Theme:
3. The Life of Archaeological Heritage in Society
Session format:
Round table (without formal abstracts, only list of confirmed discussants / session co-organisers to be provided)
Title:
Heritage Beyond Consumption: A Call for a Collective Discussion
Content:
Recently, a series of actions targeting cultural heritage has been promoted by young activists for climate justice. Choosing the symbols of the ‘heritage industry’ to attract global attention, the activists have posed provocative questions such as: "Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people?"
No matter our own positioning, the youngest generation is engaging society in a critical discussion about the scale of priorities, including the role of Cultural Heritage. In this context, it is worth pursuing the opportunity of discussing the links between heritage practices and practitioners, and capitalist societies, together with notions of extreme consumerism, heritage commodification and perceptions on these relationalities.
In this sense, a critical collective introspective inquiry might start by evaluating communicative and promotional tools employed within heritage practice. Increased trends in heritage communication have fallen under major marketing trends, encouraging therefore phenomena such as Disneyfication and consumerism. These concepts have already been addressed within the field, yet what this discussion proposes is the exploration of the risks for heritage experts and professionals posed by the society of advanced capitalism, where exploitation is increasingly dramatic.
How do we conceive of a cultural offer avoiding consumerism and the commodification of heritage? Would countering these phenomena prompt the heritage field in becoming an asset for tackling global challenges?
We invite scholars to join a round table discussion on these subjects. Starting with a critical examination on the current state of the cultural offer, we aim to enlighten the boundary between the communication and commodification of cultural heritage and to outline alternative approaches that would allow for heritage to attain an active role in the contemporary society.
Keywords:
Disneyfication, Consumerism, Cultural Heritage role, Cultural Heritage Communication, Commodification
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
Main organiser:
Francesca Romana Fiano (Italy) 1
Co-organisers:
Federica Di Biase (Germany) 2
Francesca Porta (Italy) 3
Affiliations:
1. Università degli Studi di Ferrara
2. Heidelberg University
3. Università degli Studi di Bologna
THIS SESSION CAN NOT BE SELECTED AT THIS MOMENT