Capacity-building actions in the Maldives
The Maldives are an Indian Ocean archipelago best known to outsiders for outstanding beaches and diving. Prof Dr Haour’s pioneering archaeological research (2013-present) demonstrated they were a thriving node of past Indian Ocean communications, findings with an impact of clear reach and significance for the key national sector of tourism. Moreover, the work highlighted the deep interest in, and attachment to, heritage of communities living near past sites, and altered perceptions of heritage in the Maldives. The inextricable link between heritage, environmental hazards and tourism development was demonstrated, and the team began to ask how cultural values, knowledge and heritage can act as an important and inclusive boundary object to reduce future risk: places, and attachment to places, are of great importance in this equation. Heritage links in closely with environmental concerns in this very dispersed state.
The work had its roots in Cowrie shells: an early global commodity (PI), a Research Project funded by Leverhulme Trust Research Grant (2015-2018) which explored the links between Africa and the Indian Ocean through cowrie shells. The project involved yearly archaeological and ethnographic field seasons in the Republic of Maldives and Tanzania and reassessment of museological and archaeological collections across Europe and Africa. It also entailed training and capacity building and line managing of postdoctoral researchers and oversight of the research dissemination and outputs. Several grants followed (2019-2025), from various University of East Anglia internal awards to help research projects deliver societal benefit and impact.
The current focus is capacity-building activities are equipping promising heritage experts of the future with skills to deal with tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Mentees have led or participated in excavations at two sites, Kinolhas and Kaashidhoo. They have been exploring community understandings of heritage, with the overall aim will be to guide future heritage-related activities by understanding how, and when, people take ownership of their heritage. Paired with this, the team has been conducting networking and publicity events to raise awareness of archaeology and to discuss the importance and value of the Maldives’ plural tangible heritage. One example is an interview of Prof Dr Haour by V News’s flagship programme In Depth. In the capital Male’, sessions have been organised with Maldives National University undergraduate and graduate students and with Scout groups. In one workshop, participants assembled a museum display, selecting objects and identifying what stories they tell about the past. This display was later inaugurated at the National Museum of the Maldives and highlighted as part of international Museum Week in 2022. A further exhibition was held in 2025 at the National Museum and awareness-raising videos created for the National Centre for Cultural Heritage platform.