The burning of Notre Dame in 2019 is a well known tragic event. Having marked the emergence of the gothic style of architecture, the Notre Dame serves as a treasure and symbol of western civilization. Remarkably, it survived the fire, World War II, AND the French Revolution. You can see why the damage brought upon the site, with it’s historical significance, incited worldwide movements and triggered mass pandemonium over social media in mere hours. Videos of the cathedral burning flooded my feed on Instagram and Twitter. A huge competition was developed by architects to restore the cathedral’s spire after the fire was quenched. But what about the architectures that have lost their histories in the fires of oppression? The fire that struck the Notre Dame is significant, but it should not overpower the injustices enforced upon architectures that have taken and ruined lives in the process.
China, mobilized in order to contain ‘religious extremism’, has cracked down on Muslim Uyghur minorities for following the religion of Islam. Islam has been deemed as “un-Chinese” and all of it’s followers are now being forcibly assimilated. Uyghur minorities have to endure state campaigned oppression, by means of mass surveillance and policing. The oppression and cleansing of Uyghurs are further carried out by destroying mosques. The Chinese government is not demolishing Uyghur architecture, they are destroying it. They remove the minarets, crescents and domes, which are common symbols associated with a mosque. In essence, they are attempting to put an end to the existence of Islam, which calls for destruction… Not demolishment.
The Imam Asim Shrine of Xinjiang China is one of more than two dozen Islamic religious sites that have been partly or completely demolished in Xinjiang since 2016. Of 91 sites analyzed by the Guardian, a well respected newspaper, 15 Mosques and the 2 major shrines appear to have been completely or almost completely destroyed. Where there was once a mosque filled with worshippers, men and women of all ages, there is now a smooth patch of dirt. These symbols of Islam, places of worship, have been wiped clean off the face of the Earth with no artifact to leave behind. Only the noses of those that that have touched the ground in prayer and the ears that have heard the call to prayer bear witness to the Masjid’s existence and eradication. Even so, the people of Uyghur culture and religion are being ‘revised’ and ‘improved’ in detention facilities. A Xinjiang official Maisumujiang Maimuer on state media in 2018 states that the aim is to “break their lineage, break their roots, break their connections, and break their origins.” The threat of losing identity is the very reason why architecture of the Uyghur should be fought for, preserved, and analyzed now.
You may ask why should the Mosques of Uyghur be considered just as important as the Notre Dame? The Notre Dame, having been immortalized in many films, historic books and artwork faces no loss in terms of remembrance of identity. As one of the most sacred places, it is immortalized by the people of France and is famous internationally for being built in the gothic tradition. In comparison, the architecture of the Uyghur people has not been studied nor acknowledged enough. What is left in ruin is permanent, as the Chinese government will not allow them to rebuild. The elimination of Uyghur architecture by demolishment or by means of extinguishing it’s original function, is an sure attempt at the killing of their culture. Chinese Islamic architecture should have a presence and be acknowledged. Uyghur architecture has the potential to be studied for it’s traditional nature. If architects and students of architecture placed relevance upon or simply acknowledged Uyghur architecture, they can contribute to the release of Uyghur people who are suffering.
The damage of Notre Dame and Mosques of the Uyghur can be considered related because there are forces attempting to leave them in architectural ruin. However, the difference is that one force unintentionally triggered damage and the other is a force that intentionally committed the damage. The devastation of the Notre Dame fire, according to a French women that aired on ABC, states, "It’s [Notre Dame]like a mother to me in a way. I had the impression that my mother was being taken from me and it was very sad”. Now imagine a situation where families are being separated, ripped from each other in the process of destruction, or so called ‘demolishment’. What the Uyghur people are enduring and surviving is genocide, the erasure of architecture which is an extension of their identity. I am not invalidating the French woman’s use of a metaphor to describe her feelings. Instead, I am using this metaphor as literal and figurative truth for the Uyghur people.
Architecture that has been robbed is that which can no longer be inhabited or immortalized by the people. Unfortunately, a part of Notre Dame was tragically lost, but it was not robbed.
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