Interview
Roland Silva
1933-2020
World Heritage Convention
Roland Silva is a Sri Lankan specialist in Asian architecture and archeology. He studied at the Architectural Association School of Architecture and the University of London in the 1950s before obtaining a Ph.D. from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands in 1988.
At the head of the Department of Archeology of the Sri Lankan government in the early 1980s, he prepared nomination files for the first three Sri Lankan World Heritage sites and created ICOMOS Sri Lanka following the encouragement of Michel Parent. At the same time, he also set up the Central Cultural Fund, an important body dedicated to financing cultural activities.
In 1990 Roland Silva was elected President of ICOMOS International, a position he held for three terms until 1999. During this period and at his initiative, the number of ICOMOS International Scientific Committees increased from 11 to 24. Roland Silva also chaired the Nara Conference on Authenticity in 1994. Recipient of the Piero Gazzola Prize (1999) and the Fukuoka Arts and Culture Award (2004), he is the author of numerous academic publications on Asian conservation, architecture and archeology. These include Religious Architecture in Early and Medieval Sri Lanka (Krips Repro, 1988).
Interview with
Roland Silva
11 October 2011, Victoria, Canada
The following audio excerpts are from an interview with Roland Silva by Christina Cameron the 11 October 2011 in Victoria, Canada. They highlight the important contributions of the first Asian President of ICOMOS, notably through the development of International Scientific Committees and advice to the World Heritage Convention. Roland Silva shares his reflections on issues such as the length of the List and the changing notion of authenticity.
- 1. The World Heritage Convention
- 1a. Involvement and participation of Roland Silva in World Heritage
- 1b. The World Heritage List
- 1c. Key moments influencing the implementation of the Convention: the Nara document on authenticity
- 1d. Successes of the Convention
- 2. Advisory bodies: ICOMOS and ICCROM
- 3. The secretariat of UNESCO
- 4. The commitment of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention
- 5. The International Scientific Committees of ICOMOS
Oral Archives of the
World Heritage Convention
Under the leadership of the Canada Research Chair on Built Heritage at the University of Montreal, an international team of researchers conducts interviews with pioneers of World Heritage to capture memories of important moments in the history of UNESCO Convention.
Launched in 2006, this initiative is part of the UNESCO History project that celebrated the 60th anniversary of the creation of UNESCO. The Oral Archives project records the precious witness of people closely associated with the creation and implementation of the Convention. Their recollections and views have greatly enriched the book by Christina Cameron and Mechtild Rössler, Many Voices, One Vision: The Early Years of the World Heritage Convention (Ashgate/Routledge, 2013).
