News
Celebrating World Heritage Day 2019 in Borobudur
7 May 2019
For 2019 edition of the World Heritage Day, Borobudur Conservation Office and UNESCO in collaboration with a local NGO, Yayasan LKIS, held a photo exhibition by Pak Suparno, a former staff member of Borobudur Conservation Office to commemorate his 40 years of dedicated work on the famous world heritage site. His works retraced the evolution of restoration of the temple since 1970s and its magnificent rural landscape. It is with great emotion that Pak Suparno along with his former colleagues of Borobudur Conservation Office and the Head of Borobudur Sub-District officially opened the event and greeted the visitors.
The Buddhist temple of Borobudur is a spiritual place and also a cultural site closely linked to daily life of local communities around the temple. For the World Heritage Day 2019, local communities from the neighbouring village of Karanganyar were also invited as special guests. Karanganyar village has historical connection with the temple as shown in the stone reliefs of the temple dating from the 8th century, depicting the scenes of rural lifestyles, such as farming, house and pottery making.
During the event, the visitors could admire the centuries-old craftsmanship of Karanganyar village potters during a workshop, while the potters and farmers from Karanganyar village learnt about the history of Borobudur temple through interactive fun contest.
UNESCO Jakarta thanks the Oriental Cultural Heritage Protection Alliance whose grant has supported a series of UNESCO community outreach programmes around Borobudur and the organization of the 2019 World Heritage Day.
