Description
The Challenge of Inclusive HeritageNovember 16th, 1972, in Paris, the UNESCO General Conference adopted the Convention for the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. In many ways, this convention marked a new direction in heritage policies, for instance by stressing the importance of both cultural and natural heritage. A second innovation was how the convention stressed the importance of heritage for communities. This marked the beginning of a shift from heritage as objects (such as buildings) to the people, who defined these objects as constitutive of their heritage and therefore of their identities. The convention’s primary focus was on material heritage, including monuments, buildings and sites, in which human practices happened or were still happening. From 2003, immaterial heritage was added to the definition. Arguably, UNESCO’s most visible action was the listing of world heritage. However, this catalogue consists of an overwhelming majority of heritage sites in Western Europe and, in second place, North America. Moreover, in some cases, heritage was removed from the list, the carnival of Aelst in Belgium being the best-known example. It was removed from the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. All of this illustrates how heritage is contested increasingly.
On the occasion of the Convention’s anniversary, the Centre for Religion and Heritage invites you to a round table, in which the impact of the Convention will be studied. How did thought and practice around heritage change and what will be needed in the next fifty years? What is the impact of the increasing diversity of societies all over the world and the ecological crisis? We invited four speakers, both researchers and practicioners of heritage:
Tharik Hussain (independent author on Muslim heritage in Europe)
John Schofield (University of York)
Dorka Szucs (educator in Képes, Budapest)
Ghyslaine Tromp (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam)
| Period | 21-Apr-2023 |
|---|---|
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Groningen, NetherlandsShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |