tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/heritage-630/articlesHeritage – The Conversation2024-03-12T13:52:34Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2234582024-03-12T13:52:34Z2024-03-12T13:52:34ZColonial statues in Africa have been removed, returned and torn down again – why it’s such a complex history<p>In 2020, the <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/crime-law-and-justice/killing-of-george-floyd">murder of George Floyd</a> in the US served as a catalyst for the global <a href="https://library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/BLM">Black Lives Matter movement</a>. It sparked widespread protests against police brutality and systemic racism. It also ignited <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/mar/16/the-real-meaning-of-rhodes-must-fall">debates</a> about historical symbols of oppression, such as statues of figures associated with racial injustices. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-06-12/pulling-down-statues-of-racists-africas-done-it-for-years">These debates presented colonial statues</a> in Africa as having been contested and toppled for many years, ever since African states gained independence. Indeed, colonial statues were at the heart of the colonial world, symbolising its violence, white supremacy and the erasure of precolonial history. But colonial monuments in African public spaces have much more complex and often overlooked histories.</p>
<p>As a scholar of African heritage, I recently published a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13527258.2023.2294738">study</a> examining colonial statues and how they have been regarded in postcolonial Africa. My historical investigation highlights three major phases. </p>
<p>First, in the era of independence of African states, from the 1950s to 1980, some statues were removed from public spaces, but many remained. </p>
<p>Second, the 1990s and 2000s were marked by the “return of empires”: statues that had been removed were put back in public spaces and new neo-colonial monuments were constructed. </p>
<p>Third, the renewed challenges to colonial statues from the 2010s faced some strong resistance. Understanding this history is crucial, as it exposes the challenges of truly moving beyond the colonial world and order.</p>
<h2>Colonial statues at independence (1950s-1980)</h2>
<p>As African countries gained independence from the 1950s to the 1980s, colonial statues faced three main fates: recycling; defacement or toppling; and on-site preservation. </p>
<p>Recycling involved relocating statues from former colonies to former colonial metropolises. Most went from Algeria to France and from Kenya to England. The statues of <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/f3760af0-6545-11e4-91b1-00144feabdc0">Lord Kitchener</a> and <a href="https://equestrianstatue.org/gordon-charles-george/">General Gordon</a>, for example, were sent from Khartoum in Sudan to England in 1958. The reasons for these repatriations were multiple and included the desire to keep alive memory of colonial times and to feed colonial nostalgia. </p>
<p>Defacing or toppling was the second phenomenon, which occurred across the continent, from Algeria to Mozambique. One instance was the defacement and toppling of the <a href="https://www.academia.edu/51780170/The_Maid_of_Algiers_Deploying_and_dismantling_Joan_of_Arc_as_a_globe_trotting_icon">statue of Joan of Arc</a> in Algiers in 1962. These acts of violence were necessary responses to the violence of the colonial order and represented a break from the past. They also symbolised the cleansing of public spaces, to destroy symbolically the power imbalances, racism, inequalities and urban exclusions that defined the colonial world. Some of these toppled statues were then sent back and recycled in the former metropolis. </p>
<p>However, across Africa, many colonial monuments remained untouched, for various reasons. Some African leaders at independence were pro-Europe, having been educated there or having worked there during colonial times. And at independence, privileged links were forged between the former colonies and the metropolises. This was the case with some former French colonies. As a result, the leaders of former French colonies did not want to change the key symbols of the colonial world. </p>
<h2>The empires strike back (1990s-2000s)</h2>
<p>From the 1990s, many colonial statues dismantled and hidden during the independence era were reinstalled. Aid from former imperial powers to former colonial countries is one explanation. An example is the controversial <a href="https://contestedhistories.org/wp-content/uploads/Democratic-Republic-of-Congo_-Leopold-II-Statue-in-Kinshasa.pdf">re-erection of the statue of former Belgian king and Congo “owner” Leopold II</a> in front of the main train station in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2005. It’s easy to see why: the millions of US dollars in aid that Belgium gives the DRC every year.</p>
<p>The turn of the millennium also saw (neo)colonial statues deliberately erected to celebrate 19th century explorers and missionaries. In countries that were once part of the British Empire, such statues were built to attract tourists. For example, a new <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13527258.2023.2294738">statue of David Livingstone was erected in 2005</a> for the 150th anniversary of his arrival at Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls) in Zambia. It was paid for by airlines, travel agencies, luxury lodges, TotalEnergies and local authorities. </p>
<p>However, this statue of Livingstone can also be seen as an international event, linked to colonial monuments built with France’s cooperation. This is notably the case of the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article-abstract/109/436/367/146718?redirectedFrom=fulltext">2006 Savorgnan de Brazza</a> memorial erected in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. This project of Algeria, Congo, France and Gabon <a href="https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article-abstract/109/436/367/146718?redirectedFrom=fulltext">reburied</a> the remains of the Italian-French explorer De Brazza, his wife and their children in the memorial. </p>
<p>The project mixed geopolitics and bilateral aid, cultural diplomacy and colonial violence. Echoing imperial rivalries, the memorial and its statue also served as distinct markers of France’s spheres of influence, and its attempt to counteract its decline in the region.</p>
<h2>Renewed contestations (from the 2010s)</h2>
<p>(Neo)colonial monuments were increasingly contested in the 2010s. Such protests have accelerated in recent years and have become more visible, thanks to social networks.</p>
<p>The most famous case is the <a href="https://twitter.com/RhodesMustFall">Rhodes Must Fall movement</a>. This led to the removal of the statue of the British colonialist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cecil-Rhodes">Cecil John Rhodes</a> on the campus of the University of Cape Town in South Africa in April 2015. This movement opposed neoliberal economic systems which had failed to respond to fundamental change, especially in areas such as education.</p>
<p>The movement quickly spread to other countries, inspiring other protests such as “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/14/racist-gandhi-statue-removed-from-university-of-ghana">#GandhiMustFall</a>” in Ghana, Malawi and England. Statues of the Indian leader <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mahatma-Gandhi">Gandhi</a>, considered a racist, were contested. Another movement is “<a href="https://faidherbedoittomber.org/a-propos/">Faidherbe must fall</a>”, aiming to remove the statue of the French colonial administrator Faidherbe in Saint-Louis/Ndar in Senegal and in Lille in France.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-background-story-to-a-statue-of-gandhi-and-the-university-of-ghana-117103">The background story to a statue of Gandhi and the University of Ghana</a>
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<p>Some of these movements have drawn attention to the link between colonial or racist statues and aid. For example, the #GandhiMustFall movement prevented the construction of a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46051184">Gandhi statue in Malawi in 2018</a>. This project was linked to a <a href="https://sikhsiyasat.net/india-offers-to-double-aid-for-malavi-as-malavian-government-agrees-to-install-gandhi-statue-despite-local-opposition/">US$10 million aid deal from India</a>.</p>
<h2>A complex issue</h2>
