About the Langtang Memory Project
A village is not just a collection of buildings. Rebuilding Langtang, the area of Nepal most devastated by the 2015 earthquake, means paying attention to social needs and cultural processes. Our goal is to create a space for healing through the active process of remembering and documenting in collaboration with the Langtang community.
As per the request of the Langtangpa community, the Langtang Memory Project is two-fold. Some of the materials will be installed in a physical Memory Center to be constructed in the Langtang Valley – a community space intended to serve as a shrine and to increase awareness among visitors to Langtang. Once complete, the community space will be managed by the Langtang Women’s Group and a Memory Center Committee to use as they see fit. The Memory Center will be inaugurated following a memorial trek on the one year anniversary of the earthquake.
The project will also create an online multimedia archive to document and preserve the unique heritage and culture of the Langtangpa people. The searchable archive will feature past materials (formal and informal documentation) and contemporary materials being produced in the wake of the earthquake. This open-access website will serve as a public resource, and be integrated and linked to other established scholarly archives such as the Digital Himalaya project (http://www.digitalhimalaya.com) to ensure its long term maintenance.
The Memory Project is actively looking for materials related to Langtang. These materials may be: a) informal written materials (personal documents, household records, old travel notes etc.); b) photographs (archival, family photographs, tourism photographs); c) oral histories (existing and to-be-recorded); d) film content (from various informal videos and archival footage over the years); e) post-earthquake documentation (personal, news).
Both the Memory Center and the Langtang Archive will be augmented by material collected through a participatory storytelling program organized by Rasuwa Relief and the NGO PictureMeHere. The goal is for the project to continue to grow and be augmented by materials and narratives that document the recovery and resettlement of the Langtangpa in the coming years.