Sustainability and conservation of religious heritage

Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Lecture Series in Chinese Buddhism at the SOAS Centre of Buddhist Studies.

This seminar will explore the different ways in which sustainability and heritage conservation intersect. We will begin with a general discussion of key concepts and recent developments, including UNESCO’s 2015 policy on sustainable development at World Heritage Sites. We will then turn to the conservation of Buddhist monuments in China, focusing on specific cases from Sichuan and Chongqing. 

The chapter on restorers of cliffside relief sculpture in Dazu from my book Temples in the Cliffside (2021) will provide the basis for a more in-depth discussion on ways to assess the latest trends as part of a longer history of sustainability practices in the creation and restoration of monumental outdoor statuary.

About the speaker

Sonya S. Lee is Professor of Art History, East Asian Languages and Cultures, and Religion at the University of Southern California. She is currently Department Chair of East Asian Languages and Cultures. Dr. Lee has published widely on Buddhist material culture of China and Central Asia. She is the author of Temples in the Cliffside: Buddhist Art of Sichuan (University of Washington Press, 2021) and Surviving Nirvana: Death of the Buddha in Chinese Visual Culture (Hong Kong University Press, 2010). She is also Editor-in-Chief for Grove Art Online, the premier online resource for the visual arts administered by Oxford University Press. 

Dr. Lee has received prestigious fellowships and honors for her research, including grants from the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., Mellon Foundation, Getty Foundation, Japan Foundation, Asian Cultural Council, and American Council of Learned Societies. Her current book project is a study of the art and technology of wall painting of the Silk Road that engages debates in new materialism and posthumanism.

Attending the event

This event is free and open to all, but registration is required. 

• Organiser: SOAS Centre of Buddhist Studies