the outline of a wall are all that remain of the once magnificent temple called “A1.”

tinuing hostiliisTragically American air raids in 1969 destroyed several of My

retreated into the jungle and was inaccessible to scholars because of the conSon’s temples, which were targeted because they puportedly sheltered ammunition supplies–later proved ti be untrue.

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Decay of History 30

In 1977 My Son was cleared of mines, and in 1982 the first program of restoration works began. Since then, work has moved forward, but the task of conserving such a vast site is beyond the resources of Vietnamese officials.

Recent International exposure and the growth of tourism in the country have encourtand tourism development. Since 1996 the site has been cleared of vegetations, revealing more ruins. Security and access to the site have also been improved. However, regular flooding from poor drainage, and lack of effective conservation methodologies still pose challenging problems. As Vietnam comes out of its isolation, the country will need more professional conservation assistance and international funds to help preserve its heritage.

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fig. 8 The temples at My Son are made of a reddish brick. Decorative carvings have been cut directly into the bricks.

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Nature’s Wrath 32

CH. 2

Nature’s Wrath

“The arrogance of men is thinking nature is in our control and not the other way around.” ­—Dr. Ochiro Serizawa, Godzilla (2014)

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In this chapter:

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Erwang Temple Nepal Earthquake

NATURE’S WRATH

Technology has enable humans to remove almost every possible life-threats to humans. We hardly face any life or death situation. This is true, but with one exception: natural disaster. It is a force which cannot be controlled, and the aftermath and results are catastrophic and devastating. Buildings, architecture, etc, are victims as well. Destruction by nature can come in many form. Earthquake, hurricane, flooding, wildfire, etc, can all risk endangering the heritage of our culture.

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Nature’s Wrath 36

Erwang Temple Dujiangyan, China 406–221 BC–Present

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After being damaged by Sichuan earthquake in 2008, cultural heritage buildings in Dujiangyan City are being restored and will be finished in September this year. The reconstruction work is being carried out by scholars and professional workers from all over China. The central government has invested 95 million yuan to date.

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Dujiangyan City is located to the northwest of Chengdu and 17.5 miles from Yingxiu, the epicenter of the earthquake happened on May 12, 2008. It has about 2,000 years of history and is known to the world for Dujiangyan dam, built in Qin Dynasty and Erwang Temple and Fulong Temple , which are located on the east side of Minjiang River and fell apart in the massive quake.

Scholars went to inspect the damage on the second day of the earthquake. They provided a report on May 18 and the restoration project began in June, 2008.

About 400 workers from the cultural heritage protection bureaus of Guangxi and Fujian Provinces participated in the reconstruction. Liaoning Non-Ferrous Foundation Engineering Corporation is in charge of building foundation of the temples. The designers are from Cultural Heritage Protection Research Center of Beijing Tsinghua Urban Planning and Design Institute.

According to Fan Tuoyu, head of Dujiangyan Cultural Heritage Bureau, the proj-

Nature’s Wrath

ect includes two phases. The first phase is strengthening foundation of heritage buildings to protect them from natural disasters such as earthquake and flood.

The second phase is repairing the falling buildings. The restoration of Fulong Temple has been completed and 50 percent of the repair work of Erwang Temple has been finished.

The strengthening phase includes two parts. The first one is to lay a solid foundation below the temples to prevent them from sliding into the river if massive earthquake and flood happen at the same time. Workers build 72 of concrete pillars from 17m to 23m to sustain the unstable platform where Erwang Temple and other buildings sit. The second part is to restore the temples in traditional way. “We will correct some mistaken design made in the past few years and use traditional Chinese wooden structure. The traditional design can protect the buildings from earthquake very well.” Fan said.

The repairing phase will also be done in accordance with its original design.

The workers choose to use a type of biological paint collected from local trees instead of the chemical one. Though it will cost more time and money, it can keep the color and luster of buildings for a longer time. All the wood used in the temples has been dried and soaked in antiseptic to protect it from the humid weather in Dujiangyan.