<p>While acknowledging successes in removing colonial statues, it is important not to overlook the substantial support for (neo)colonial monuments all over Africa. </p>
<p>Such support can be explained by pressure from former colonial powers and the links of elites with these countries. Financial constraints, international aid and the potential of tourism are also factors. Then there’s the conviction that all vestiges of the past, even the most painful, must be preserved.</p>
<p>The statue of the French military commander <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53148608">Philippe Leclerc</a> in Douala in Cameroon, for example, still stands, despite being attacked several times by Cameroonian <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/7/7/the-activist-purging-cameroon-of-french-colonial-monuments">activist</a> André Blaise Essama.</p>
<p>As a result, (neo)colonial statues still have a bright future ahead of them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223458/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sophia Labadi has received funding from the Humboldt Foundation and the Fritz Thyssen Foundation.</span></em></p>The fate of several colonial statues in Africa continues to be a subject of controversy.Sophia Labadi, Professor of Heritage, University of KentLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2226442024-03-11T13:10:36Z2024-03-11T13:10:36ZUK to sign Unesco pledge to protect ‘intangible cultural heritage’ – an expert explains its importance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575358/original/file-20240213-22-w787f9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=90%2C0%2C10065%2C6629&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Traditional Morris dancers performing in Stratford Upon Avon. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/stratford-upon-avon-england-march-28th-785993122">Tom Payne/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>At the end of last year, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/2003-unesco-convention-for-the-safeguarding-of-the-intangible-cultural-heritage">announced</a> that the UK was starting a consultation about signing the 2003 <a href="https://ich.unesco.org/en/convention">Unesco convention on the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage</a>.</p>
<p>This would bring the UK in line with the 182 other Unesco member states who have already signed the convention. It has been <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/2003-unesco-convention-for-the-safeguarding-of-the-intangible-cultural-heritage">suggested</a> that this is a way to greater international cooperation on the importance of the UK’s intangible heritage and to find ways to monitor and protect cultural practices.</p>
<p>Traditionally, especially in many western cultures, heritage tends to be considered as something tangible – physical things such as artefacts, objects and historic buildings. <a href="https://www.icomos.org/en/participer/179-articles-en-francais/ressources/charters-and-standards/157-the-venice-charter">The Venice charter</a> of 1964 broadened this field from mainly physical heritage to include other kinds of heritage, such as whole environments and sites of interest.</p>
<p>However, Unesco felt that cultural heritage did not go far enough and should also include other aspects. This could be traditions inherited from previous generations that remain relevant and important to communities. This is intangible cultural heritage and it can be found all over the world.</p>
<p><a href="https://ich.unesco.org/en/convention#art2">The Unesco convention defines</a> intangible cultural heritage as: “Practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognise as part of their cultural heritage.” Intangible cultural heritage is typically made up of five different domains: </p>
<ol>
<li>oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage</li>
<li>performing arts</li>
<li>social practices, rituals and festive events</li>
<li>knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe</li>
<li>traditional craftsmanship.</li>
</ol>
<p>It is crucial that these forms of heritage are still practised by different community groups, constantly evolving and reflecting the identity of diverse communities worldwide. In the UK this could include different festivals, folklore or traditional tales, Morris dancing and certain skills and crafts.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People celebrate solstice at Stonehenge" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575360/original/file-20240213-24-buu5hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575360/original/file-20240213-24-buu5hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575360/original/file-20240213-24-buu5hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575360/original/file-20240213-24-buu5hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575360/original/file-20240213-24-buu5hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575360/original/file-20240213-24-buu5hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575360/original/file-20240213-24-buu5hu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A summer solstice celebration at Stonehenge.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/summer-solstice-celebration-stonehenge-june-20th-1429956233">John Kotlowski/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>The purpose of the protection</h2>
<p>The Unesco convention seeks to safeguard intangible cultural heritage across the globe. It also aims to ensure respect for the communities involved in this heritage and raise awareness at local, national and international levels of the importance of the heritage. The convention also seeks to ensure appreciation of different practices to allow for international cooperation and assistance.</p>
<p>The general conference of Unesco ratified the convention in 2003 and <a href="https://ich.unesco.org/en/working-towards-a-convention-00004">saw this adoption</a> as a “milestone in the evolution of international policies for promoting cultural diversity, since for the first time the international community had recognised the need to support the kind of cultural manifestations and expressions that until then had not benefited from such a large legal and programmatic framework.”</p>
<p>This agreement to “safeguard” meant implementing measures to identify, document, research, preserve and protect intangible cultural heritage. It also covers revitalisation of traditions and cultures where needed. But <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/safeguarding-intangible-cultural-heritage/paradoxes-of-intangible-heritage/AA451DEA26FBBBBC20BEC711384F90E1">Critics of the convention</a> believe that such global approaches cannot safeguard local traditions which vary across the world in totally different cultural settings. </p>
<p>Most Unesco member states signed the convention, which included drawing up inventories of intangible cultural heritage which need to be regularly updated. The UK was one of only a handful of countries which did not sign, meaning there was no framework in place for recognising intangible cultural heritage around the country. </p>
<p>Reasons why this was the case ranged from the UK appearing to value tangible heritage more, to the fact that it could increase bureaucracy, while <a href="https://tradfolk.co/news/intangible-cultural-heritage-does-the-uk-have-any/">some believed</a> that there was no real intangible cultural heritage in the UK. </p>
<p>After 20 years of the convention, it seems that the UK is now going to join – but what implications will this have for intangible cultural heritage around the country?</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Morris dancing could soon be protected.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>The DCMS is currently <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/2003-unesco-convention-for-the-safeguarding-of-the-intangible-cultural-heritage/consultation-on-the-2003-unesco-convention-for-safeguarding-of-the-intangible-cultural-heritage">carrying out surveys</a> to engage individuals and community groups in the first stage of implementation, which is to define and identify intangible cultural heritage practices around the UK.</p>
<p>At the same time there are round-table discussions <a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ich-in-the-uk-a-round-table-discussion-england-focus-tickets-798663462917">taking place</a> with anyone interested in what this means for the UK invited to take part.</p>
