VIRTUAL ISTANBUL HERITAGE(S)

Abstract

This paper introduces an emerging doctoral study that situates uBungoma, a Southern African divinity healing practice, at the intersection of indigenous knowledge systems and decolonial architectural epistemologies. By drawing on Robert Thornton’s “Healing the Exposed Being” and Edouard Glissant’s concept of “The Right to Opacity,” the study advocates for a relational approach to space-making that embraces indigenous ways of knowing and perceiving. These seminal texts speak to honouring the black body as an ‘exposed being’ and reserving rights to its sacred knowledges, devoid of academic scrutiny. This does present an interesting challenge in how data is collected and how the researcher ethically balances what is concealed versus what is revealed for academic spectacle, often harmful to the sanctity of that body. These texts thus enrich the theoretical, conceptual, and ethical dimensions essential for the study. Drawing from spiritually significant sites in Lesotho and South Africa- bridging my ancestral homeland and professional practice- the study develops frameworks to reimagine architectural heritage discourse fused with ancient ancestral knowledge systems. These systems are mobilised in the contemporary world, guided by uBungoma pracitioners and their ability to sense the world. Architecture, in dominant practice is ultimately about sense and perception. The proposal of the study is about accessing architecture through the ethereal sense of ‘seeing’ and knowing. This study explores how to design with, rather than for, architectural sites, advancing non extractive approaches to architectural spatial praxis making this study relevant for intangible cultural heritage studies.