Countless difficulties occurred during the process. For example, the new design could not come out in a short time. So workers and scholars often discussed how to restore a certain part of the temples without design. The lack of detailed historical reference is another problem. China Photographers Association contributed hundreds of photos of Erwang Temple. “We used the original materials as many as possible.” Fan smiled. “Relatives and friends of mine think we have done a good deed to restore the temples.”

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fig. 1 The Interior of the temple left in ruins after the quake fig.2 An attempt at reconstruction to restore the glory days of the temple

Nature’s Wrath 40

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fig. 3 The Erwang Temple before the earthquake fig. 4 The ruins and remainings of Erwang Temple

Nature’s Wrath 42

Cultural Heritage Site Kathmandu Valley, Nepal Third Century–Present

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These are desperate times but we must all unite together in times like these

Decay of History 44

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The centuries-old monuments spread throughout the Kathmandu Valley were heavily damaged in the massive earthquake that struck Nepal on Saturday, a United Nations official said on Monday. Some of the sites suffered “extensive and irreversible damage.”

Irina Bokova, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said she was “shocked” by the earthquake’s devastating impact on Nepal’s cultural heritage in the country, in particular the “extensive and irreversible damage at the World Heritage site of Kathmandu Valley.”

The sites are made up of seven separate groups of monuments. They include the Durbar Squares of Hanuman Dhoka (Kathmandu), Patan and Bhaktapur, the Buddhist “stupas” of Swayambhu and Bauddhanath and the Hindu temples of Pashupati and Changu Narayan.

The Nepalese government describes the seven sites as “medieval royal palace complexes” or “religious temple complexes,” calling them “archaeologically, historically, culturally and religiously very important” to the Kathmandu Valley. fig. 5 A Buddha statue is surrounded by debris from a collapsed temple in the UNESCO world heritage

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fig. 6 A member of a Chinese search and rescue team clears debris from the roof of a destroyed house in Kathmandu

The Kathmandu Valley was removed from the UN’s list of World Heritage in Danger in 2007, and the government has undertaken a series of conservation efforts to protect them from encroaching development since then.

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According to a preliminary assessment done by the organization, the Durbar Squares of Patan, Hanuman Dhoka (Kathmandu) and Bhaktapur, were “almost fully destroyed” in the earthquake.

“These are desperate times but we must all unite together in times like these,” said Kishor Rana on Facebook, who has pledged to shoot more of the sites. “Out of respect to the victims family, I did not take footages of live rescues taking place. We not only lost many lives and homes but we lost many pieces of our cultural heritage, our history.”

Outside of Kathmandu, the World Heritage site of Sagarmatha National Park — which includes Mount Everest, where more than a dozen climbers were killed in an avalanche trigged by the quake — was also “severely affected.”

UNESCO is now preparing to send an international team of experts to Nepal to undertake an in-depth damage assessment, added Bokova, with the aim to advise the Nepalese authorities how best to protect and conserve the monuments that still stand “with a view to recovery.”

fig. 7 Volunteers help to remove fallen bricks and heritage items from a temple in Bhaktapur fig. 8 Women prepare a meal in the rubble of destroyed house in Kathmandu

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The Nepalese government describes the seven sites as “medieval royal palace complexes” or “religious temple complexes,” calling them “archaeologically, historically, culturally and religiously very important” to the Kathmandu Valley.

The Kathmandu Valley was removed from the UN’s list of World Heritage in Danger in 2007, and the government Nature’s Wrath

has undertaken a series of conservation efforts to protect them from encroaching development since then.

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fig. 9 The tower of Dharahara in complete ruins after the quake

According to a preliminary assessment done by the organi-

Outside of Kathmandu, the World Heritage site of

zation, the Durbar Squares of Patan, Hanuman Dhoka

Sagarmatha National Park — which includes Mount Everest,

(Kathmandu) and Bhaktapur, were “almost fully destroyed”

where more than a dozen climbers were killed in an ava-

in the earthquake.

lanche trigged by the quake — was also “severely affected.”