<p>The question is: what implications this will have for intangible cultural heritage in the UK and the four different countries involved? Scotland has been working on this already for a <a href="https://ichscotland.org/">number of years</a> and has created an inventory of the country’s living culture. In Wales, there has also been <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290019691_The_intangible_Cultural_Heritage_of_Wales_a_Need_for_Safeguarding">some research</a> into its cultural heritage. </p>
<p>The DCMS has already stated that it is not interested in merely listing examples of intangible cultural heritage. But questions remain. </p>
<p>What will this mean for these traditions and practices? How do we decide what intangible cultural heritage entails and what will signing up mean for the groups and the heritages involved? Who will develop the policies? What happens when a particular tradition is recognised (or not) in terms of protection and funding? And how can it be promoted to ensure that all communities can be involved, including those who may be unaware of the convention or the current consultation? </p>
<p>It would also be useful to examine and learn from the experiences of other countries to avoid any obvious pitfalls.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natalie Braber does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>This could see different festivals, folklore or traditional tales, Morris dancing and certain skills and crafts protected.Natalie Braber, Professor, Linguistics, School of Arts and Humanities, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2236722024-02-20T16:52:18Z2024-02-20T16:52:18ZThe destruction of Gazaʼs historic buildings is an act of ‘urbicide’<p>Buildings are often celebrated as symbols of <a href="https://www.youthreporter.eu/de/beitrag/buildings-as-symbols-of-the-nation.15643/#:%7E:text=Many%20of%20the%20most%20iconic,consistent%20presence%20within%20their%20countries.">history</a>, <a href="https://politicstoday.org/the-politics-of-architecture-the-subtle-message-of-buildings/">political events</a> and <a href="https://www.pdcnet.org/wcp22/content/wcp22_2008_0001_0015_0025?file_type=pdf">creative expression</a>. However, the simplest, most pure function of buildings is often forgotten: the way they fulfil needs and form memories. </p>
<p>For years, <a href="https://www-sciencedirect-com.ntu.idm.oclc.org/science/article/pii/S0264275123003712?via%3Dihub#s0015">research</a> has shown that buildings, people’s memories and everyday life are connected elements that form our attachment to a place and create our relationships to our <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/82964593.pdf">“homeˮ</a>. This triangle of connection helps us identify with places and feel like we belong somewhere.</p>
<p>Gaza has long been cherished as a sanctuary for <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264275117300094">creative experimentation</a>, and as a place where resilient people strive to defy the violence of colonisation. Within this landscape of destruction and occupation, the locals have always tried to hold onto the concept of home, beyond a fleeting shelter that could vanish with the next bombing campaign.</p>
<p>However, this continuous cycle of destruction and hopeful reconstruction has now come to an abrupt halt. Since October 7 2023, the bombardment of Gaza is reported to have damaged <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/14/a-cultural-genocide-which-of-gazas-heritage-sites-have-been-destroyed">more than 100 historic sites</a> and destroyed 69,700 homes. </p>
<p>At the time of writing, <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/100th-day-gaza-genocide-100000-palestinians-killed-missing-or-wounded-enar#:%7E:text=The%20Euro%2DMed%20Monitor%20team,187%2C300%20housing%20units%20have%20been">1.9 million</a> Palestinians have been displaced. This ongoing <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Urbicide-The-Politics-of-Urban-Destruction/Coward/p/book/9780415573566">urbicide</a> – the destruction of cultural hubs in the built environment – <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781351214100-10/century-cultural-genocide-palestine-daud-abdullah">also threatens</a> that triangle connecting people to their homes, land and heritage. </p>
<p>With <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68006607">more than half of Gazaʼs buildings</a> either damaged or destroyed, it is impossible to cover the immense changes to the lives of these Palestinians in one article. So, here are just three examples of these lost buildings, and how their destruction has affected the everyday lives of local people in Gaza.</p>
<h2>The Great Omari Mosque</h2>
<p>A reflection of Palestine’s history <a href="http://kutaksam.karabuk.edu.tr/index.php/ilk/article/view/2751">where multiple religions coexisted</a>, the Great Omari Mosque has undergone multiple transformations <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Politics_and_Power_of_Tourism_in_Pal/-b00CwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=omari+mosque+gaza&pg=PA137&printsec=frontcover">throughout history</a>. </p>
<p>Built on the site of a pagan temple, this fifth-century church became a mosque in AD635. With a courtyard area of 1,190m², the mosque was the second-largest in Palestine and served as a daily destination for more than 3,000 worshippers. </p>
<p>Situated near Palestine Square, it has played a crucial role in the everyday life of Gaza, as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9780470996423.ch21">mosques in Middle Eastern cities</a> foster social interactions, informal conversations and societal bonds. But this incubation of societal interactions came to an abrupt stop in December 2023, when the mosque was <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-67664853">reduced to rubble</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gazas-oldest-mosque-destroyed-in-an-airstrike-was-once-a-temple-to-philistine-and-roman-gods-a-byzantine-and-catholic-church-and-had-engravings-of-jewish-ritual-objects-220203">Gaza's oldest mosque, destroyed in an airstrike, was once a temple to Philistine and Roman gods, a Byzantine and Catholic church, and had engravings of Jewish ritual objects</a>
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<h2>Palestine Square</h2>
<p>Palestine Square has long been the centre of everyday life in Gaza and is widely regarded as the heart of the city. <a href="https://shorturl.at/sEMX1">It is significant</a> due to its proximity to the Great Omari Mosque and many services, as well as the passage it provides to various markets. </p>
<p>Urban squares play a crucial role not only in facilitating transportation and passage but also as <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Becoming-Places-Urbanism--Architecture--Identity--Power/Dovey/p/book/9780415416375">places</a> that are connected to our identity, memories and how we perceive our city. </p>
<p>Therefore, <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/scale-of-vast-tent-city-in-gaza-revealed-with-destruction-leaving-residents-little-to-return-to-13046970">targeting Palestine Square</a> and completely destroying the surrounding buildings in January posed a threat to some fundamental aspects of people’s daily lives and their sense of belonging to the city.</p>
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<h2>Omar Al-Mukhtar Street</h2>
<p>Often called <a href="https://conference.corp.at/archive/CORP2001_Mahrouq_FR.pdf">the most important street</a> in Gaza City, Omar Al-Mukhtar Street is one of its <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0263775820955196">two main thoroughfares</a> along with Al-Wihdi Street. </p>
<p>It serves as the city’s commercial centre and is home to the city hall and public library. However, on October 8 2023, the street became one of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/15/how-gaza-city-high-street-became-a-landscape-of-debris">first targets</a> of Israeli airstrikes, abruptly ending the bustling commercial activities that so many people relied on. </p>
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<p>This street was not only a place for Palestinian families to fulfil their everyday needs, but a hub for leisure and entertainment. For years, cultural sites like Omar Al-Mukhtar Street have fostered social bonds, preserved memories, and created societal bonds through everyday life and cultural events. </p>
<h2>Seeing past the ashes</h2>
<p>Gaza faces a challenging and lengthy path to recovery. These destroyed buildings serve as a reminder of the lost everyday life and rich cultural heritage hidden beneath the rubble. </p>
<p>The scale of destruction is immense, as is the humanitarian loss and disruption to daily life patterns. All will have long-lasting effects on the city’s identity and the local community’s heritage. </p>
