Papers by Jonathan Bell
Museum International, 2000
Asianart.com, 1999
The murals of Dege County's Pewar (Ch. Baiya) Monastery are truly exquisite works of art that emb... more The murals of Dege County's Pewar (Ch. Baiya) Monastery are truly exquisite works of art that embrace their subject matters with a mixture of vivid color and painstaking detail. From ghastly esoteric scenes of demons wearing human skins to the serenity of buddhas seated in meditation, the depictions on the walls of the temple and upper prayer room comprise a mixture of stylistic influences from within and outside Tibet. Placid Nepalese-style bodhisattvas adorned with gold and flowing scarves face characteristic Tibetan esoteric figures with multiple arms and heads, standing on lifeless bodies. Just next to this unlikely couple lies a secular scene of workers so Chinese in style that they could almost have been transplanted from a Song or Jin Dynasty Shanxi temple wall. This blend of style, coupled with the seamless transition from iconography to storytelling, results in a unique and highly syncretic body of religious art. The purpose of this essay is to expose and identify some of the iconography and religious stories depicted on the walls of the temple. I have tried to choose some of the more exemplary large figures and commonplace narratives as an introduction to Buddhist representation within a Tibetan context. A brief description of the physical setting, that is, the temple itself, will precede the discussion of the murals. The Temple (click for Temple Plan) The temple, or lha-k hang, (1) as it is termed in Tibetan, makes up the northernmost part of the monastery, and, as is to be expected, constitutes the largest single room in the complex, boasting over 300 square meters of space. The size, it should be remembered, reflects its historical function not only as a monument to Buddhism, which it indubitably is, but as an assembly hall for monks and lay believers alike. The structure was built and decorated in the time of the great Dege King Tenpa Tsering (1678-1738), who greatly lavished on the this monastery because it was among his last religious projects.(2) This, then, dates the murals to somewhere in the first forty years of the 18 th century. A small enclosed anteroom with irreparable murals of its own provides a buffer between the hall and the courtyard of the monastery. Entrance into the large room is achieved only after climbing a few steps and passing through this vestibule at the north end of the monastery's inner courtyard. Two large wooden doors mark the only way in and out of the chilly home of the masterpieces to be discussed below.
Chinese Law & Government, 2016
International Planning Studies , 2014
Street vending represents a vital and growing aspect of the urban informal economy that is often ... more Street vending represents a vital and growing aspect of the urban informal economy that is often the subject of municipal regulatory efforts that seek to control, confine or extinguish it. In the People's Republic of China, recent developments and discussions on vendor rights and regulation underscore important socio-political and economic changes and concerns around the role of the informal economy in this country. As more of China's rural poor enter urban areas and turn to the streets to survive, the number of unlicensed vendors has risen and municipal efforts at increased regulation and enforcement of street vending licensure have been enacted. These developments within the context of China's 'state-capitalist economy' provide a fertile field for research into the informal economy, use and re-appropriation of public space, and regulation of a previously marginalized commercial activity. This paper draws from primary and secondary sources to provide an overview of street vending in China and consider the implications of recent regulatory developments and public dialogue that strive to formalize the informal.
Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites , 2013
The Bibi Jawandi Monument Complex is a site of 15th-century partially collapsed glazed masonry to... more The Bibi Jawandi Monument Complex is a site of 15th-century partially collapsed glazed masonry tomb structures located in the ancient city of Uch Sharif, in Pakistan. Conservation of the striking monuments has involved an integrated approach comprising investigations of building materials, structural stability, geotechnical characteristics, as well as management capacity and infrastructural considerations of the site and surrounding city. A primary assessment of the site's aesthetic, artistic, historical, social, and scien-tifi c signifi cance guided the development of interventions and conservation priorities. The holistic approach to the protection of the site, in relation to the surrounding historic town, is one of the fi rst such integrated conservation projects to be undertaken in Pakistan and posed numerous conservation challenges. Work is ongoing and continues, relying on intermittent funding, but the project and site serve as a model in the region for thorough assessment informing conservation decision-making.
