The Institute For Tourism Studies, Macao (IFT) has the honour in inviting Mr. Laurence Loh Kwong Yu, International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) site evaluator for the World Heritage Sites of Macao and Kaiping, PRC, to deliver a public lecture on 26 April 2010 at IFT, on the topic – “What is the Spirit of Place?”. This public lecture, coordinated by the IFT’s Heritage Studies Centre, has attracted around 170 audiences. Finding and keeping “the spirit of place” has always been a major concern for most conservationists in preserving and restoring a physical structure. The spirit of place conveys the cultural essence of a site. It encompasses the meanings of a place accrued through time and through its past and present uses. Expressed through the tangible built heritage, these intangible heritage values give the place its distinctive character, an aura that draws people to the place, speaks to them, engages their emotions and, often, gives them a sublime experience of their surroundings. In this 90-minutes public lecture, Mr. Laurence Loh Kwong Yu acquainted the participants with how conservation of a physical structure articulates its spirit of place. Laurence has over 25 years of experience in protecting, conserving, managing and sustaining the cultural heritage of Malaysia. His expertise and contributions have been acknowledged nationally and regionally. The restoration and adaptive reuse of Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in Penang, Malaysia, won him the “Most Excellent Project” in the inaugural UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards in 2000. He has received various awards since then and more recently, his work on the restoration of Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was conferred the “Award of Excellence” of the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation in 2008. In parallel with his professional career path, Laurence has also devoted his time to education and capacity building. He is an associate professor at the University of Hong Kong and at the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property for ICCROM in Rome, Italy. He was the ICOMOS site evaluator for the World Heritage Sites of Macao and Kaiping, PRC and is on the executive committee of the UNESCO-ICCROM Asian Academy of Heritage Management. The IFT’s Heritage Studies Centre was established in 2008. Its mission is to promote the advancement and dissemination of knowledge in the field of heritage by working with intergovernmental agencies, academics and professionals. The Heritage Studies Centre is committed to promoting heritage studies in Macao and internationally, through conducting research and training programmes with local and global partners. Among the different projects, the Centre has written the training manual for the UNESCO Cultural Heritage Specialist Guides Programme that has been translated into six languages and adopted for the UNESCO World Heritage sites in ten countries. The Centre is also the focal point of training programme for Asian Academy of Heritage Management network. It has just hosted the Second UNESCO-ICCROM AAHM Conference on “Urban Heritage and Tourism: Challenges and Opportunities” in December last year, promoting academic exchange in the field.
