Vanishing rupees for museums, yet another side of war and heritage

After last week’s International Museum Day, I happened to see an article on the need for expanded media attention to promote museums in Pakistan (seen at http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-05/19/c_13303427.htm). These are not places that suffered dramatic looting and destruction such as the headline grabbing ransacking of the National Museum of Iraq in 2003. Instead, the article draws attention to an understated but intractable plight of museums and heritage sites in areas of military conflict or instability: with far fewer tourists visiting, often a cycle of sharp decline begins. Tourists’ spending plummets, creating an obvious problem for funding and upkeep of museums and sites (including necessary security and maintenance). Further, the lack of visitation means that people will have less knowledge of and concern for the museum or site, and might then be less likely to support it in the future. Reduced security and public involvement can then leave the museum or site more vulnerable to deterioration and vandalism. While humanitarian and safety concerns remain at the forefront, maybe we with greater media access can help to slow down this process—before it becomes too late—by fostering virtual awareness and visitation in cases where sites are rendered inaccessible from conflict or other disaster.

For information on some of the places mentioned in the article above, visit
whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/pk, www.harappa.com, www.moenjodaro.org

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