Heritage futures: how can culture best meet the needs of future generations

Abstract

Heritage futures are about the roles of heritage in managing the relations between present and future societies, e. g. through anticipation, planning, and prefiguration. Whereas conventionally cultural heritage is “conserved for the benefit of future generations”, in this presentation Prof. Holtorf proposes an alternative framework for managing culture and cultural objects, based on appreciating the significance of embracing change and transformation.

Drawing on examples from the visual arts, digitalization, nuclear waste repositories, and changing approaches to global heritage management, he will illustrate the significance of transformation and innovation for successfully coming to terms with cultural diversity over time.

Speaker

Cornelius Holtorf is Professor of Archaeology and holds the UNESCO Chair on Heritage Futures at Linnaeus University in Kalmar, Sweden. He is also directing the Graduate School in Contract Archaeology (GRASCA) at his university. In his research, he is particularly interested in understanding the interface between cultural heritage, present society and the future. He has been collaborating for more than a decade with the nuclear waste sector and is currently exploring the role of culture in the context of global policymaking related to climate change and sustainable development.

He is the author of the books From Stonehenge to Las Vegas (2005), Archaeology is a Brand! (2007) and has co-edited collections of papers on The Archaeology of Time Travel (with B. Petersson, 2017), Cultural Heritage, Ethics and Contemporary Migrations (with A. Pantazatos and G. Scarre, 2019) and Cultural Heritage and the Future (with A. Högberg, 2021). He has also co-authored the picture book Wow! The Future is Calling! (with P. Frid, 2021).