Julian Schellong is pursuing a PhD in history at TU Darmstadt with a dissertation on international monument preservation in the twentieth century, titled Constructing and Reconstructing Universal Heritage, c. 1945–1990. His research was supported with grants from the German Historical Institutes in Paris and Rome. In fall 2023 he spent a semester as visiting researcher at EUI Florence. Previously, Julian Schellong completed an M.A. in History and Philosophy of Knowledge at ETH Zurich and graduated with a thesis on the history of meteorology in Switzerland.

Boundaries of Universalism: Constructing World Heritage and the UNESCO Campaigns for Abu Simbel and Borobudur, 1955-1991

Abstract: The paper investigates the history of monument preservation and the UNESCO World Heritage Program. It focuses on the international campaigns for salvaging the ancient Egyptian temples of Abu Simbel and the Javanese temple Borobudur. Both initiatives were marked by international cooperation as well as rivalry between agents of cultural politics. I argue that these cases shaped how heritage conservators and cultural institutions developed and administered a universalistic concept of 'world heritage'.

The salvage of Abu Simbel was one of the earliest global projects of UNESCO. The temples faced the threat of flooding after to the construction of the Aswan High Dam, built in 1960 by the independent Egyptian republic with Soviet support. Conservators from all over the world protested the loss of this historic site. Under the auspices of UNESCO, they preserved the giant monuments in international collaboration. UNESCO ran a successful PR campaign and used Abu Simbel to promote the idea of 'world heritage' to a global audience.

The restoration of Borobudur became a long-term project for the Indonesian national state since the revolution 1945-1949. The monument held symbolic importance for the recently independent state and restorations were a constant negotiation between international cooperation and national sovereignty. Borobudur became a site to stage intra-Asian solidarity in distinction to the West.

The paper illuminates how monument preservation was intertwined with political rationalities of the Cold War and Post-Colonialism. It is a study of boundaries of universal ideals and frictions in international cultural politics.

The paper draws from the archives of UNESCO, ICCROM, ICOMOS and the Archivio Piero Gazzola.