It’s been a challenging time for the heritage sector. Widespread destruction of temples and other ancient monuments has been reported in Kathmandu following the Nepal earthquake, along with a huge loss of life.
In Syria and Iraq, the devastation has been man-made, with the tearing down of antiquities by ISIS. Many agencies and governments are calling for action: UNESCO has suggested the creation of protected zones, the Italian government has called for the UN to intervene and Iraq’s tourism and antiquities minister has asked the US to protect the country’s archaeological sites.
It’s significant that the tourism minister has been the one to make the call, because heritage drives a high proportion of tourism visits and as Iraq and other war-torn countries work towards rebuilding a peace-time economy, tourism will have an important role to play in the regeneration.
Kathmandu has a huge tourism economy too, so making the city safe and attractive for the return of tourists will be a priority.
In this issue of Attractions Management, we look at how technology can help in situations where historic sites are under threat. Our interview with Elizabeth Lee on page 74 examines the CyArk project, which is working tirelessly to digitise precious objects and locations so they can be replicated – either to preserve the original or to recreate it.
CyArk is a non-profit organisation, founded in 2003, which uses state-of-the-art laser scanning technology to compile highly detailed 3D representations of cultural heritage sites, so they can be recreated using 3D printing and modelling.
The use of replicas is an area of the attractions industry which looks set to grow significantly over the next few decades. There are many reasons for this in addition to natural disaster, war and wilful destruction: perhaps the items in question are in inaccessible locations, or they’re too fragile to handle being exposed to visitors, for example.
In France, the government has invested €56m (US$60m, £40.2m) recreating prehistoric cave paintings at the Grotte Chauvet-Pont d’Arc, a huge collection of paintings of horses, mammoths and rhinos which are among the oldest documented art on earth. The paintings, which are anything up to 37,000 years old, were discovered in 1994.
The project will enable people to experience the incredible cave art while keeping the delicate originals from harm.
Replication also allows more widespread access to cultural heritage when combined with touring rather than static exhibitions. Where a location is fascinating, with a widespread appeal, there will be opportunities to replicate it and take it on the road for guest appearances in museums’ temporary exhibition spaces.
In addition to being priceless in every sense, cultural heritage is of educational significance and a huge driver of tourism. The technology now exists to enable us to permanently capture the form of the most precious things on earth so they can be understood by future generations. We need organisations such as CyArk to step up the pace before more is destroyed.
Liz Terry, editor. Twitter:@elizterry
