Tourism plays an important role in heritage
Pakistan is a beautiful land that holds many remains and jewels of the past and present. Each province and its cities are enriched with heritage and indigenous culture
I strongly believe that heritage and culture are among the most wonderful and precious treasures of mankind built in the process of human development. Cultural heritage creates the identities which differentiate a nation from others and makes our world more colorful and attractive. Many of us agree that heritage and culture are considered as the whole complex of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features that characterise each nation throughout the length of history and that have made a distinctive image of each country and served as spiritual foundation and motivating forces for social development. The globalisation and integration should go along with the preserving, conserving, safeguarding and promoting the values of national heritage and culture and at the same time to enhance the international exchange over the preservation and conservation of cultural heritage. Also tourism plays an important role in heritage. Heritage tourism is often rooted in historic buildings. These powerful, tangible connections to our past are the ways in which people today come in touch with the past. Heritage buildings are also increasingly accepted as important venues linking a new generation with an older one, and thus as places to be used for education and nationality. Revitalising old neighbourhoods, the buildings and the landscape, ensures that our quality of life is improved and that community cohesion is maintained.
Pakistan is a beautiful land that holds many remains and jewels of the past and present. Each province and its cities are enriched with heritage and indigenous culture. Starting from Khayber Pakhtunkhwa and going down to Sindh, we have world class monuments and heritage sites depicting the history and glory of the past. Same was reflected in the Heritage and Museum Conference that was held by the British Council and the Walled City of Lahore Authority. It was the first conference of its kind and the participation of international and national delegates endorsed its value and importance. The conference no doubt helped the experts of Pakistan to gain more knowledge about the heritage and museums and definitely it will add to the future working of our experts. The prominent delegates in the conference were from Historic England, Birmingham Museums, National Museums Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, British Museum, National Army Museum, Chelsea, Monmouthshire Museums, Qatar Education City, State Bank of Pakistan Museum, Secretary General Museums Association Pakistan, Director Archaeology GoKP and Aga Khan for Culture.
In the conference I came across the representatives of many countries and I was stunned at the level of research they carry out for their heritage and museums. So far after listening to all the eminent speakers I was a little confused. I started analysing the working of our departments for the heritage, preservation and conservation. If we talk about the intangible and tangible heritage we hardly conduct research and in-depth studies. I was amazed that how in other countries the costumes, jewelry, letters and other artifacts etc are preserved for tourists. Here in Pakistan, even if we have such artifacts, we do not open them for public, rather we prefer keeping them locked for many unknown reasons. Another thing I noticed was that interactive museum is something that we are lacking here. Why cannot we make the museums interactive? I guess funding is one major issues and next is the creativity. What I feel is that the younger lot is not encouraged in the public sector to come forward and generate new ideas for the audience generation at heritage sites and museums. If we allow the young budding professionals to come and experiment for these purposes, I think we will surely find some better techniques.
An interesting thing I come across related to faith and museums was the formation of different working groups who could add in the value and artifacts of the museums. Similarly, in Pakistan, we can have working groups of different faiths and religions who can contribute in the museum and heritage uplift. I have never come across such news in Pakistan that people from different religions, sects and school of thought are grouped together to work on a museum and a heritage site. Following the same pattern we can attract Sikh, Hindu and Christian audiences to the heritage and museums sites in Pakistan. I remember that till a couple of months ago, the Sikh gallery in Lahore Fort was not opened for public. The members of heritage conference when taken to the Sikh Museum were awe struck at the paintings and the artifacts, so this makes a difference now. On the other hand same was the case with the Samadhi of Ranjeet Singh which was closed for the public. These places can attract more tourism and gain importance if opened for the public.
Now coming to the involvement of public in other matters of heritage; I learnt from the conference that contacting masses for documentation of events is important which we hesitate doing in Pakistan. This is a guide to a good authentic archive. We should contact the people of different eras who have witnessed wars, various times. Maybe they can provide us with photographs or narrate stories which can be recorded in a documentary form. For example, in Pakistan we do not see a single museum of musical instruments, whereas we see many music legends rising from Pakistan. Why couldn’t we have a museum related to all those legends like Noor Jehan, Mehdi Hassan, Nusrat Fateh Ali, Muhammad Rafi, Ghulam Ali, etc. Establishment of a museum means keeping the past alive, but I guess we burry the pride of the person along with him in the grave.
Another important thing I liked in the conference was experiencing heritage and museum. In the countries across the world school and university students are taken to museums and heritage sites. It is a part of their curriculum. In Pakistan it’s the opposite. The dilemma is that we do not include our heritage in the syllabus as a result the younger generation remains unaware of what we have. The museum experience is so boring and haunting that the students avoid going there. The gloomy mood of the museum does not build any attraction among the students. Small interactivities like exhibitions, storytelling sessions, display of work, etc, can make the experiences interesting. At many museums the tourist cannot take a photograph even which is a sad thing. How do these authorities think they will promote their sites if this is the situation? All over the world photography for tourists is allowed. This is one tool of marketing the site and product. Yes, marketing is also one thing that we lack in. My friend from the Khayber Pukhtunwa Archeology Department demanded that the government should work on the marketing of the heritage sites in Pakistan. We need prominence in social media and apps which are latest technologies and tools for marketing. I would also suggest that virtual tours of the museums and heritage sites are important these days. Also, I think that private museums like Faqir Khana should also be facilitated in Pakistan.
I am afraid that if we do not adopt the latest tools and techniques for our heritage sites, no matter what we do in conservation or preservation, we will fail in promoting our culture and heritage. It is also the need of the hour to shed away all the negative and rigid image of Pakistan which has been created by the media.
