Personal Heritage

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En provenance du cours de Universiteit Leiden

Heritage under Threat

62 notes

Universiteit Leiden

Heritage under Threat

62 notes

In this course you will learn to articulate your own concepts about (threatened) heritage and that of others. What is your heritage? Who defines heritage? Why is heritage under threat? How can we protect heritage? WW1, WW2, Cold war politics and contemporary conflicts as well as continuing political and socio-economic inequalities and colonial pasts are all factors playing a role in the global heritage discussions and approaches to (or lack of ) valorization and protection of heritage. Hence, issues behind destruction or threats to heritage are related to complex issues, often connected to complex landscapes of wars, the war-on-terror, fundamentalism, migration, global warming, financial crises, inequality and diverse interests of local communities. This course, sponsored by the LDE Centre for Global Heritage and Development and the Honours Academy of Leiden University, and the Netherlands Commission for UNESCO gave its support to one of the sections of the MOOC, will explore these issues. We wish to engage global communities and widen the perspective on threatened heritage. You can help us with this.

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What is your heritage?

Hi everybody and welcome to the first module of this MOOC! We have an exciting course prepared for you, with a large variety of topics to be discussed. Some of which can become quite technical, but are necessary in order for you to understand the frameworks we are dealing with. For this week however, we are starting somewhat slowly and view cultural heritage from a very personal point of view. This is important because, as you will also learn later, a personal view and inclusive heritage is one of the main ways to go forward and battle for heritage which is under threat. We'd like you to introduce yourself to your fellow students before diving into the content, so make sure to select the next discussion prompt first!

Personal Heritage4:06

Rencontrer les enseignants

Dr. Sada Mire, Assistant Professor

Faculty of Archeology, LDE Centre for Global Heritage and Development

Hi, everyone. Welcome back to our module on "What is your heritage?".

In this case study,

we will explore the issues from a personal perspective,

and our experts will share their views.

When I was researching the looting of

Somali museums on the destruction of archaeological sites during the war,

I realized (a) Somali people are indifferent to

the looting of the museums because they don't go to museums.

They are indifferent to archaeological sites too;

(b) that they did not know anything about archaeology;

and (c) that they did not associate their heritage with archaeology.

Surprised that they were indifferent to their heritage,

I asked a different question,

"What is your heritage?"

That's when people actually started talking to me about their heritage.

They talked about their experiences,

the landscapes, and the places that they have been to.

So in Somali society,

archaeology is not seen as heritage.

The landscapes, values, traditions are the most important things.

Critical elements, such as medicinal,

spiritual, subsistence, social, economical,

and artistic aspects of the landscape,

are captured in daily life and in stories,

poems, songs, and dances.

Somali people know about artifacts,

what they are made of, and when,

why, how, and where they are from.

This skill is important for those in the diaspora too,

but in the homelands,

Somali people are pastoral nomadic who move a lot.

They have camels, sheep, goat,

and make many seasonal movements.

Therefore, heritage can have a very unique meaning.

I must mention that our experts are also going to share their experiences with us.

We learn that what a person identifies as their heritage is not straightforward.

In other words, you don't see on me that I have

partly switch heritage as a citizen of that country.

Similarly, Professor Peter Pels,

one of our experts,

cites for example Ireland, Turkey,

and Africa as part of what is his heritage.

I'm not surprised, as Professor Peter Pels speaks fluent Kiswahili.

Another example, Koosje Spitz from UNESCO

explains that national nominations are one way of defining heritage.

But, when we asked her what is her heritage,

she reflected on differences between [inaudible] and

different Christian communities there and their traditional clothing.

So, it's not that uncommon that people talk about

archaeological sites when asked what their heritage is on an individual level.

In the previous video,

I discussed the concept of heritage,

and that heritage is personal.

Now, in order to understand the threats on heritage,

you first have to look at what we believe is important heritage to us personally.

Please discuss amongst yourselves how heritage can be

a personal thing and the importance of articulating your own heritage.

See you in the next video.

But before that, please check out some of

our experts' personal views on what is their heritage.

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