HaP In the News

“This year, the BNAC, in collaboration with the research project ‘Heritage as Placemaking’, invited Bidhya Chapagain and Kamal Kumar, the founders of Herne Katha, to present a preview of their latest film ‘The Lost Years’ in a cinema-length 75 min director’s cut version. An audience of engaged scholars and Nepali community members from Scottland enjoyed the event. Engaging question at the Q&A session highlighted the importance of Herne Katha’s documentary films in connecting the diaspora with the country of their childhood or that of their parents.”

“Nepal Study Days organised in Edinburgh”: South Asia Time, May 16, 2024

“The 21st BNAC Nepal Study Days took place on 13-14 May 2024, hosted by the University of Edinburgh and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. A total of 35 academic papers on Nepal were presented over the course of two days in 12 topical parallel sessions, 2 panel discussions and 1 book discussion.  The presentations covered various topics, including environment, politics, migration, gender, disaster, Dalit, health and healing.”

लन्डन आइपुग्यो चर्चित नेपाली श्रव्यदृश्य शृंखला ‘हेर्ने कथा’ को टिम: Nepali Link, May 4, 2024

“The team of the popular Nepali audio-visual series 'Herne Katha' has arrived in London. During their two week visit, supported by the Heritage as Placemaking project, they will screen their new film and participate in the 'Nepal Study Day' organized by the UK Nepal Academic Council in Edinburgh.”

“SOAS Heritage Project brings Herne Katha to the UK”: NepaliLink, May 6, 2024

Bidhya Chapagain and Kamal Kumar from Herne Katha came to SOAS University of London to speak about their latest film. Over 250 tickets were handed out for the free event, which also featured two London-based British/Nepali musicians, Kanti Gurung and Saugaat Gurung, as well as a British/Nepali filmmaker Niraj Lamgade.

“Herne Katha’s International Debut: Nepali Heritage Explored in the UK”: South Asia Time, May 7, 2024

‘SOAS, University of London, played host to a momentous event as the renowned research project “Heritage as Placemaking,” in collaboration with Urban Arhat and the Critical Himalayan Collective, welcomed a screening of Herne Katha’s latest film: “The Years Lost.” (…) Bidhya Chapagain and Kamal Kumar of Herne Katha arrived at Heathrow Airport on May 4th, marking the project’s first overseas venture. Facilitated by collaborative efforts with the research project “Heritage as Placemaking,” the event marked a milestone for Nepali heritage exploration.’

HaP International Spring School 2024

सम्पदालाई केले जीवन्त राख्छ?: Ukaalo News, April 6, 2024 (Chaitra 24, 2080)

“The week-long 'Heritage as Place Making International Spring School 2024' program, held from Chaitra 8, focused on how a place looks through the lens of heritage concepts and how heritage can be kept alive.” -Prabita Shrestha

Padma Sundar Joshi’s public lecture during the Spring School featured in the “Baakhan Nyane Waa” monthly newsletter

A public lecture from the HaP Spring School 2024 was featured in number 12 (Chaitra 2080) of the “Bhaakhan Nyane Waa” monthly newsletter. Baakhan Nyane Waa is a private initiative set to be a platform where stories from different places is told to live audience in a Gurukul setting.

“As part of the Heritage and Placemaking (HaP) International Spring School 2024, a public lecture by Mr. Padma Sundar Joshi was held at the Jyapu Pragya Bhawan on Thursday, March 21. The lecture was open not only to Spring School participants and teachers but also to the public. It was held in both English and Nepali, with a Q&A session afterward. During his talk, Mr. Joshi delved into how the Newar people live, coexist with one another and their planet as a resource, and form partnerships with both their ecosystem and themselves.”

Abhi Subedi: “Space, heritage and architecture: Land grabbing scandals involving politicians threaten architects’ poesy in urban space management.” The Kathmandu Post, March 29, 2024.

“Two colloquiums addressed space, heritage and architecture issues in the past week—an interesting coincidence. … The first was the programme of the International Spring School titled “Living heritage, performance and placemaking”, organised by Monica Mottin of Heidelberg University and Monalisa Maharjan and Binita Magaiya of Social Science Baha, on March 20, 2024, at Jyapu Academy in Patan.

… The essence and power of the theme “heritage and placemaking” constitute the soul of the architectural heritage of the Nepal Mandala. It is always vibrant and intangible, but kinaesthetic and always kept alive by people because they could create a consonance of performance and heritage. Modern architecture would do well if it kept some space for this vision and imbued modernism with the consonance of vibrant life, poesy, performance and functionality.”

- Abhi Subedi

Monica Mottin (3rd from left) with the organizers and reporters of Samajik Feed.

Monica Mottin (center) about to be interviewed by Samajik Feed.

Samajik Feed (Janakpur)

On December 6, 2022, Monica Mottin was a guest on Samajik Feed, a local news portal run on a voluntary basis by a group of young professionals in Janakpur. Dr. Mottin spoke about cultural heritage in Nepal, her ongoing work in Janakpur for Heritage as Placemaking, and her experience working as a researcher based at the Heidelberg Centre for Transcultural Studies.

eKantipur (the Kantipur Daily Newspaper): “Documentation of cultural artifacts is extremely important.”

The Kantipur Daily interviews Emiline Smith about her work in the criminology field and what can be done about the looting of cultural artifacts from Nepal. (November 7, 2021)

Dāphā Calling (Folk Lok): “Where does our pati stand?”

Christiane Brosius is the guest on Series II, Episode IV of Dāphā Calling: Revitalizing our Musical Heritage. A forum for the sharing of knowledge and practice on the Kathmandu Valley’s historic Dāphā music tradition. (December 24, 2021)

“Heidelberg University: Cultural Heritage in South Asia.” Indian Education Diary (July 31, 2021)

“The large-scale study covers sub-projects in eight culturally and historically linked cities in the border area between India and Nepal. Prof. Brosius will collaborate with researchers from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London (UK), the South Asian University in New Delhi (India) and the Social Science Baha in Kathmandu (Nepal) in investigating, amongst other things, how the manner of dealing with testimonies to past culture contributes to societal cohesion in the region. The researchers will approach the whole issue of cultural heritage from the angle of social ‘placemaking’.”  

"€1.5 Million Research Grant awarded to the project ‘Heritage as Placemaking: The politics of Solidarity and Erasure in South Asia’” SOAS University of London (1 Oct 2021)

“This four-year project entitled ‘Heritage as Placemaking: The politics of solidarity and erasure in South Asia’ is a partnership between four research institutions: Social Science Baha (Nepal), South Asian University (India), SOAS, University of London (UK), and Heidelberg University (Germany) funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. It promotes diversity and inclusiveness through a better understanding of solidarities forming and disintegrating amongst communities invested in lived and living heritage.”

"Heritage as Placemaking: The Politics of Solidarity and Erasure in South Asia" | International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter (Issue 90, Autumn 2021)

“The project ‘Heritage as Placemaking’ investigates how places are made beyond their material construction through the formation of lasting bonds and shared care. We ask, what unites diverse, and at times ephemeral, communities in enabling or hindering the making of meaningful places with which future generations identify? The project focuses on large and medium-size cities as well as pilgrimage towns in North India and Nepal to capture how heritage placemaking constitutes an imagined, performative, physical, and geographical reorganization of space.”