<p>While it is important to highlight the destruction of buildings, it is even more crucial to shed light on how this affects everyday life and the functioning of the city. Gaza, once a hub of creative experimentation, now lies in ruins and urgently requires humanitarian, architectural and heritage support. </p>
<p>In this complex landscape, aid efforts should prioritise the restoration of physical structures that facilitate everyday life. Commercial spaces, urban squares, places of worship and homes formed a network that sustained daily life in Palestine. </p>
<p>When the bombing finally ends, it will be crucial to uncover and restore this network to restore Palestinians’ sense of belonging to their cities – and connection with their land.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yousif Al-Daffaie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The bombardment of Gaza is reported to have damaged more than 100 historic sites and destroyed 69,700 homes.Yousif Al-Daffaie, Lecturer and Researcher, School of Architecture, Design, and the Built Environment, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2223122024-01-30T17:26:36Z2024-01-30T17:26:36ZV&A’s decision to loan looted Asante gold back to Ghana has implications for other British museums<p>The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has announced a loan agreement with the Manhyia Palace Museum in the Asante region of Ghana to return gold and silver royal regalia that were looted from the country by the British in 1874 and 1895. The decision <a href="https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2024/01/va-and-british-museum-to-loan-asante-gold-to-ghana/#">was announced</a> on the 150th anniversary of a sequence of wars of aggression, waged by the British empire against the Asante kingdom in Africa’s Gold Coast (modern day Ghana).</p>
<p>This agreement is part of a renewable framework of exchanges agreed not with the Ghanian government but with the current monarch of the Asante kingdom, a constitutionally protected region of the state of Ghana. The exact length of the agreement is unclear but <a href="https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/british-museum-and-va-to-loan-asante-gold-looted-from-ghana-1234694073/#:%7E:text=The%20British%20Museum%20and%20the,collection%20of%20the%20Asante%20king.">most accounts suggest</a> that this is a three-year deal. </p>
<p>The agreement concerns <a href="https://vanda-production-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/2024/01/25/10/35/55/e42169b6-3bd9-4ed0-b409-d344609a4688/GHANA%20RELEASE%20FINAL.pdf">17 objects held at the V&A</a> and <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/asante-gold-regalia">15 objects from the British Museum collection</a>. These include a sword of state and a gold peace pipe. </p>
<p>British forces took the treasures when plundering the Asante capital Kumasi during the third and fouth <a href="https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/anglo-ashanti-wars-1823-1900/">Anglo-Ashanti wars</a> (1873–74 and 1895-96). The looting was an act of opportunism but also served a political function to humiliate the residents of the Asante kingdom. </p>
<p>Today, these artefacts are seen in Ghana as <a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/334763/ghana-uk-returning-looted-gold-artefacts-to-asante-king-on-loan/">missing parts of the country’s national heritage</a>. They bear great spiritual value for the Asante people.</p>
<p>The director of the V&A, historian Tristram Hunt, presented this loan deal as a template for <a href="https://amp.theguardian.com/culture/2024/jan/27/vas-return-of-looted-ghana-gold-is-a-new-way-to-tackle-britains-painful-past">the solution</a> to the “contested colonial heritage” of items in European museums. Hunt suggested that contemporary Asante goldsmiths could be commissioned to create artworks that would “fill the gap” left in the collection by the loaned artefacts.</p>
<p>The V&A has been at pains to argue that this deal and other similar initiatives <a href="https://www.vam.ac.uk/info/restitution-and-repatriation">do not constitute repatriation agreements</a>. This is important because such an agreement would contradict <a href="https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/reviewing-the-national-heritage-act-1983/">the National Heritage Act of 1983</a>, which prohibits national museums from repatriating antiquities in their collection.</p>
<p>The agreed framework of exchange allows the state of Ghana to reap the benefits of the temporary return of the Asante treasures without having to make concessions on the question of legal ownership of the artefacts. In short, having the treasures return to Ghana on a loan deal with a regional partner allows the Ghana state authorities to continue arguing for repatriation and restitution.</p>
<p>This is perhaps why Hunt argued that this partnership “<a href="https://amp.theguardian.com/culture/2024/jan/27/vas-return-of-looted-ghana-gold-is-a-new-way-to-tackle-britains-painful-past">allows us to move beyond the Parthenon sculptures debate</a> – a reference to the requested repatriation of several sculptures extracted from the Parthenon in Greece in the early 1800s. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-parthenon-marbles-george-osborne-wants-to-return-the-statues-to-athens-but-can-he-a-legal-expert-explains-197364">The Parthenon marbles: George Osborne wants to return the statues to Athens, but can he? A legal expert explains</a>
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<h2>How the agreement might impact other cases</h2>
<p>This agreement suggests that since national museums in the UK are banned from returning controversial cultural artefacts to their places of origin, loan deals and dynamic exchanges are the way forward. </p>
<p>The British Museum and the Greek government currently pursue this line of thinking. Despite the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-67551732">recent diplomatic episode</a> in which Rishi Sunak cancelled a scheduled meeting with the Greek prime minister in response to the latter’s comments about the Parthenon sculptures, the Greek government has changed its approach on the Parthenon marbles question. </p>
<p>Officials are now presenting the problem not as one of ownership and restitution but as one of reunification. This means that they are open to solutions along the lines of the Asante case. But the key difference is that in the Greek case the agreement would have to be between two national museums – the British museum and the Parthenon Museum – with the involvement of the Greek state. The extent to which such a solution would be popular with the Greek public remains to be seen.</p>
<p>This deal may have implications for other cases around the world. The other obvious example is that of the <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/benin-bronzes">Benin bronzes</a> – a cluster of 16th century statues looted in 1897 from the west African kingdom of Benin, now part of the Nigerian state – currently held in the British Museum. Despite the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/04/arts/design/benin-bronzes-nigeria-ownership.html">complex Nigerian cultural politics</a> the Asante loan agreement will impact the debate on the status of these artefacts. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.vam.ac.uk/info/restitution-and-repatriation">"Renewable cultural partnerships”</a> – an elegant term to describe loans – are by no means enough. The elephant in the room is the existing legal framework, forged in period of decolonisation and diminishing western influence, that forbids the repatriation of antiquities. </p>
<p>Over 60 years on from when a ban on repatriation was <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1963/24/contents">first introduced</a>, the world is a different place. Big European museums have nothing to fear from repatriation requests and agreements. The enormity of their collection guarantees that there will almost never be a void to fill.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Georgios Giannakopoulos does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The elephant in the room is the existing legal framework, forged in period of decolonisation and diminishing western influence, that forbids the repatriation of antiquities.Georgios Giannakopoulos, Visiting Research Fellow, Centre for Hellenic Studies, King’s College London/ Lecturer in Modern History, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2177452024-01-15T13:37:50Z2024-01-15T13:37:50ZEmbracing ‘virtual dark tourism’ could help heritage sites at risk of degradation – expert explains<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559589/original/file-20231115-21-m3lxxa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=64%2C9%2C1979%2C1139&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Neptune Baths in Romania.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flickr.com/photos/swithuncrowe/52348941800/">swithuncrowe/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Do you believe in ghosts? If so, there is a whole genre of digital storytelling to explore on YouTube. My <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1743873X.2023.2268746">recent research</a> (which identified more than 60 dedicated channels) has shown that there is a fast-growing audience on YouTube for paranormal investigations that are filmed like a virtual tour of a range of “dark” heritage sites – places with rumoured hauntings or a tragic history. </p>
