A Japanese programme aims to train local engineers and architects to help preserve wooden monuments such as the Bagaya Monastery in Mandalay.
Japanese Experts Aid Fight to Save At-Risk Wooden Buildings in Burma
The Irrawady, 12 June 2014
Japanese experts are training Burmese archeology officials in using high-tech techniques to maintain the country’s many aging wooden buildings, officials said.
A group from both countries is currently surveying the Bagaya Monastery, a structure at Ava, Mandalay Division, that was built from teak in 1834 and is thought to be one of Burma’s oldest surviving wooden structures. It is hoped skills passed on by Japanese experts will help Burma to preserve many similar buildings that are at risk from the elements and termites.
The work is part of a three-year Japanese assistance project with Burma’s Ministry of Culture. Twelve Burmese engineers and architects are being trained by experts from the National Research Institute for Culture Properties in Tokyo and the Japanese Association for Conservation of Architectural Monuments, with the collaboration of Burma’s Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library.
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