Heritage studies in the spotlight at ANU
This week, heritage and museum experts from around the world will gather at ANU for the second annual Association of Critical Heritage Studies Conference.
The conference will be held between 2-4 December 2014 and is hosted by the ANU Centre for Heritage and Museums Studies.
Over 300 papers, performances and roundtable discussions will be presented by scholars from around the world, exploring cutting edge research and innovative thinking in heritage and museum studies, and public history and memory studies.
There is a strong focus on Asia in the papers being presented, and a significant contribution of papers on Intangible Cultural Heritage, as well as issues of multiculturalism, migration and diaspora.
Conference themes include digital heritage and social media, community aspects, human rights and ethics, multiculturalism and more.
In July this year, Canberra’s heritage community met to discuss the future of Australia’s heritage in the context of Australia's first Heritage Strategy being released late in 2014.
Watch the video to see a discussion on this topic between Director of the ANU Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies, Professor Laurajane Smith, and, Heritage Architect and Council member of the National Trusts of Australia (ACT) Eric Martin about the future of Australia's heritage.
The idea that 'all heritage is intangible' highlights the tension between the lived reality of what is significant to communities and history, and management regimes which primarily fund fabric preservation. A national strategy is welcomed, but getting its settings right is crucial.
This topic was the theme of the 2014 ACT & Region Heritage Partnership Symposium, held at ANU in Canberra on 19 July 2014. Recordings of the presentations and discussion at the Symposium are now available from the Canberra Archaeological Society website by clicking here at http://symposium.cas.asn.au/2014.html