<p>Dark tourism allows people to understand tragic events, and potentially experience a catharsis of emotions related to the deaths at a site or even help people respond to collective trauma. For example, <a href="https://theconversation.com/dark-tourism-memorial-sites-will-help-us-heal-from-the-trauma-of-coronavirus-139164">memorials dedicated to COVID deaths</a> have become a place for people to reflect.</p>
<p>The COVID lockdowns brought travel to a standstill. During this period, many museums around the world took the opportunity to create virtual tours, and many would-be tourists explored 360-degree street views that served as <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/project/streetviews">silent “virtual tours”</a>. </p>
<p>Outside of museums, visitors also have an interest in learning about the history and stories at heritage sites which are places that contain cultural, historical or even natural significance. Commonly known heritage sites include the Unesco world heritage sites – and many nations have their own lists of heritage sites such as archaeological ruins, cathedrals or monasteries and national parks. </p>
<p>Dark tourism is considered a subset of heritage tourism, because many dark tourism sites are also heritage sites. For example, Leap Castle in Ireland is a heritage site with history dating back to the 1500s while also being renowned as one of the most haunted castles in Europe. </p>
<p>Many <a href="https://www.europanostra.org/11-european-heritage-sites-shortlisted-for-the-7-most-endangered-programme-2023/">heritage sites are also currently at risk</a> for a variety of reasons, including climate change, a lack of funding to maintain their infrastructural integrity, vandalism, or the impacts of mass tourism. </p>
<p>My <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1743873X.2023.2268746">paper</a> argues that using the interest in virtual dark tourism could be one way for these heritage sites to mitigate some of these challenges.</p>
<p>Some people view this interest in dark sites as a kind of <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-dark-tourism-performances-of-gulag-life-educational-or-voyeuristic-123544">voyeurism</a> and the ethics of monetising entry or tours at sites of death and tragedy have been questioned. Despite the controversies, dark tourism has a <a href="https://networks.h-net.org/node/19399/reviews/20701/pierce-young-making-crime-pay-evolution-convict-tourism-tasmania">long history of attracting public interest</a> and there are other benefits, too. </p>
<p>My primary case study, the YouTube channel <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@samandcolby">Sam and Colby</a>, has amassed more than 10 million subscribers and over 1 billion views. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Videos on the Sam and Colby channel amass millions of views.</span></figcaption>
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<p>These two US-based content creators have published hundreds of YouTube videos exploring haunted places, including infamous private homes. This includes locations such as The Conjuring House in the US which dates to circa 1736 (famous for its paranormal activity), multiple castles associated with dark stories like Bran Castle in Romania (the home of Dracula in Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel) and many hotels including the Grade II listed building, The Ancient Ram Inn in England, known as the most haunted building in England.</p>
<p>This style of digital storytelling combines typical YouTube content creation techniques, such as breaking the fourth wall (talking directly to the camera), handheld-style filming and comedic interludes to break the tension with conventions seen more in documentary films, such as b-roll (supplemental or alternative footage intercut with the main action) animations, dark lighting and music and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1743873X.2023.2268746">a tour-guide style narrative arc</a>.</p>
<h2>Why take virtual dark tours?</h2>
<p>Not all tourists interested in dark sites are willing to take the associated risks to their health and safety associated with exploring old buildings or to experience the potentially high levels of fear of physically visiting these haunted locations. Therein lies the appeal of a virtual dark tourism experience on YouTube.</p>
<p>For example, while the Museum of Partisan Glory in Odesa – an underground museum in Ukraine – is safe for visitors, paranormal <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpGTmZAhzCo">YouTubers ventured</a> deep into the former mining tunnels in 2021 escorted by a local guide despite the risks involved. The catacombs are largely unmapped and could result in explorers getting lost and there are precarious underground conditions.</p>
<p>Similarly, the Saratoga County Homestead (a former hospital opened in 1913 as a tuberculosis sanitarium that is now privately owned and attracts those who believe its haunted), was abandoned during <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtJjHcvNvIQ">the YouTubers’ 2021 paranormal investigation</a> of the property. It was in a state of disrepair and could pose physical risks to visitor safety as well as charges of antisocial behaviour or illegal trespassing. </p>
<p>Most paranormal investigation teams on YouTube gain access to private properties with permission from the owners. Some explore abandoned buildings after dark without conducting paranormal investigations (this sub-genre of urban exploration is called urbex). Some paranormal investigation YouTube channels even have disclaimer statements noting that they do not illegally trespass and they advise viewers not to visit some of the more dangerous locations.</p>
<p>YouTubers are continuing to conduct paranormal investigations to challenge their own belief systems and fears, to better understand the history and happenings at dark sites (including heritage-listed places) and to share this with others through digital storytelling. </p>
<p>This genre has expanded to a network of at five to six paranormal investigation teams who are collaborating and producing similar virtual dark tours at a variety of locations across the globe. As the audience for this virtual dark tourism content continues to grow, heritage sites at risk may benefit from developing narrative-focused virtual tours or by partnering with influential YouTubers. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Basaraba does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Dark tourism allows people to understand tragic events, experience a catharsis of emotions related to the deaths at a site and it can help people heal from collective trauma.Nicole Basaraba, Assistant Professor in Digital Humanities, Trinity College DublinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2188332024-01-04T10:27:36Z2024-01-04T10:27:36ZAfricans discovered dinosaur fossils long before the term ‘palaeontology’ existed<p>Credit for discovering the first dinosaur bones usually goes to British gentlemen for their finds between the 17th and 19th centuries in England. <a href="http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/learning/htmls/plot.htm">Robert Plot</a>, an English natural history scholar, was the first of these to <a href="https://www.amnh.org/explore/videos/dinosaurs-and-fossils/who-discovered-the-first-dinosaur-fossils?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share-from-amnh-org">describe</a> a dinosaur bone, in his 1676 book The Natural History of Oxfordshire. Over the next two centuries dinosaur palaeontology would be dominated by numerous British natural scientists. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/SP543-2022-236">our study</a> shows that the history of palaeontology can be traced back much further into the past. We present evidence that the first dinosaur bone may have been discovered in Africa as early as 500 years before Plot’s.</p>
