Culture as livelihood: Rethinking heritage in a changing Himalaya

Culture is not a relic of the past to be preserved in museums, but a living system that shapes how people work, create and sustain themselves. This was the central message that resonated through a key session at the national conference “Himalayan Legacies: Exploring histories, heritage practices and cultural futures” held at Bhuri Singh Museum, Chamba.

Delivering the keynote address, Dr Sachin Kumar, Principal, Government College Dehri, emphasised that livelihood must be understood as a comprehensive cultural system rather than a mere means of survival. He explained that the activities people engage in for sustenance ultimately form an integral part of their cultural identity. In traditional societies, he noted, work and life were inseparable — a concept far removed from today’s notion of “work-life balance”.

Dr Kumar pointed out that culture has yet to be recognised as an independent economic sector in national accounts, which has led to the absence of reliable data for effective policy formulation and planning. This gap, he observed, has contributed to widening local inequalities, even in states like Himachal Pradesh that appear prosperous on record.

Referring to Himachal’s rich traditions of arts and crafts, he outlined several challenges in linking culture with livelihoods, including the erosion of traditional knowledge, broken value chains, weak institutional coordination and the increasing distortion of heritage in the name of tourism and development.

As a way forward, Dr Kumar called for granting industry status to culture, developing a comprehensive cultural database and promoting cultural literacy from schools to administrative institutions. He also advocated for a creative integration of modern technologies with traditional aesthetics and design, to build a cultural future that preserves identity while embracing innovation.

The session offered a compelling reminder that culture must move from the margins of development discourse to its very core — as both an economic force and a foundation of human dignity.