​Joint Initiative to Support Post-Earthquake Cultural Heritage Conservation in Myanmar

Joint Initiative to Support Post-Earthquake Cultural Heritage Conservation in Myanmar

On March 28th, 2025, a devastating earthquake struck Myanmar, resulting in significant casualties and property damage. We share in the profound grief of the Myanmar people, extend our deepest condolences to those who lost their lives, and express heartfelt sympathy to all affected communities.

We note with grave concern that the epicenter of the earthquake was located in Mandalay, a region renowned as the cultural and historical heart of Myanmar. Preliminary estimates indicate that 670 temples have been damaged and 290 pagodas collapsed, inflicting severe losses on millennia-old cultural heritage.

Myanmar’s cultural heritage is celebrated globally for its diversity, inclusivity, and living traditions: ancient cities adorned with pagodas, monasteries showcasing exquisite craftsmanship, orally transmitted epics preserved for thousands of years, and community-sustaining rituals and festivals. Together, these elements form a tapestry of intertwined tangible and intangible heritage. These treasures are not only core symbols of Myanmar’s national identity but also a shared spiritual legacy of humanity.

Post-disaster cultural heritage conservation now faces critical challenges. On one hand, the structural integrity of historic buildings has been compromised, with brick-and-wood monuments at risk of collapse, threatening the permanent loss of historical narratives embedded in tangible heritage. On the other hand, intangible heritage—dependent on living practitioners and physical spaces—faces existential risks due to the loss of bearers and destruction of cultural infrastructure. Furthermore, as cultural heritage underpins community identity and tourism, its damage threatens collective historical memory and undermines prospects for economic recovery.

In this critical moment, as UNESCO-ICCROM Asian Academy for Heritage Management (AAHM) and School of Architecture, Southeast University, we call upon the international community to prioritize the conservation and restoration of Myanmar’s cultural heritage alongside urgent humanitarian relief efforts. These heritage sites, which safeguard humanity’s shared memory, are not merely witnesses to history but also vital bonds for fostering social cohesion and revitalizing hope during reconstruction.

We hereby urge global partners to unite in the following actions:

1.Advocacy and Awareness: Raise global attention to the plight of cultural heritage in disasters, ensuring its vulnerabilities are recognized and amplified.

2.Action and Support: Integrate heritage conservation into disaster response, mobilizing transnational collaboration for damage assessment, digital archiving, and restoration of Myanmar’s cultural heritage.

3.Research and Empowerment: Advance academic research to guide scientific restoration and sustainable development, ensuring heritage becomes a catalyst for community resilience.

4.Documentation and Outreach: Record the current state of heritage and its restoration journey, sharing stories of how cultural heritage connects humanity and inspires hope amid crises.

In times of disaster, the dignity of life and the continuity of civilization are inseparable. Cultural heritage embodies humanity’s wisdom in overcoming adversity and transcends borders with its universal resonance. Let us demonstrate through action that every restored brick, every preserved memory, will light the path to reconstruction for the people of Myanmar and inscribe a compassionate chapter in the annals of civilization. The Asian Academy for Heritage Management and School of Architecture, Southeast University calls on all to act now, hand in hand!