From August 10 to 13, the 8th International Symposium on Conservation of East Asian Cultural Heritage was held at Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan.
Over 360 professionals specializing in cultural heritage conservation from countries including Japan, South Korea, China and Mongolia engaged themselves in in-depth discussions on restoration materials and preservation techniques for wooden, paper, stone, metal and textile artifacts, exploring East Asia’s unique approaches to cultural heritage preservation. 137 delegates from 60 Chinese universities and cultural heritage institutions showcased China’s latest achievements and best practices in the field of cultural heritage conservation.
Du Xiaofan, director of the Centre for Land and Cultural Resources Research and professor from the Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology of Fudan University, was named the 8th president of the Society for Conservation of Cultural Heritage in East Asia. The 9th International Symposium on Conservation of East Asian Cultural Heritage was also announced to be held in China, according to the organizing committee.
Du has long been committed to building a system for the conservation and utilization of cultural heritage in line with China’s national conditions, and he is one of the first experts in China to pay attention to rural heritage. In 2006, he proposed the concept of “village cultural landscape” for the first time in China and promoted the formation of Suggestions on the Protection and Development of Village Cultural Landscape, which has received wide attention from the academic community. In addition, he also focuses on the protection and utilization of living heritage, border heritage, cultural routes and world heritage.
He also serves as the chairholder of Fudan’s first UNESCO Chair Program—Living Heritage and Community Development. Partnering over 20 universities, cultural institutions and foundations from 10 countries including China, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and South Africa, the UNESCO Chair for Living Heritage and Community Development is devoted to promoting international understanding and cooperation in the field of the protection, inheritance and revitalization of living heritage in underdeveloped regions in China and around the world, through in-depth academic exchange, heritage practices, community engagement and talent training.
Launched by UNESCO in 1992, the UNESCO Chair Programme is a network programme to promote knowledge sharing and cooperation among international universities and institutions. More than 850 organizations in nearly 120 countries have joined this network.
“Living heritage protection is very complicated, and it is a major issue to solve the contradiction between heritage protection and the development of human society,” said Du during the chair program’s launch ceremony in May 2023.
The Society for Conservation of Cultural Heritage in East Asia was founded in Seoul, South Korea in November 2007, with its headquarters in Nara, Japan. The Society aims to promote cultural heritage conservation, create methods of cultural heritage conservation for Asian countries, forge an exchange platform for eastern and western cultural heritage conservation, thus boosting the development of cultural heritage conservation in East Asian countries and strengthening international exchanges and cooperation.
Since the first symposium on cultural heritage conservation technology in Asia, organized by China Association for Conservation Technology of Cultural Heritage and the Chinese Museums Association in 1986, cultural heritage conservation groups from China, Japan and the ROK, including China Association for Conservation Technology of Cultural Heritage, Japan’s Scientific Society for Cultural Properties, Japan’s Society for Cultural Heritage Restoration and ROK Scientific Society for Cultural Heritage Conservation, have jointly hosted the International Symposium on Cultural Heritage Conservation in East Asia in China, Japan and the ROK. On this basis, the cultural heritage conservation groups of the three countries jointly proposed the establishment of the Society for Conservation of Cultural Heritage in East Asia.
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Presented by Fudan University Media Center
Source: Weekly of China’s Cultural Relics
Writer: Chen Shuyang, Wang Mengqi
Editor: Li Yijie
Designer: Ling Yiqi
