Destruction and preservation of cultural heritage

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Kyrgyz National University named after Jusup Balasagyn (Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek)

Destruction and preservation of cultural heritage

Masliakova A.

Ph.D. in Art Criticism (St. Petersburg, Russia) researcher

Abstract

Unfortunately, natural catastrophes, like the recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria, eliminating everything in their path, are not uncommon. And I would like to dedicated this article to the memory of those who died in the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.

Keywords: destruction, preservation, cultural heritage, natural disasters.

earthquake turkey syria

As we all know, in the night from the 5th to the 6th of February 2023 there was a powerful earthquake that killed more than 20,000 people in Turkey and Syria [1]. Not to mention numerous buildings that were damaged or destroyed, including the Citadel of Aleppo and the Gaziantep Castle. I could not help but wonder: “What could we do to preserve the Memory of the Past?”

Firstly, it seems to me that we should start scrutinizing this issue with the historical analysis of the affected buildings mentioned above. For example, the Gaziantep Castle, which was first built as a watchtower in the Roman period in the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC, took its current form in the 6th century AD, during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian who initiated the construction of many truly magnificent edifices, such as the Hagia Sophia and the Hagia Irene in Istanbul, the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, the Byzantine Castle of Trikala in Greece, etc. Whereas the majority of the structures of the Citadel of Aleppo was erected much later, in the 12th and 13 th centuries, although the usage of the Citadel hill dates back at least to the middle of the 3rd millennium BC.

Thus, both structures “witnessed” various historical events. That is to say, the Gaziantep Castle played an important role during the Turkish War of Independence, leading to the establishment of the Turkish Republic on the 19th of October 1923. So much so that the City of Antep was honored with the title of “Gazi” (meaning “Veteran”) [2]. Besides, there is a Museum of Gaziantep Defense and Heroism telling the resistance story of Antep's people against the enemy occupation. Regarding the Citadel of Aleppo, it was used as a military base of the Syrian army in the course of the Syrian Civil War. Despite the fact that the entire city was involved in the conflict and suffered bombing during the so-called Battle of Aleppo (2012-2016), most of the fighting took place in the city center turning it into ruins, which, indeed, is a cultural tragedy [3]. And I quite agree with Christoph Doppelhofer who in his article on the ethical implications of the damage inflicted on the Ancient City of Palmyra claims that “the intentional destruction of cultural heritage is considered to be a war crime because of its severe effects on identity and cultural capital of a population” [4].

And on top of that, those fortifications, which withstood centuries of invasions and seemed so impregnable, were damaged by the infamous earthquake, especially the Gaziantep Castle for its eastern and southern bastions collapsed, and the iron railings and walls surrounding the Castle were seriously damaged. And that raises another question: “Whether the destruction of a masterpiece inevitably leads to the erasi ng of its Memory?”

But in order to answer this question one should consider this issue in a much broader context. As a matter of fact, however appalling it might sound, an enormous amount of masterpieces has been destroyed or damaged not only through our own fault (wars, revolutions, demolition projects, criminals trying to steal precious works of Art, “activists” using Art objects so as to draw public attention, etc.), but also due to the natural disasters, which, as we can see for ourselves, happen quite often. And I suppose that in addition to the recent earthquake, one should note numerous floods that occurred in St. Petersburg before the dam was constructed in 2011. Not long ago, on the 4th of February 2023, 201 years have passed since the worst February flood in the history of St. Petersburg during which the water rose 254 centimeters above the ordinary, and all the buildings of the Peter and Paul Fortress, the construction of which, by the way, started in 1703 to the order of the Emperor Peter the Great, were severely damaged. However, one can only guess how many people perished as a result of that calamity since the history is silent on the matter [5].

Interestingly enough, there are many cultural and historical parallels between Turkey, Syria and St. Petersburg. For instance, in the Hermitage Museum there are lots of Art objects associated with those places. Let us mention, for instance, the “Palmyrian Tariff”, a marble stele from the time of the Emperor Hadrian (137 AD) specifying the size of tariffs imposed on imports and exports of certain types of goods, that was transferred from the Ottoman Empire (for at the time Syria was its province) to St. Petersburg in 1903 owing to the efforts of Prince Semyon Abamelek-Lazarev, who was a traveler and amateur archaeologist [6]. Or the exhibition “Two Palmyras” dedicated to the relationship between the Ancient Palmyra and St. Petersburg that is often called “Northern Palmyra” due to the luxury and elegance of its architectural profile [7]. And what is more, there is also a wide collection of the Turkish Art in the Hermitage Museum -- tiles, carpers, seals, jewelry, etc.

Now, regrettably, natural catastrophes, like the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, eliminating everything in their path, are not uncommon. It suffices to mention the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD that destroyed Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplonti and Stabiae and caused the death of Pliny the Elder among many other people. Or a flash flood that occurred in Florence on the 4th of November 1966, as a result of which many works of Art were damaged or destroyed, including the Cimabue Crucifix from the Santa Croce Basilica that remains in poor condition in spite of the conservation efforts [8]. And, on the one hand, it seems only logical that people, realizing the seriousness of the situation, should not destroy, but preserve the legacy of their ancestors, which, as we all know, is extremely vulnerable and fragile. And yet, although there are those who dedicate their lives to this goal, -- let alone the fact that occasionally nature itself helps people to recover some of the “lost” artefacts, as is the case with the above-mentioned eruption of Mount Vesuvius burying those Roman cities beneath tons of volcanic ash and pumice and perfectly preserving the remains, -- the matter is not so simple then it might appear. In other words, unfortunately, the list of buildings deliberately destroyed by humanity is endless, suffice it to mention the structures that were levelled to the ground during the World War II, or the churches that were blown up by the Soviet government.

At the same time, I do believe that the value of an Artwork is determined not only by its physical characteristics, but also by the Historical Memory it possesses. Bearing the latter in mind, it becomes apparent that physical damage, or even destruction, of an Art object, with all its negative impact on the Cultural Heritage, is not decisive in the issue of preserving its Memory. And even if an Artwork is no longer present, it continues to exist in the Memory of those who were lucky enough to see it, hear, or read about it. And thus, the logic of our research leads us again to the so-called human factor for it is our appreciation of the gravity of the situation with the endangered works of Art and willingness to reverse things that really matters. What I am trying to say is that not only museums housing vast Art collections, together with schools and universities shaping the worldview of the younger generations, act as “agents” of the Memory of the Past, but also each and every one of us is responsible for maintaining the integrity of this “memory chain”, whether this or that particular work of Art exists in reality or only in our own Memory. Just like the heroes of Ray Bradbury's “Fahrenheit 451” who were trying to memorize the forbidden books and pass their invaluable knowledge to the others.

To sum it up, on the one hand, many valuable Artworks have been irreversibly lost for various reasons. Yet it seems to me that one should not be discouraged by the statistics for there is something we can do in order to preserve the Memory of the Past, starting with preventive measures aiming to avoid the devastating consequences, and ending with the restoration of the dilapidated buildings. Let along the transmission of our own personal memoirs (whether in written or oral form) commemorating our encounters with various people and the products of their creativity, and thus keeping the Memory of the Past alive.

References

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