Shwe-nandaw Monastery: Burmese Wood Crafts and their Revival in the 21st Century

This lecture focuses on the conservation project of Shwe-nandaw Monastery and the approach promoted by World Monuments Fund for the first internationally-led conservation project on a timber structure in Myanmar/Burma. Francois Tainturier explains the achievements made by the project team, including the replacement wood carvings campaign currently undertaken with assistance from Master Carver U Kan Khyunt and his team. The lecture examines the restoration of the visual and artistic integrity of the late nineteenth-century timber structure, the only surviving pavilion of the former royal palace of Mandalay; and the reviving of wood craftsmanship, one of Myanmar’s famed crafts in the region of Mandalay, to build the skills of young carvers who may in turn work at other conservation projects in the future.