Abstract
In natural hazards such as earthquakes, one of the most important parts that get damaged is cultural heritage. Cultural heritage (tangible and intangible) plays a fundamental role in adaptability, resilience and reconstruction of a disaster-struck society. The main objective of this study how to manage of cultural heritage during the crisis in November 2017 Kermanshah earthquake. This research seeks to answer the questions that; Do crisis managers manage cultural heritage in the Sarpol-Zahab earthquake area and does cultural crisis management in the Sarpol-Zahab earthquake have the equipment to provide a model to increase the resilience and adaptability of cultural heritage in times of crisis? The findings of this field study, which are based on assessing the concepts of resilience and vulnerability in the crisis management cycle, indicate that crisis management in the field of cultural heritage during and after the crisis has not been performed satisfactorily despite vulnerability assessments. According to the patterns and models of enhancing resilience, Our society is not sustainable. As a result the management of cultural heritage has not clearly considered the issues of adaptability and resilience, focusing only on minimal restoration and reconstruction of historical monuments in a temporary period. In the crisis management cycle, Pre-crisis measures that will reduce vulnerability in future hazards have not been considered in relation to earthquakes in these areas. During the recovery and social rehabilitation phase, considering the cultural characteristics of the people, the intangible heritage has significantly contributed to enhancing social and cultural resilience among the affected population. Nevertheless, the crisis management of society and cultural heritage has never been able to serve as a repository for knowledge to reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience in society, aiming to establish a balanced relationship between resilience and vulnerability within the crisis management cycle.
Keywords: Vulnerability, Resilience, Earthquake, Crisis Management, Cultural Heritag.
Introduction
Our country, which is more than eleven thousand years old, is one of the accident-prone countries of the world, and due to the fact that most of its regions are among the regions with high seismicity, the occurrence of earthquakes in it is inevitable. In an earthquake, one of the most important parts that get damaged is cultural heritage. Cultural heritage forms the backbone of human and social life of the society, and its reconstruction in the post-disaster period should be considered in the early stages. Tangible cultural heritage (museums, ancient sites, memorial tablets, etc.) and intangible (culture, stories, myths, rituals and ceremonies, celebrations and performing arts such as music, theatre and film) which play a fundamental role in shaping human memory. This memory helps people to be more resilient during crises.
Following other field researches that the writer has conducted in the field of anthropology of disaster from 2017-2024 in Sarpol-Zahab, the research on the management of cultural heritage in the earthquake was one of his research priorities.
The November 2017 earthquake in Kermanshah (Sarpol-e-Zahab) killed 626 people and damaged many cities and villages.
According to the announcement of the Department of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism of Kermanshah Province,in this earthquake,Khosrow’s Palace,Fire tample(Charqapi), Qasr-e-shirin Karavansarai, Zij Manizheh, Abodojaneh historical Cemetery, Yazdegerd Castle (Dalahu County), Gilangharb Castle, Islamabad-e-gharb palang fire temple, Hosseinieh Sarpol-e-Zahab, the shrine of Ahmad ibn Ishaq Ash’ari Qomi in Sarpol-e-Zahab, Abdullah ibn Omar Rijab Mosque were damaged.
In this research, the researcher, who was trying to find out the degree of damage, the adaptability and resilience of cultural heritage management, in the first stage of his research, visited the earthquake-affected cities and their ancient monuments. In the second stage, in order to complete the information, the researcher conducted structured and unstructured interviews with crisis managers and cultural heritage managers. Finally, based on disaster anthropology studies and this research, the researcher was able to provide a model for how to manage cultural heritage during the disaster cycle and crisis.
Discussion
The findings of this research show that the most important cultural heritage measures after the earthquake have been carried out in the fields of aid, cultural heritage, infrastructure, handicrafts, tourism and investment. Examining the performance of the cultural heritage during the crisis shows that since our crisis management system does not have a resilient system, the cultural heritage sector also does not have the capabilities to manage the crisis and the action it has taken cannot return the society to a normal situation in a short period of time. In the earthquake, our society showed that it is not a resilient society, and in passing through the crisis and dealing with it, it faced the greatest disruption in all its parts, such as cultural heritage. The management of cultural heritage in the infrastructure sector will not be able to plan and operate in order to deal with future hazards.
In this area, restorations and renovations have been done, but due to the risk of this society, the necessary funds for the future to increase adaptability and resilience have not been considered. In the field of tourism, investment and infrastructure even reconstruction and restoration of damaged areas have not been done after estimating the amount of damage. As a result, in this part of the crisis management cycle, cultural heritage is unsuccessful, and its performance has been limited to visits and meetings to adjust requests and express problems.
Intangible cultural heritage during the earthquake had an impact on the adaptability and resilience of the society. This heritage helped the people in different ways during the mourning such as the native sounds and tunes of mourning (ĉamar, Môye, Hûre and Môr). In the post-disaster stage and during social recovery, the use of the culture of aid, local foods, rituals and ceremonies, music and local games is undeniable.
In disaster we lose everything, the only thing left for us is the past. This past brings our culture for us. Culture tells us what we did in times of crisis and what we can do to heal our pain. This culture is divided and multiplied in different times and places. It supports and sustains our culture in times of disaster. The intangible cultural heritage can play an irreplaceable role in the days of the people who have suffered disaster after disaster to recover.
Conclusion
The cultural heritage of our country is vulnerable and our crisis management does not have the ability to reduce vulnerability. But our intangible heritage has the ability to increase social resilience in our disaster-stricken society. Our cultural heritage management does not have the knowledge of risk analysis, assessment of financial and human resources for coping and reconstruction, location, emergency evacuation of visitors in the prevention phase (before the crisis). Since the cultural heritage managers do not have the necessary knowledge to deal with the crisis, our cultural heritage does not have the ability to manage and perform optimally in the stage of preparation and coping during the crisis and reconstruction. In the crisis management cycle, cultural heritage is also facing important problems in the post-crisis reconstruction phase. At this stage, protective measures and compliance with the standards (body and physical) of constructions around cultural works should also be considered, which due to the lack of sufficient knowledge about cultural heritage by various institutions, the protection of cultural works has not been respected and retrofits It does not take place in this section. In this area, intangible heritage such as museum, narratives, poetry, legend were not formed to commemorate and form the cultural memory of Sarpol-e-Zahab earthquake. As a result, it can be said that the intangible heritage has also played a role in the social rehabilitation of the people, but it has not been able to perform well as a category that takes steps towards the preservation of cultural heritage.
Since according to the patterns and models of increasing the resilience of society, our society is not a resilient society. As a result, the main question of this research can be answered as follows: The management of cultural heritage in the Sarpol-e-Zahab earthquake did not consider the issue of adaptability and resilience and limited itself to the minimal restoration and reconstruction of historical monuments in a temporary period.
This research was able to provide a model for managing cultural heritage in times of crisis. This model emphasizes the flexible relationship between vulnerability and resilience. Increasing resilience in a society will reduce vulnerability in all parts of society. According to this model, a society that is resilient is consciously and purposefully take risks and crises and applying knowledge to reduce their consequences. This society has defined goals for its long-term recovery in all its sectors and always treats risk as an opportunity.