The idea of culture is becoming synonymous with conflict and polarisation - and in the process putting some of the world's most precious heritage sites at risk - experts will argue at a major international conference this week.
The idea of culture is becoming synonymous with conflict and polarisation - and in the process putting some of the world's most precious heritage sites at risk - experts will argue at a major international conference this week.
There is an urgent need for a debate about the changing meaning of cultural heritage and the impact it is having on cultural sites and historical monuments.
Professor Mary Jacobus
"Culture Wars: Heritage and Armed Conflict in the 21st Century", which is being hosted by Cambridge University, will suggest that the very idea of culture is taking on a new meaning. While it was once associated with enrichment and engagement, participants will examine how cultural identity is instead often hijacked by national or ethnic interest groups.
As a result, organisers say, many sites of global archaeological and historical importance are in greater peril than ever before. The irrevocable damage done to Babylon by US and Polish troops during the Iraq War has been widely publicised in recent weeks, but the conference will suggest that numerous other sites are becoming either the victims, or weapons, of war.
The bombardment of Dubrovnik during the Yugoslav Wars, the Taliban's deliberate destruction of Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, or the deliberate targeting of the Twin Towers as an icon of American and Western culture, illustrate how widespread the problem is.
The conference, which starts today (Thursday, December 11th), will be attended by speakers from universities, museums, libraries and non-governmental organisations from around the world. Among them will be representatives of the British Museum, the Iraq National Library, the Getty Conservation Institute and the Aga Khan Foundation.
Over three days, speakers hope both to bring the scale of the threat to public attention, and to address issues including the implementation of international laws on heritage.
"There is an urgent need for a debate about the changing meaning of cultural heritage and the impact it is having on cultural sites and historical monuments," Professor Mary Jacobus, Director of the University of Cambridge Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, said.
"The conference aims to bring together many of the people who have influence in this field in particular because there are conflicting views about how to proceed in dealing with the threat. For instance, there is an argument about whether archaeologists should work with the military and if so, in which circumstances."
The conference will suggest that many sites are in jeopardy because different governments and interest groups are determined to defend their own cultural identity in the face of the threats posed by both international terrorist organizations and despotic regimes.
Those with the power to protect historical monuments have clear and sometimes fanatical ideas of what they have a duty to guard and what they can legitimately leave unprotected, or even attack in the name of self-defence.
Speakers argue that the Balkans and the Middle East have in the last two decades become "crucibles in which core convictions about identity are boiled down to their essential elements." In that climate, heritage sites - particularly those with cultural, religious and educational importance - are often either protected or left vulnerable to attack according to whether those controlling their fate regard them as representative of "them" or "us".
Progress to deal with the problem, however, has been slow. Often governments and institutions that are normally regarded as the "Keepers of Culture" are ignored in times of conflict, or rendered powerless in the face of sheer military necessity. By answering questions such as where international organisations can intervene to protect heritage sites, or how heritage can be effectively stewarded internationally, the conference will aim to offer policies for the future.
"Academics do not have the authority to produce resolutions or actions, but we can bring together leading thinkers and professionals in the field and draw public attention to these issues," Professor Jacobus added. "In the process, they may be able to advise and influence the bodies that determine cultural policy."
"Culture Wars" will take place from Thursday, December 11th to Saturday, December 13th, at venues in the Fitzwilliam Museum and Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge. The event has been organised by the University's Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) in collaboration with the Getty Research Institute and the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, which is also part of the University.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence. If you use this content on your site please link back to this page.