International Journal of Cultural Property, 2013
Heritage preservation is distinctly political, often presenting a privileged elitist interpretati... more Heritage preservation is distinctly political, often presenting a privileged elitist interpretation of historic sites, while denigrating or even destroying later significant built environments. Structures that are the emanation of subsequent cultures, but similarly tied to the place, are often undervalued, underinterpreted, and even purposely obliterated from the landscape. This article considers the politics of heritage related to privileging one type of historic structure to the complete detriment of the other. The example of Gurna, in Egypt, serves as a powerful case study for the loss of a living historic built environment solely for the simplified or "flattened" interpretation of a place. In highlighting the preferential protection and presentation of the World Heritage Site of the Theban Necropolis and ultimate demise of the historic hamlets of Gurna, the article builds on previous work in the field on interpretation, the impact of tourism, and the conflicting identities of historic sites. [It] is not until a building has assumed this character, till it has been entrusted with the fame, and hallowed by the deeds of men, till its walls have been witnesses of suffering, and its pillars rise out of the shadows of death, that its existence, more lasting as it is than that of the natural objects of the world around it, can be gifted with even so much as these possess, of language and of life.-John Ruskin
Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites , 2010
The supposition that modern traditionally produced building materials are inherently similar to o... more The supposition that modern traditionally produced building materials are inherently similar to original building fabric is common in Pakistan. Laboratory analysis on historic and modern samples of fi red brick, mud brick, and mud mortars was undertaken for the fi rst time in the region to investigate similarities in basic physical properties and composition of the materials. Simple analytical techniques were used to determine porosity, density, particle size distribution, plastic limit and other properties, as well as chemical composition of the samples. Further analytical methods were used to confi rm the results of simpler analyses and further characterize materials. Results indicate that modern locally produced materials were in many ways comparable to their historic counterparts and may be used as intervention materials within the buildings of the Uch Monument Complex. This information will inform the choice and manufacture of proposed intervention materials, while providing preliminary quantitative evidence for continuing traditions.
Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road : Proceedings of the Second International Conference on the Conservation of Grotto Sites, Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, People's Republic of China, June 28-July 3, 2004, 2010
At the Mogao Grottoes, visitor numbers have risen steadily since the 1980s while site managers ha... more At the Mogao Grottoes, visitor numbers have risen steadily since the 1980s while site managers have faced increasing pressure from local authorities and businesses to encourage more tourism. Although the direct and indirect impacts of visitation on the 492 painted caves were not known from systematic study, there was concern about irreparable damage from increased visitation. For this reason a carrying capacity study began in 2001 to determine the impact of visitation on the caves and visitor numbers such that, once implemented, visitors themselves would be safe and the caves and their art would not be damaged. The carrying capacity study, which addresses one of the principal objectives of the Mogao master plan, is a joint undertaking of the Getty Conservation Institute and the Dunhuang Academy and is part of a larger collaboration to apply the Principles for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in China at the site. The study required research into the mechanisms of deterioration, the impact of visitors and visita-tion on cave microenvironments, and visitor needs and levels of satisfaction. The study was based on the Visitor Experience and Resource Protection (VERP) methodology used by the U.S. National Park Service. The design and implementation of a research and assessment strategy includes investigations related to causes of deterioration and the impact of visitation. The results of these investigations are the basis for establishing the carrying capacity and, ultimately, the development of a long-term, adaptable management tool to respond to current and future challenges. As numbers of tourists at cultural sites around the world continue to grow, the need to understand the effects of visita-tion on cultural resources and on the visitors themselves has become paramount. Understanding the impact of visitation
Wooden Wonders: Tibetan Furniture in Secular and Religious Life, 2004
Talks by Jonathan Bell
Conference Presentations by Jonathan Bell
This paper presents a research design developed by the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee ... more This paper presents a research design developed by the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Earthen Architectural Heritage (ISCEAH) to define and identify earthen cultural landscapes. A survey methodology has been implemented collaboratively by ISCEAH members in order to elicit responses from academics, professionals, and policymakers regarding concepts and definitions of cultural landscapes. The questionnaire used as the survey instrument focuses on key concepts and components of cultural landscapes generally and landscapes comprising built earthen heritage, more specifically. Included in the paper are motivations for the research, consideration of principal terms and concepts, description of the collaborative process used to develop the questionnaire, and analysis of preliminary results.
Book Reviews by Jonathan Bell
Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites, 2015
Thesis Chapters by Jonathan Bell
The How and Why of Urban Preservation: Protecting Historic Neighborhoods in China, 2014
In order to establish the context for preservation policy and practice in the People's Republic o... more In order to establish the context for preservation policy and practice in the People's Republic of China, it is necessary to consider the overall political economy framework for local governance and the changing backdrop of economic freedom and citizen involvement that are part and parcel of the country's socioeconomic development, since the reforms in 1978. Rather than attempting structural changes that immediately revolutionized the entire system of China's centralized governance and planned economy, Deng Xiaoping and reformer colleagues in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) opted for a politically and geographically incremental approach. The economic reforms that began in 1978 introduced waves of changes that slowly liberalized the economy and decentralized political control, devolving more power and responsibility to local authorities and implementing changing policies and models of local governance. Consideration of this backdrop helps to better understand the unique and politically unpredictable context within which Chinese urban conservation takes place. The development and implementation of heritage policy in China are closely intertwined with the government's structural changes that facilitated the loss of large swaths of historic urban neighborhoods in the 20 th century. Two phases of large-scale demolition and redevelopment in Beijing, in particular, correlate to the transition to a planned economy after the Communist takeover in 1949 and liberalization and decentralization policies that initiated the reform era in 1978-9. This chapter first considers the structural changes of China's political landscape and their impact on governance, followed by a review of the evolution of historic preservation policy
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Papers by Jonathan Bell
Talks by Jonathan Bell
Conference Presentations by Jonathan Bell
Book Reviews by Jonathan Bell
Thesis Chapters by Jonathan Bell