“These are desperate times but we must all unite together

UNESCO is now preparing to send an international team

in times like these,” said Kishor Rana on Facebook, who has

of experts to Nepal to undertake an in-depth damage

pledged to shoot more of the sites. “Out of respect to the

assessment, added Bokova, with the aim to advise the

victims family, I did not take footages of live rescues taking

Nepalese authorities how best to protect and conserve

place. We not only lost many lives and homes but we lost

the monuments that still stand “with a view to recovery.”

many pieces of our cultural heritage, our history.”

Nature’s Wrath

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fig. 10 + fig. 11 Before and after shot of notorious Durbar Square fig. 12 + fig. 13 Before and after shot of Patan Durbar royal palace

Nature’s Wrath 52

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CH. 3

Mankind’s Ignorance

“It is paradoxical, yet true, to say, that the more we know, the more ignorant we become in the absolute sense” —Nikola Tesla

In this chapter:

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Angkor Archaeological District Prague Historic Center Mostar Historic Center Mosul Central Museum

Mankind’s Ignorance

Humans may not be the first specie to walk the earth’s surface, nor are we the oldest. In fact, if the whole history of planet earth is condensed into one day, we humans have only been born for two minutes, but within this two minute, humans have shown the world their capacity for great violence and ignorance.

Throughout the history, many cultural heritages were erased because of the doings of mankind. Sometimes an old building is torn down for the sake of business. Sometimes, it’s collateral damage of the conflict. Sometimes, it’s to sabotaging to exhibit dominance. Culture to a nation is like memory to a brain, it is the identity of a civilization. Strip that away from it, then the nation will lose a piece of its identity. That is why relics, and cultural artifacts have so much power, for they contain the foundation of a civilization.

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Mankind’s Ignorance 58

Angkor Archaeological District Siem Reap, Campbodia Ninth to Thirteenth Centuries

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Mankind’s Ignorance 60

In 1802 Jayavarman II was proclaimed the universal monarch of the world in a ritual that established the cult of deva-raj, or the god-king. Beginning with this act, the infant Khmer nation would be transformed into a mighty empire that would last for six centuries, dominating the region of Southeast Asia politically, spiritually, and economically. For the first century and a half subsequent rulers founded their capitals in various localities near what is today Siem Reap. It was King Rajendravarman II (944–968) who finally chose Angkor as the permanent capital of the burgeoning empire, building there the first “temple-mountains,” the East Mebon Temple and Pre Rup. Other great temples rose during the early Angkor period, namely the Banteay Srei–ourside the city–Ta Keo temple, and the pyramid like Baphuon.

Angkor began to show the full extent of its power and glory under Suryarvarman II (1051–1113_. It was he who built Angkor Walkt, the ultimate monument to the god-king, serving as this temple-mountain, tomb, and celestial observatory.

Dedicated to the cult of Vishnu, the vast temple–contained within a moat two miles long–was laid out to be a map of heaven with its central towers representing Mount Mehru, the home of the gods. Pilgrims would move through the temple as though moving backward in time, until they finally reach the state of Vischnu, the creator.

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The city of Angkor reached the height of its grandeur during the reign of Jayavarman VII (1180-1218). As a youth Jayavarman stuied the teachings of Mahayana Buddhism, and his reign saw the integration of Buddhist belief systems with traditional Khmer Hindu practice. Jayavarman set out to transform the Khmer Empire through public works projects, imperial expansion, and social reorganization. At Angkor he built lavishly, erecting the temples of Ta Prohm– in honor of his mother–and Preah Khan–in honor of his father–as well as small Neak Pean.

