07.05.2019Invitation to a talk by Dr Hildegard Diemberger

We warmly invite you to a talk by Hildegard Diemberger
(University of Cambridge)

“A transhimalayan route in time: connectivities, cultural heritage and change along the Kyirong-Rasuwa corridor”

Time: 13 May 2019, 3–4.30 pm

Venue: Seminar room, Ethnographic Museum, Pelikanstrasse 40

Synopsis: Sometimes considered a branch of the Silkroads, the Kyirong-Rasuwa corridor is one of the historically most significant transhimalayan routes. Trade, religious connections, diplomacy, military operations and kinship relations shaped its history in time. Recently re-opened in form of a tarmac road it has become the main link between Lhasa in Tibet and Kathmandu in Nepal with a far reaching impact on the surrounding areas. Building on twenty five years of ethnographic and historical research, this presentation looks at ancient sites and recent transformations along this ancient route as it turned to a modern international road.

Dr Hildegard Diemberger is a fellow and lecturer in Pembroke College (University of Cambridge) and director of the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit (MIASU). Her main research interests are Tibetan cultural area; landscape, space and time; local history and memory; changing notions of power and kinship; gender; environment; books as literary artefacts and debates over continuity, tradition and modernity.