<p>We’re a team of scientists who study fossils in South Africa. Peering through the published and unpublished archaeological, historical and palaeontological literature, we discovered that there has been interest in fossils in Africa for as long as there have been people on the continent. </p>
<p>This is not a surprise. Humankind originated in Africa: <em>Homo sapiens</em> has existed for at least <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature22336">300,000 years</a>. And the continent has a great diversity of rock outcrops, such as the Kem Kem beds in Morocco, the Fayum depression in Egypt, the Rift Valley in <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-maasai-legend-behind-ancient-hominin-footprints-in-tanzania-119373">east Africa</a> and the Karoo in southern Africa, containing fossils that have always been accessible to our ancestors. </p>
<p>So it wasn’t just likely that African people discovered fossils first. It was inevitable.</p>
<p>More often than not, the first dinosaur fossils supposedly discovered by scientists were actually brought to their attention by local guides. Examples are the discovery of the gigantic dinosaurs <a href="https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/Jobaria/390687"><em>Jobaria</em></a> by the Tuaregs in Niger and <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/542624-Giraffatitan"><em>Giraffatitan</em></a> by the Mwera in Tanzania.</p>
<p>Our paper reviews what’s known about African indigenous knowledge of fossils. We list fossils that appear to have long been known at various African sites, and discuss how they might have been used and interpreted by African communities before the science of palaeontology came to be.</p>
<h2>Bolahla rock shelter in Lesotho</h2>
<p>One of the highlights of our paper is the archaeological site of Bolahla, a Later Stone Age rock shelter in Lesotho. Various dating techniques indicate that the site was occupied by the Khoesan and Basotho people from the 12th to 18th centuries (1100 to 1700 AD). The shelter itself is surrounded by hills made of consolidated sediments that were deposited under a harsh Sahara-like desert some 180 million to 200 million years ago, when the first dinosaurs roamed the Earth. </p>
<p>This part of Lesotho is particularly well known for delivering the species <em>Massospondylus carinatus</em>, a 4 to 6 metre, long-necked and small-headed dinosaur. Fossilised bones of <em>Massospondylus</em> are abundant in the area and were already so when the site was occupied by people in the Middle Ages. </p>
<p>In 1990, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3889171">archaeologists</a> working at Bolahla discovered that a finger bone of <em>Massospondylus</em>, a fossil phalanx, had been transported to the cave. There are no fossil skeletons sticking out the walls of the cave, so the only chance that this phalanx ended up there was that someone in the distant past picked it up and carried it to the cave. Perhaps this person did so out of simple curiosity, or to turn it into a pendant or toy, or to use it for traditional healing rituals. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dinosaur-tracksite-in-lesotho-how-a-wrong-turn-led-to-an-exciting-find-208963">Dinosaur tracksite in Lesotho: how a wrong turn led to an exciting find</a>
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<p>After heavy rains, it is not unusual that the people in the area discover the bones of extinct species that have been washed out of their mother-rock. They usually identify them as belonging to a dragon-like monster that devours people or even whole houses. In Lesotho, the Basotho call the monster “Kholumolumo”, while in South Africa’s bordering Eastern Cape province, the Xhosa refer to it as “<a href="https://chosindabazomhlaba.com/2022/03/29/ukufika-kwamacikilishe-angamagongqongqo/">Amagongqongqo</a>”.</p>
<p>The exact date when the phalanx was collected and transported is unfortunately lost to time. Given the current knowledge, it could have been at any time of occupation of the shelter from the 12th to 18th centuries. This leaves open the possibility that this dinosaur bone could have been collected up to 500 years prior to Robert Plot’s find.</p>
<h2>Early knowledge of extinct creatures</h2>
<p>Most people knew about fossils well before the scientific era, for as far back as collective societal memories can go. In Algeria, for example, people referred to some dinosaur footprints as belonging to the legendary “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10420940109380182">Roc bird</a>”. In North America, cave paintings depicting dinosaur footprints were painted by the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10420940109380182">Anasazi people</a> between AD 1000 and 1200. Indigenous Australians identified dinosaur footprints as belonging to a legendary “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10420940109380182">Emu-man</a>”. To the south, the notorious conquistador Hernan Cortes was given the fossil femur of a Mastodon by the <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books/about/Fossil_Legends_of_the_First_Americans.html?id=CMsgQQkmFqQC&redir_esc=y">Aztecs</a> in 1519. In Asia, Hindu people refer to ammonites (coiled fossil-sea-shells) as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/shaligrams-the-sacred-fossils-that-have-been-worshipped-by-hindus-and-buddhists-for-over-2-000-years-are-becoming-rarer-because-of-climate-change-209311">Shaligrams</a>” and have been worshipping them for more than 2,000 years. </p>
<h2>Claiming credit</h2>
<p>The fact that people in Africa have long known about fossils is evident from folklore and the archaeological record, but we still have much to learn about it. For instance, unlike the people in Europe, the Americas and Asia, indigenous African palaeontologists seem to have seldom used fossils for traditional medicine. We are still unsure whether this is a genuinely unique cultural trait shared by most African cultures or if it is due to our admittedly still incomplete knowledge. </p>
<p>Also, some rather prominent fossil sites, such as the Moroccan Kem Kem beds and South African Unesco <a href="https://www.maropeng.co.za/content/page/introduction-to-your-visit-to-the-cradle-of-humankind-world-heritage-site">Cradle of Humankind</a> caves, have still not provided robust evidence for indigenous knowledge. This is unfortunate, as fossil-related traditions could help bridge the gap between local communities and palaeontologists, which in turn could contribute <a href="https://theconversation.com/graffiti-threatens-precious-evidence-of-ancient-life-on-south-africas-coast-157777">preserving</a> important heritage sites.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rock-stars-how-a-group-of-scientists-in-south-africa-rescued-a-rare-500kg-chunk-of-human-history-192508">Rock stars: how a group of scientists in South Africa rescued a rare 500kg chunk of human history</a>
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<p>By exploring indigenous palaeontology in Africa, our team is putting together pieces of a forgotten past that gives credit back to local communities. We hope it will inspire a new generation of local palaeoscientists to walk in the footsteps of these first African fossil hunters.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218833/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julien Benoit receives funding from the DSI-NRF African Origins Platform program and GENUS (DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences) </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cameron Penn-Clarke receives funding from GENUS (DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Helm does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some time between 1100 and 1700 AD, a Massospondylus bone was discovered and carried to a rock shelter in Lesotho.Julien Benoit, Senior Researcher in Vertebrate Palaeontology, University of the WitwatersrandCameron Penn-Clarke, Senior Researcher, University of the WitwatersrandCharles Helm, Research Associate, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2153722023-11-06T15:16:12Z2023-11-06T15:16:12ZMy parents are from two different African countries: study shows how this shapes identity<p>More than a <a href="https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/062/2016/009/article-A001-en.xml">third of migration</a> in sub-Saharan Africa happens within the continent. This mixing of people means that some children have parents of different national origins. Yet not enough is known about the lives of these children: how they form their identity and what impact migration has on them. </p>