Jayavarman’s crowning achevement was the new city of Angkor Thom, which rebuilt much of the capital after it was sacked by the Khmer’s old enemies, the Chams, in 1170. Angkor Thom was designed as an immense rectangle with sides two miles long and a moat 300 feet wide and protected by a wall twenty-two feet-high. Around it was a moat bridged by five causeways lined with statues of giants and angels and leading to gates with five towers each. At the center of Angkor Thom Jayvarman built the elaborately designed Bayon, which was decorated with hundreds of faces and thousands of images. The inner shrine of the Bayon contained the most sacred statue, that of the Buddha under a hooded snake, the symbol of Jayavarman.

fig. 1 Angkor’s sculptures still remain vulunerable to looting

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fig. 2 Ta Prom Temple succumbing to jungle vegetation

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fig. 3 The damaged head of the statues after the doings of Khmer Rouge

Mankind’s Ignorance 64

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After Jayavarman VII died in 1218, khmer Empire began to stagnate, and the city of Angkor with it. The powerful Braham class, now able to ressert its influence , reestablished the primacy of Hinduism. The official return to Hinduism did little to advance Khmer civilizations. The grand building projects and hydraulic works of earlier eras ceased and the population began its steady conversion from Buddhism. The rise of the Thai Kingdom of Ayuttaya spelled the end for Angkor as the weakened Khmer court began to evacuate the capital and move southward to the newly established court at Phnom Penh. In 1431 the Thai armies captured and sacked Angkor.

Angkor was “rediscovered” by the botanist Henri Mouhot in 1860, three years before Cambodia became a French colony. His descriptions of the “lost city” of Angkor sparked the first Western interest in the magnificent ruins hidden in the jungle. The creation of the Angkor conservancy in 1908 led to what would become one of largest ever archaeological excavations in Asia. Excavation, restoration, and even reconstructure continued throughout the first half of the tweentieth century.

By the 1960s, however, the Vietnam War came to engulf Cambodia. The monarchy was abolished in 1970, and the Khmer Rouge came to power later that same fig. 4 One of the statue head completly engulfed by the jungle fig. 5 A tourist pose beside the vegetation currently taking over the site.

decade. Among the millions killed by the Khmer Rouge were vast swaths the educated classes, including most of the Cambodians who had worked witht the French at Angkor. The site itself suffered less than it might have, and mostly from neglect. The Khmer Rouge army removed the heads of hundred statues.

At the same time, Angkor Wat was recognized as such an enduring symbol of Khmer power and culture that the Khmer Rouge placed its silhouette on the national flag.

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Mankind’s Ignorance

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Although relative stability has returned to Cambodia in recent years, the threats to Angkor’s survival have increased. Eager to follow the example of its “Tiger economy� neighbors, Cambodia is hurrying to rebuild. Pressure from mounting development, especially in tourism, is now being felt at Angkor, for which a preservation infrasctructure has only just begun to be properly organized. Other problems, such as regular maintenance and the prevention of looting are constant battles.

In recent years, however, positive measures have been taken by local authorities and international partners to provide stability to the site. International preservation groups and universities have worked on the surveying, documenting, and conserving of several important monuments within the Angjor archaeological district. Their work seeks to assist the Campbodin curators of the site in preparing a comprehensive inventory of the buildings so that they can be managed and conserved more effectively, and ultimately opened to public. International assistance has also proved vital for the education and training of Cambodians through on-site institutions such as the Center for Khmer Studies. The center hopes to be able to train Cambodians conservators to continue the work currently being carried out under ofreign guidance, and to provide historians fora a new generations of Cambodians wh have grown up without a knowledge of their long and proud history.

The international effort to protect the trasures of Angjor has also made progress recently. Already national and international advocacy and lobbying efforts have begun to bear fruit, with joint efforts between Camboda and Thailand beginning to stem the flow of looted antiquities leaving Angkor and other historic sites.

