Kecia L. Fong 'Preservation in Contemporary Yangon'

Please note that this evening lecture originally scheduled for Nov. 4 has been postponed to Tuesday, Dec. 2.

HSPV Lecture
Kecia L. Fong
Lecturer, PennDesign;
Institute for Culture and Society
University of Western Sydney
'Preservation in Contemporary Yangon'

Myanmar is a country in transition and nowhere is this more evident than in Yangon, the country’s commercial centre and former capital. Yangon is often described as the last intact Southeast Asian colonial era city, paradoxically touted as both the last frontier of the authentic and one ripe for development. The political, economic, material, and social transformations – proposed and actualized - are shaping Yangon imaginaries of the past, of collective and individual identities, and of the future. From these converging forces what visions emerge of a new Asian urban modernity? This presentation will illustrate how heritage is being assembled, the challenges to instilling an urban preservation ethos, and the emerging visions of 21st century Yangon. 

Kecia L. Fong is a conservation professional of the built environment. She has worked internationally as a conservation practitioner and educator for the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, US National Park Service, and the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) among others. Her work in the field has addressed multiple scales and contexts from the revitalization of the historic Islamic core of Cairo; conservation of earthen plasters at ancient Puebloan sites in the American southwest; emergency conservation and stabilization of the ancient city of Zeugma, Turkey; to the conservation and adaptive use of 20th century architecture in North American cities. While at the GCI she was responsible for developing international education and training programmes for conservation of the built environment.  Her projects were primarily situated in North Africa, South East Asia, and Italy and were directed towards mid-career heritage conservation professionals.  She is currently consultant to the World Monuments Fund and Yangon Heritage Trust on issues pertaining to urban conservation, sustainable development, and the modernization of Yangon.  Her doctoral research is sited in Yangon and investigates how built heritage and its conservation are assembled, influencing, and reflecting narratives of identity, the globalization of professional conservation practice, and visions of urban modernity in the twenty-first century. She is a PhD candidate at the Institute for Culture and Society at the University of Western Sydney, a Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania, and Associate Editor for Change Over Time: An International Journal of Conservation and the Built Environment.