<p>The majority of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kassahun-Kebede/publication/329950963_The_African_second_generation_in_the_United_States_-_identity_and_transnationalism_an_introduction/links/5c76fdca92851c69504669e9/The-African-second-generation-in-the-United-States-identity-and-transnationalism-an-introduction.pdf">research</a> on second generation African immigrants focuses on understanding their experiences in the global north. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01419870.2018.1484503">research</a> looked at the less studied African context, where the majority of African migration occurs.</p>
<p>We are <a href="https://www.ug.edu.gh/sociology/staff/geraldine-asiwome-ampah">sociologists</a> who study <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-97322-3_7">migration</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/imig.12644">identity</a> and we have seen that studies tend to take the <a href="https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:d93fe8bf-5987-40ea-98d2-e9c6cbbe61f0/download_file?safe_filename=TDI%2Brevised%2Bsubmission%2Bto%2BERS%2BAugust%2B2015.pdf&file_format=application%2Fpdf&type_of_work=Journal+article">perspective</a> of the <a href="https://iupress.org/9780253000828/migrants-and-strangers-in-an-african-city/">parents</a> in the African context. The voices of the children are missing. </p>
<p>To fill this gap we <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13504630.2023.2222670">asked</a> children who have two African-born parents – but from different countries on the continent – about their experiences. </p>
<p>Our aim was to understand how children with binational parentage formed their identity. We wanted to know if they aligned with either or both of their parents’ identities and which individual or structural factors shaped that. This could be useful to know in contexts where ethnic, religious, political and national identities are salient markers of difference and influence people’s lives and opportunities.</p>
<h2>Questions of identity</h2>
<p>We conducted 54 interviews but drew on the experiences of 32 of the research participants for our paper. Their ages ranged from the lower 20s to the lower 60s. Participants came from Ghana, Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa. Our sample was middle class and therefore our findings are limited to binational identity among middle class Africans. </p>
<p>A key criterion for participation was that participants should have lived in the African country of one of their parents’ birth or both during their formative years. This is because formative years (from birth up to the end of secondary education) shape who you are. And the experiences you have in a place leave an indelible impression and influence your sense of who you are.</p>
<p>We asked them questions such as: Who are you? What is your identity? Where are you from? How do others perceive you? What relationship do you have with your parents’ home country or home town? To what extent has your identity created opportunities for you and to what extent has it created challenges for you? </p>
<h2>Primary and secondary identities</h2>
<p>A person’s primary identity is how they see themselves principally. Their secondary identity comes after those core or foundational aspects.</p>
<p>We learnt that the participants’ primary identity was shaped predominantly by the closeness of family ties during their formative years. Family ties were evident in communication, visits and presence at rites of passage.</p>
<p>The case of three sisters whose mother was from Botswana and father from Ghana highlighted the importance of the closeness of family ties for identity formation even among siblings.</p>
<p>Maru, the eldest, was born when her parents were settling into adult life. She was raised by her maternal grandmother in rural Botswana because her parents were trying to find jobs in Gaborone, the capital. She felt a close bond with her maternal grandmother and thought of herself as Kalanga (an ethnic group) with a very weak link to Ghana. </p>
<p>Her two sisters were born almost a decade later in Gaborone and raised by their parents, who had settled into their lives in the capital. They described themselves differently. Seliwe described herself as Ghanaian. When she was growing up, the family spent holidays (sometimes several months) in Ghana and she thoroughly enjoyed those visits. She was close to the Ghanaian side of her family and spent much time during our interview talking about her paternal uncle, who lived in her father’s home town, and the jollof rice at a popular fast-food restaurant in Accra. She identified chiefly as Ghanaian and insisted that identity be recognised, for example by ensuring that her name, which is Ghanaian, be pronounced correctly.</p>
<p>The family plays a crucial role in identity formation. If parents want their children to identify with both sides of the family, they need to ensure that the children spend time with both sides of the family. </p>
<p>Another influence is the extent to which children are accepted by the extended family members. Meghan, who had a Ghanaian father and a Nigerian mother, noted that her mother’s family embraced her far more than the Ghanaian side of the family. Although she was living in Ghana, she barely had any contact with them. She explained, “I find that I relate more to my Nigerian side than the Ghanaian side.” </p>
<p>Fluency in a particular African language was not an important marker of identity for the study participants.</p>
<p>Our study also found that binational individuals drew upon their secondary identity either explicitly to achieve some purpose or implicitly for its intrinsic value.</p>
<p>About half of the sample had drawn on their secondary identity to access something practical, like tertiary education or employment. In simple terms, even if they didn’t feel strongly Nigerian (for example) they might use that identity to get a place at a university. </p>
<p>The other half of the sample drew on their secondary identity for non-essential – more cultural – purposes. Usually this was in making choices about things like food, clothing and music. Another purpose was more personal – such as the name the individual chose to use.</p>
<h2>Why the insights are useful</h2>
<p>Identities are fluid and people weave in and out of them. If you feel Nigerian at your core then you embrace all aspects of “Nigerianness”, including music, food and so on. If being Nigerian is your secondary identity, you see value in claiming it sometimes even if it is for instrumental reasons.</p>
<p>We found individuals with binational identity were able to shift between their primary and secondary identity quite frequently, sometimes daily. </p>
<p>A society’s culture informs identity – but so do individuals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215372/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Primary identities are foundational and serve as the core part of an individual’s identity.Akosua Keseboa Darkwah, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of GhanaGeraldine Asiwome Ampah, Senior Lecturer of Sociology, University of GhanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2131032023-09-28T14:16:10Z2023-09-28T14:16:10ZAkan folklore contains ancient wisdom that could benefit Ghana’s western-style education system<p>Philosophies of education serve as frameworks for producing lifelong learners and a knowledgeable and skilled human workforce who develop their societies. Ghana’s education system currently favours a western educational philosophy, relegating its indigenous philosophies to the back burner.</p>
<p>I am an <a href="https://www.ug.edu.gh/distance/staff/dr-samuel-amponsah">academic</a> in the field of curriculum studies. In a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11159-023-09993-x">recent paper</a>, I argue that education in Ghana needs to incorporate more elements based on an authentic Ghanaian framework. Based on the view that education, culture and development should be connected, I highlight the educational strengths of African folklore.</p>
<p>I conclude that aspects of Akan folklore, including its stories and proverbs, its kinship rights and rules, its moral codes, its corporate and humanistic perspective, complement the country’s current westernised education.</p>