The United States have been passed a resolution to prohiibt the import of archaeological artifacts into America. As Cambodia struggles to overcome its recent history, many Cambodians are beginning to realize that the preservtion of their heritage means more than creating a destination for tourists. By celebrating their culture and history, Cambodians are slowly reestablishing their dignity as a people and a nation.

fig. 6 + fig. 7 Constant erosion from acidic rain has caused the ornaments to fade away

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Mankind’s Ignorance 68

Prague Historic Center Prague, Czech Republic Ninth Century B.C. To the present

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By the same token, the same service industry springing up to meet the demands of mass tourism is destroying what these crowds have to see.

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fig. 8 + fig. 9 Large amount of tourists flooding in to the Prague Historic Center

The city of Prague is one of the greatest glories of Europe, and the survival of its old town–the Stare Mesto–into the twenty-first century is something of a miracle. The oldest parts of Prague borders the east bank of the Vltava River, and include such monuments as the twin-towered Charles Bridge, the Tyn Church and the Old Town Hall. On the west is the Hradcany–the castle district–dominated by Prague castle and the spires of St. Vitus Cathedral. At the heart of the old city is the Old Town Square with its wonderful mixture of Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo facades. The square was heavily restored under the communist regime, though it is now clear that much of the restoration work was strictly confined to the facades, giving the appearance of a renewed city, but leaving a great many less cosmetic problems.

Old Prague survived intact because neither the Allies nor the Luftwaffe bombed it in World War II. As a result, a rare quantity of exceptional medieval buildings remains. The problems of conserving this heritage are manifold because of two factors. There is the legacy of the three decades of communism that preceded the so-called Velvet Revolution of 1989; secondly, there is a rise of tourism and the need for development that has followed the return of capitalism. The division of the former Czechoslovakia into two republics has also had consequences for conservation, as there are now fewer specialists in each country.

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Dr. Josef Stulc, the Director of the State Institute for the Care of Historic Monuments, speaking at a WMF-sponsored symposium in Prague in 1992, declared that the communist regime had not spent money rationally and effectively on historic buildings. Although the state then owned seventy percent of the 72

36,000 landmark buildings on the Cultural Heritage List, funds were concentrated on unnecessarily ambitious projects that attracted publicity or glorified “revolutionary heritage items.” The State deliberately neglected almost all churches, monasteries, and great houses.

Visitors to Prague before 1989 saw a Gothic and Baroque city that was scarcely touched–it was breathtakingly beautiful and gentle crumbling. Since the early 1990s some seven million people a year have visited the Czech Republic, but the majority of those who visit Prague do not stay overnight because of a shortage of accommodation. This is changing as new hotels are build, but the pressure on the city center to allow fast food chains, more shops, and new buildings is leading to a serious loss of historical authenticity. Local advocacy and organizations are raising public awareness of the dangers of this loss and of the spread

Mankind’s Ignorance

of international, anonymous architecture. Somehow modern capitalism and the

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long-overdue renewal of the city are in conflict with preservation. The World Monuments Watch listing in 1998 sparked debate in the Czech media, and even the city’s mayor expressed displeasure and perceived the involvement of the WMF as an obstacle to progress. The crowds on the Charles Bridge have made Prague the crossroads of Europe again. By the same token, the same service industry springing up to meet the demands of mass tourism is destroying what these crowds have to see. fig. 10 The Historic Center is the heart of the city fig. 11 + fig. 12 The Historic Center as seen from an aerial view

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Mostar Historic Center Bosnia and Herzegovina Sixteenth Century B.C. To the present

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“...Mostar…

Her two wings united by a wondrous bridge.

But even the stars

Dervis Pasa

cannot embrace

Bajezidagic,

the arc of the

Ottoman Gover-

bridge of Mostar”

nor of Bosnia

Before the Bosnian Conflict of 1992–95, Mostar was renowned for its rich palette of architectural styles, ranging from Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian to, more recently, socialist. The city also has equally diverse range of sacred sites, including Catholic, Orthodox, and Muslim houses of worship. Prior to the hostilities, Mostar was a popular tourist destination and was described in the 1990 edition of Frommer’s Eastern Europe and Yugoslavia as “a postcard perfect town with the famous sixteenth-century bridge over the aquamarine Neretva River.”

