A műemlékek sokszínűsége (A 28. Egri Nyári Egyetem előadásai 1998 Eger, 1998)

Előadások / Presentations - Roland SILVA: Unesco-Sri Lanka project of the cultural triangle fifteen years work

In terms of the senior professionals engaged inthe six projects of the UNESCO-Sri Lanka Project of the Cultural Triangle, namely the senior archaeologists and the senior conservators, the Central Cultural Fund has signed Terms of Agreement, whereby, the professional services and responsibilities have been identified. A special feature of their contracts is that there is a clause nicknamed the „guillotine rule". This special clause is meant to safequard the precious fabric of a monument or a site. The team of senior archaeologists or conservators would thus have agreed to abide by any one of the professionals stopping suddenly the work of the opposite profession. In other words, the archaeologists could stop the conservation work on a stupa, if in the opinion of the archaeologist, he felt that there was going to be irreparable damage to the monument, then he has authority to stop the conservation but has no authority to instruct in any conservation alternative, nor to instruct in re-commencing the work. In such a situation, only the conservator can re-commence the stopped work after the consultation and on an agreed and corrected new formula. If there is any lack of agreement, the Director General of the Central Cultural Fund, who is also a professional, would arbitrate in this regard. If the three members are unable to reach agreement, then the matter is referred to the supreme body, namely, the Advisory Board of the Director General of Archaeology. The three professionals do realize that if the latter course is followed, the work is likely to be held up for at least three months. These highly disciplined courses of policy and practice have in rare instances not reached the ideals as expected. However, the fact that the operation has continued for fifteen long years with an administrative and financial review every year, with an international team provided by UNESCO and a national team arranged by the Central Cultural Fund, helps to iron out any shortfalls and variations. These printed reports of the working committees are in themselves worthy bulletins of scientific management and would be of immense help and assistance to international scientific campaigns of archaeological and heritage interest. We trust that these few observations of policy and follow-up will indicate the depth of scientific input that the UNESCOSri Lanka Project of the Cultural Triangle has been able to formulate and perform. The Central Cultural Fund also has a team of Steering Committees for each of the six projects as a standby buffer to meet the shocks of a public, religious, cultural or scientific nature. These Steering Committees chaired by a well recognized dignitary has a team of professionals apart from the archaeologists and conservators. The other professionals invited into the Steering Committees include those of the Media, Tourism, Building Industry, Accountancy and Legal. These committees meet four times a year and alternately at the sites. Any public issue or any internal matter that needs special guidance and advice is referred to this Steering Committee. The concluding note in this total exercise of cultural upliftment is on a note of self-support and selfsurvival. Culture and heritage have always been treated by financial planners as a bottomless pit where money is perpetual dumped and nothing returns. However, with the work in the Cultural Triangle in Sri Lanka, we have been able to establish that culture and heritage could, in fact, be treated as a gold mine awaiting excavation. This, indeed, is the message and experience of the UNESCO-Sri Lanka Project of the Cultural Triangle. We have been able to show by performance that during the fifteen years of work and operations, that the Central Cultural Fund has utilized under 20% of government funding. The rest has all been generated through the initiative of the Central Cultural Fund, where the total cost estimate of the UNESCO-Sri Lanka Project of the Cultural Triangle has been identified as being US § 54 million, of which nearly 90% of the work has now been completed.