Cultural Heritage

The term “heritage” shares with another equally slippery word “tradition” the basic meaning of that which is handed down. It is thus by definition a dynamic and subjective notion, and is laden with an even greater connotative burden when the term “culture”, the sum of human endeavours, is appended as an adjective. Cultural heritage projects mediate what we behold, and what we are told, of the past – they involve representations and narrations of, and interventions on, aspects of the histories of specifically-defined communities within contemporary frames of reference and signification.The articles in this section focus on the histories and motivations behind how cultural heritage has come to be produced, framed or presented. Agency and intent is highlighted in questioning what aspects have been selected and why others are excluded, how they are narrated and when these developments took place.

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