Public Lecture

Topic: Preservation, Representation, and Transformation of Southeast Asian Indigenous Maritime Heritage in the Digital Era

Presenter: Abhirada Pook Komoot, Maritime Asia Heritage Survey, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University

This presentation considers key aspects of maritime cultural heritage in Southeast Asia as they encounter the forces of digital transformation. The growing use of digital documentation and archival platforms has become central to efforts to protect fragile material traditions and oral histories, particularly when such heritage is threatened by environmental and human-made risks. The introduction of technology into the practices of preservation and representation has not only altered methods but has also reshaped the ways indigenous heritage is seen, shared, and sustained. Digital media, ranging from online archives and websites to immersive technologies and social networks, extends the access of local traditions beyond their immediate communities or boundaries, opening new platforms for recognition, exchange, and participation.

The promise of digitisation is wide-ranging: it provides a stage for indigenous voices and narratives, offers resilience against loss from climate change, conflict, or globalisation, enables cross-generational transmission through youth-oriented media, and builds networks of recognition and solidarity that extend across the globe. Nevertheless, seeing the sea in reverse, these transformations also surface challenges. The uneven distribution of technology, coupled with societal divisions, risks reproducing imbalances in how heritage is mediated, represented, and remembered.

This talk raises critical reflections on these tensions. It calls for balancing the depth of traditional maritime heritage with the reach of technological innovation by embedding digital awareness and literacy into academic discourse. In doing so, it contends that the safeguarding of heritage in a digital age must remain not only a matter of technical preservation but also of ethical care, an ongoing negotiation between memory and modernity, shoreline and screen.

Abhirada Pook Komoot is a maritime archaeologist and cultural heritage specialist, currently serving as Project Coordinator for the Maritime Asia Heritage Survey (MAHS) in Thailand. The project, a collaboration between the Faculty of Architecture, Silpakorn University, and the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) at Kyoto University, seeks to document, preserve, and share maritime heritage through the creation of an open-access digital archive.

Abhirada’s expertise bridges maritime archaeology, cultural heritage law, and heritage management, positioning her as a recognised authority in her field. Her interdisciplinary training allows her to examine heritage not only as physical remains but also as a living practice deeply connected to identity, memory, and cultural resilience. She is also committed to fostering international dialogue, regularly engaging with scholars, practitioners, and local communities to strengthen collaborative approaches to heritage safeguarding.

With years of intensive fieldwork across Thailand and the wider Southeast Asian region, Abhirada has dedicated her career to uncovering the often-overlooked dimensions of indigenous maritime heritage. Her work has highlighted the critical gaps that persist in heritage digitisation and the frequent misinterpretation or marginalisation of minority cultures in comparison to mainstream heritage narratives. Through her today’s presentation, she advocates for a more balanced and inclusive approach to heritage representation, one that values community voices and local knowledge systems alongside established academic frameworks.