Heritage forum: Few steps toward a national identity
When the National Architectural Heritage Center at the General Authority for Tourism and Antiquities began organizing a National Heritage Forum in Jeddah last year, I asked myself: Does it mean we are going to establish a “National Identity” through our architectural heritage?
Or should the matter be the other way round — the National Identity should be the one teaching us how to look at heritage in our country? Just to show us how we should look at our heritage in a broader perspective? That is, to see it as a “national heritage?”
Or should we start from the heritage itself to reach a national identity? The fact is that both tracks lead to one another. Heritage teaches us solidarity and unity because it is linked and common, and stems from a society where its members meet at a common point of values and converging environments.
It teaches us to coexist though we are different as humans. And, these social and cultural differences, even the landscapes in this big country, are actual reality. Diverse in the framework of unity is something that enriches national identity and introduces it to the world in a way that defies the image preconceived by others about us.
It is a fact that we are a diverse society, with a diverse physical and social culture. But it is a coherent, blended and a united one.
No doubt that heritage leads to national unity, but how can this unity lead us to discover heritage? How can we deal with our identity on the basis that it is a “mechanism for discovering” to discover architectural heritage in particular?
My starting point here is the two principles of “influence” and “vulnerability to influence.” They are two principles derived originally from the fact that culture is “contagious” and move in a horizontal way in all directions. Therefore, the architectural heritage has not resulted in an area without affecting the surrounding and adjacent areas. We will find that heritage components are varying in scattered proportions in all regions of the Kingdom.
Identity leads us to understand the underlying mechanisms hidden in the depth of heritage, it leads us to discover and understand the channels of communication between this valuable heritage and the broader surroundings, which contributed to its composition.
Today, the Second Urban Heritage forum will be launched in the Eastern Province. It will start from Al-Ahsa, the stronghold of heritage, and continue to Dammam and Alkhobar until Wednesday, with the slogan: “Heritage and the Architectural Identity.”
It is a slogan that restores and recalls an earlier dialogue taking place in Saudi Arabia in the 1980s. But at that time, they were dialogue that addressed architecture without dealing in-depth with heritage. They were in search of a reference to modern architecture without trying to understand the reference in itself.
This time, we are approaching the issue as we think is right, starting from heritage to the future to understand our heritage first, then see how it can contribute to shaping the architecture of the future.
We want to be sure that we understand our heritage first because we are convinced that until today there are so much secrets that have not been discovered. That there are architectural principles that nobody has referred to. For example, in Nammas, Asir province, there exists stony stairs hanged on the walls. These are no different than those developed by geniuses of architecture in the early twentieth century. They amaze me every time I see them with their beauty and purpose. And there are much more examples.
During this week, there will be a wide range of events.
The Urban Heritage Forum focuses on the concept of education and educational heritage. This focusing does not come from nowhere. We know that the problem lies in young generation breaking from the history and heritage of their homeland.
The forum seeks to establish a link with the place and its history. The architectural heritage is an important and essential way in which children and young people can be familiarized with the history of their country and learn from it.
I remember last year in Jeddah how children were enthusiastic as they were drawing replicas of heritage buildings, and asking their parents where they were located, how they were built and who built them. It is the curiosity that we are looking for, and which would urge this generation to explore and enjoy its country.
This time the experience will be repeated in Dammam and Alkhobar. We are shifting all the Kingdom’s heritage to these cities. We don’t stop at the heritage of each region alone, but collect all the heritage in one place for the benefit of the young.
Heritage education is an important issue, which people worldwide are working for. We hope to work with the Ministry of Education to develop a clear mechanism to be adopted in the general education curriculum.
The scientific program of the forum focuses on the concept of lived experience.
The workshops will display real experiences of local, regional and international that are interested in maintaining the architectural heritage. There is also a workshop on women and Heritage, which generally reset the dialogue on the roles of all community members in the formation of heritage.
In addition, the forum highlights the economic role of investment in the development of sites and buildings of urban heritage; we are looking for educated businessmen to invest in unforeseen dimensions to achieve optimal gains in the future.
This is some kind of a cerebration of a whole year of preservation of the architectural heritage carried out by SCTA. This celebration aims to attract more partners, especially from all members of the community, as it aims to change the prevailing negative images about heritage and history, it’s a celebratory work for establishing a new heritage culture.
