A major conference examining the fate of heritage in wartime will take place in Cambridge this December, amid mounting international concern about the damage being inflicted on some of the world’s most important historical sites.
A major conference examining the fate of heritage in wartime will take place in Cambridge this December, amid mounting international concern about the damage being inflicted on some of the world’s most important historical sites.
“Culture Wars”, between 11 and 13 December, will investigate the changing nature of the world’s cultural landscape in the 21st century, revealing how heritage sites are becoming both the weapons and casualties of armed conflict.
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. It will feature presentations by more than 20 speakers representing museums, libraries, non-governmental organisations and universities around the world.
The threat posed by warfare to heritage sites has been thrown into sharp relief in recent weeks by the public display of photographs showing the extent of the destruction at Babylon during the recent Iraq War. The activities of US and Polish troops stationed in and around the ruins of the ancient city in 2003 and 2004, which included digging trenches, levelling areas of the site and constructing a helipad; caused widespread and irrevocable damage.
The Cambridge conference will, however, look beyond the isolated example of the Iraq War, taking into account the impact of numerous other conflicts – such as Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo – on heritage preservation.
It will also suggest that many sites are increasingly in jeopardy because of a shift in attitudes to the idea of culture itself. In modern-day conflicts, scholars will suggest, nations are more prepared to defend ideas of where their cultural heritage begins and ends. In the process they not only protect certain clearly-defined cultural areas, but allow others to be destroyed.
Professor Mary Jacobus, Director of CRASSH, said: “The idea of preservation is moving perilously close to iconoclasm. This conference will draw attention to the urgency surrounding the preservation of cultural sites and historical monuments in that context.”
Places are still available at the event, but those wishing to attend are encouraged to register as soon as possible to be sure of a place. Further information, including a full programme and registration details, can be found by clicking on the links to the right of this page.
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