Mostar was more than just an Ottoman relic. It was special in having nurtured a degree of religious tolerance that was rare for the region. During the mid- and late nineteenth century the Ottoman Sultan contributed money and land toward the building of large Orthodox and Catholic churches in Mostar. The Stari Mostar––the city’s world famous bridge––stood as a symbol of this productive pluralism. Built in 1557–66 at the height of the Ottoman Empire, during the reign of Suleyman the Magnificient, the bridge had transformed Mostar from a quiet settlement into a vital crossroads.

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The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989 led inexorably to the dismemberment of Yugoslavia and ultimately––given the seeming impossibility of reconciling its diverse ethnic populations––to its internecine civil war. As the ancient communal fabric of Mostar crumbled , so was the physical fabric of the city destroyed. “Cultural genocide,” or the destruction of historic structures and sites considered sacred by different groups, was a deliberate tactic used by both sides in the earlier Serbo-Croatian conflicted to demoralize their enemies and Mankind’s Ignorance

erase their historical presence. In the two worst phases of the fighting during the Bosnian war, cultural genocide was a primary Serbian strategy. Mosques and Catholic churches were key targets, and some thirteen mosques and three churches in Mostar were deliberately destroyed. The great Karadjozbeg Mosque, built in 1558, was seriously damaged.

14

Shelling from the hills surrounding Mostar caused untold damage and led to the flight of the population. In November 1993 the great bridge was obliterated at point-blank range by Croatian tanks. The loss of the bridge came to symbolize the folly of the continuing conflict, and early in 1994 talks began in Washington D.C. to end the fighting. By the middle of 1994, when an interim administration under the auspices of the European Union was set up to run the divided city, some seventy percent of the city’s housing had been destroyed, and the city had been without electricity or running water for more than a year. In 1995 the signing of the Dayton Peace Accord led to the stabilizing presence of the NATO Implementation Force and a gradual return of Mostar’s population and local administration.

Today there is an effective international effort to restore the historic center of the city. A bipartisan government and the combined efforts of organizations like the World Bank, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, UNESCO, and the Stari Mostar Foundation have been reconstructing the historic center of the city since 1996. fig. 13 The bridge under siege during the early 1990s fig. 14 Stones from the destroyed bridge were retrieved from the river and collected on a special platform in the Neretva.

But there is immense need for financial help, and many of the city’s historic monuments remain in a state of ruin for imminent collapse.

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Mankind’s Ignorance 78

Mosul Central Museum Baghdad, Irag 1952–Present

79

Murder of people and destruction is not enough, so even our civilisation and

Kino

the culture of

Gabriel,

our people is

Chritian

being destroyed

Militia

Decay of History Mankind’s Ignorance 80

81

Islamic State militants ransacked Mosul’s central museum, destroying priceless artifacts that are thousands of years old, in the group’s latest rampage which threatens to upend millennial of coexistence in the Middle East.

The destruction of statues and artifacts that date from the Assyrian and Akkadian empires, revealed in a video published by Isis on Thursday, drew ire from the international community and condemnation by activists and minorities that have been attacked by the group.

“The birthplace of human civilization … is being destroyed”, said Kino Gabriel, one of the leaders of the Syriac Military Council – a Christian militia – in a telephone interview with the Guardian from Hassakeh in north-eastern Syria. The destruction took place in Mosul, the Iraqi city that has been under the control of Isis since June when jihadi fighters advanced rapidly across the country’s north.

“In front of something like this, we are speechless,” said Gabriel. “Murder of people and destruction is not enough, so even our civilisation and the culture of our people is being destroyed.”

