On the 22 and 23 October, 2018, an international symposium brought together academics and heritage practitioners from Nepal, Austria, Germany, US and the UK from a variety of disciplines, including archaeologists, philologists, anthropologists, epigraphers and conservators to discuss research methods and approaches being developed for protecting and preserving the cultural heritage of Nepal in the aftermath of the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake.

The earthquake was a humanitarian disaster, devastating communities throughout Nepal through loss of lives, homes and livelihoods, the earthquake was also a cultural catastrophe with heritage sites across Nepal destroyed or seriously damaged.

A lot of international media attention was focused on the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, showing the loss and destruction of monuments, particularly in the Kathmandu Valley. This symposium brought together individuals and projects whose post-disaster research have been examining the on-going threats to tangible and intangible heritage during the post-emergency phases and the first reconstruction efforts. The speakers at the symposium presented new research approaches to Nepal’s past, as well as information about current steps being taken to protect its cultural heritage together with stake-holder communities, particularly in the face of future earthquakes in this seismically active region.

The organizations attending included the Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia (IKGA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Documentation of Inner and South Asian Cultural History (CIRDIS), University of Vienna, and the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies (IMEMS) at Durham University.