Isis destroys thousands of books and manuscripts in Mosul 82

The five-minute video, which was released by the “press office of the province of Nineveh the region around Mosul”, begins with a Qur’anic verse on idol worship. An Isis representative then speaks to the camera, condemning Assyrians and Akkadians as polytheists, justifying the destruction of the artifacts and statues.

The man describes the prophet Muhammad’s destruction of idols in Mecca as an example.

“These statues and idols, these artifacts, if God has ordered its removal, they became worthless to us even if they are worth billions of dollars,” the man said.

Isis militants then smash the statues in the Mosul museum

Mankind’s Ignorance

with hammers and push them to the ground, watching them break into tiny fragments. The footage also shows a man dressed in black at a nearby archaeological site, inside Mosul, drilling through and destroying a winged bull, an Assyrian protective deity, that dates back to the 7th century BC

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“When you watch the footage, you feel visceral pain and outrage, like you do when you see human beings hurt,” said Mardean Isaac, an Assyrian writer and member of A Demand for Action, an organisation dedicated to protecting the rights of the Assyrians and other minorities in Syria and Iraq.

A caption says the artifacts did not exist in the time of the prophet, and were put on display by “devil worshippers”, a term the militant group has used in the past to describe members of the Yazidi minority.

A professor at the Archaeology College in Mosul confirmed

The destruction of the priceless treasures comes days after

to the Associated Press that the two sites depicted in the

Isis kidnapped 220 Assyrian Christian villagers in

video are the city museum and Nirgal Gate, one of several

north-eastern Syria.

gates to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire.

“I’m totally shocked,” Amir al-Jumaili told the AP “It’s a

“If great architecture belongs to humanity, do we have a

catastrophe. With the destruction of these artifacts, we can

responsibility to save it in wartimes?”

no longer be proud of Mosul’s civilisation.”

—Jeff Sparrow

Isis took control of Mosul last summer in a lightning advance that led to the eviction of thousands of Christians

It is the latest assault in a campaign against coexistence in

and other minorities from their ancestral homelands in the

the region, especially in Iraq, which has seen the displace-

Nineveh plains, amid reports of forced conversions.

ment of many of its Chaldean Christians, who have lived there with many ethnic minorities since the religion’s dawn.

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“We cannot expect anything else from Daesh,” said Gabriel, using the Arabic acronym for Isis.

Isis has also attempted to starve and enslave members of the Yazidi minority in Iraq.

He said the international community must act to prevent the destruction and looting of the artifacts.

Irina Bokova, the director general of Unesco, the UN cultural agency, said she was deeply shocked at the footage

“The loss is the loss of the entire world,” he said.

showing the destruction and has asked the president of the UN security council to convene an emergency meeting “on

Isaac said: “While the Islamic State is ethnically cleansing

the protection of Iraq’s cultural heritage as an integral ele-

the contemporary Assyrian populations of Iraq and Syria,

ment for the country’s security”.

they are also conducting a simultaneous war on their ancient history and the right of future generations of all ethnicities and religions to the material memory of their

Mankind’s Ignorance

ancestors.”

85

“The past increses, the future recedes.

Possibilities decreasing, regrets mounting.”

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Decay of History

–Karl Marx

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Decay of History 88

COLoPHON

89

SOURCES TONG LAM, Abandoned Future, 2003 DONALD M. GOLDSTEIN, KATHERINE V. DILLON, & J. MICHAEL WENGER, Rain of Ruin, 1995 NATHAN TROI ANDERSON & J.K PUTNAM, Decay, 2008 COLIN AMERY, Vanishing Histories, 2001 DAVID SIM, Nepal Earthquake: Moments of Beauty in the Rubble of Kathmandu (Photo Report), 2015, http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/nepal-earthquake-moments-beauty-rubble-kathmandu-photo-report-1499781 KAREEN SHAHEEN, ISIS Fighter Destroy Ancient Artifacts in Mosul Museum, 2015, http://www.theguardian.com/ world/2015/feb/26/isis-fighters-destroy-ancient-artefacts-mosul-museum-iraq