<p>It is in this spirit that education lecturer <a href="https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Colleges/Education/Schools,-departments,-centres-&-instututes/School-of-Educational-Studies/Department-of-Adult-Basic-Education/Staff-members/Prof-KP-Quan%E2%80%93Baffour">Kofi Poku Quan-Baffour</a> has <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/10500/14348">referred to</a> the Akan proverb <em>Tete wobi ka, tete wobi kyere</em>. It means “heritage has lots to say, heritage has lots to teach”. Folklore holds benefits. </p>
<h2>The case for Akan folklore</h2>
<p>Ghana has about <a href="https://cdn.unrisd.org/assets/library/papers/pdf-files/asante-ssmall.pdf">92 ethnic groups</a>. The largest of these is the Akan. They can be found in eight of the <a href="https://mfa.gov.gh/index.php/about-ghana/regions/">16 regions</a> of the country and in parts of <a href="https://resources.saylor.org/wwwresources/archived/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Akan-People.pdf">Côte d'Ivoire</a> and <a href="https://resources.saylor.org/wwwresources/archived/site/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Akan-People.pdf">Togo</a>. The influence of the Akan in Ghana and west Africa is not just by virtue of their numerical strength but also due to their strong culture and the spirit that binds them. They have been able to maintain their culture throughout the blows of colonial history.</p>
<p>I argue that Akan folklore can be integrated into the school curricula to teach social skills and emotional intelligence. After all, education seeks to provide learners with the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will make them functional and responsible members of their communities. </p>
<p>This tool may also benefit learners in colleges of education and universities offering Ghanaian languages and related courses. The crucial question here is: where is the place of indigenous pedagogy as a tool in nursing and agricultural training colleges, technical universities and the like? </p>
<p>Without indigenous components in their course curricula, students may graduate from such institutions as professionals who have lost their culture. They will not pass on indigenous values in their own teaching practice. </p>
<h2>Not just proverbs and stories</h2>
<p>Researchers such as <a href="https://www.ug.edu.gh/linguistics/staff/diabah">Grace Diabah</a> and <a href="https://www.ug.edu.gh/vc/about">Nana Appiah Amfo</a> have established the power of folklore types like proverbs to <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/gjl/article/view/181293">deal with</a> important topics like gender. Unfortunately, the focus of education has leaned heavily towards <a href="https://theconversation.com/ghanas-colonial-past-and-assessment-use-means-education-prioritises-passing-exams-over-what-students-actually-learn-this-must-change-211957">examination performance</a> and readying learners for the job market. There is no recourse to the rich culture of the people. The absence of indigenous components in course curricula results in a graduate population without any appreciation for cultural identity. </p>
<p>In their study on <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09751122.2015.11890253">integrating indigenous knowledge in the teaching of intermediate mathematics</a>, for example, James Owusu-Mensah and Kofi Poku Quan-Baffour argue that Akan indigenous knowledge systems such as storytelling and games could make subjects easier for learners to relate to and comprehend.</p>
<p>Furthermore, short Akan sayings add spice to the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369549251_Akan_folklore_as_a_philosophical_framework_for_education_in_Ghana">debate</a> that African philosophies can contribute to sustainable quality education for development. Examples such as <em>Kwan nkyɛn ade yɛfɛ, wᴐde sika na ɛyɛ</em>, which roughly translates to “money is needed for everything” and <em>wᴐnsom ԑne nipa</em> (success accrues from collective efforts) undoubtedly take most Ghanaians back to their roots to learn hard, work diligently and live cooperatively.</p>
<p>The urgent need to preserve the environment and its biodiversity also resonates in traditional taboos. These establish rules on days not to farm, hunt or go fishing. This is also done to keep certain flora and fauna sacred and protected. </p>
<h2>Looking ahead</h2>
<p>My research revealed that there is a need to develop and use an alternative indigenous philosophical framework, drawing on Akan folklore. There is a need to display a sense of commonalities, affirm culture, tradition and value systems, and foster comprehension of the local consciousness in a bid to resolve the challenges people are facing. </p>
<p>In a nutshell, while western philosophies open students up to global understandings and perspectives, Akan folklore grounds them in their own culture. Quality education of the kind proposed in this article will produce students and graduates who are beneficial to their societies while understanding, appreciating, cooperating and contributing to global issues and development.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213103/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samuel Amponsah does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Incorporating Akan folklore in the curriculum will promote quality and lifelong education in Ghana.Samuel Amponsah, Associate Professor, Open Distance Learning, University of GhanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2134022023-09-27T13:56:24Z2023-09-27T13:56:24ZMeteorite discovery: unusual finds by South African farmer add to space rock heritage<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549742/original/file-20230922-19-t7wiqi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A digital composite of a meteor shower speeding towards Earth.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adastra</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Meteorites – fragments of rock that have fallen to Earth from space in spectacularly fiery meteors – have been the subject of public fascination, awe, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-ancient-cultures-explained-comets-and-meteors-100982">myths</a> and even <a href="https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/The-Worship-of-Meteorites-in-Ancient-Cultures">religious worship</a> for thousands of years. </p>
<p>In recent decades they’ve become a cosmic <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rosetta-Stone">Rosetta Stone</a> for scientists investigating the birth throes of our solar system and the organic life it hosts. Meteorites are therefore <a href="https://www.sahra.org.za/archaeology-palaeontology-and-meteorites/">rightly classified</a> by many countries as an integral part of communal natural heritage and are sought after by museums and private collectors.</p>
<p>South Africa, where I research meteorites, is one such country. In late 2021, my colleagues and I were alerted to an exceptional opportunity. Gideon Lombaard, a farmer in the Northern Cape province, reached out to us because he suspected that he had found two meteorite fragments. If proved true, these would be the first meteorite discoveries in South Africa in over 40 years. </p>
<p>After subjecting the fragments to a range of tests, we were able to show that the two fragments, despite being found only a kilometre apart, were unrelated – that is, they must have come from different meteor events.</p>
<p>In August, the <a href="https://meteoritical.org/">Meteoritical Society’s</a> nomenclature committee, which adjudicates all new meteorite submissions, formally accepted our proposal that the two fragments were different meteorites. They approved our suggested names – <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?sea=&sfor=names&ants=&nwas=&falls=&valids=&stype=contains&lrec=50&map=ge&browse=&country=South+Africa&srt=name&categ=All&mblist=All&rect=&phot=&strewn=&snew=0&pnt=Normal%20table&code=79964">Brierskop</a> and <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?sea=&sfor=names&ants=&nwas=&falls=&valids=&stype=contains&lrec=50&map=ge&browse=&country=South+Africa&srt=name&categ=All&mblist=All&rect=&phot=&strewn=&snew=0&pnt=Normal%20table&code=79963">Wolfkop</a> – after landmarks near their discovery sites. </p>
<p>Mr Lombaard’s double discovery raises South Africa’s tally of confirmed meteorites to 51 – the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. Namibia has 18 confirmed meteorites, <a href="https://theconversation.com/rare-meteorite-recovery-in-botswana-can-help-reveal-secrets-of-outer-space-99678">Botswana</a> 12, Zimbabwe four, and Lesotho and eSwatini one each. But, compared with the over 14,000 meteorites recovered from the Sahara desert, the number of recovered southern African meteorites is extremely small. A concerted national meteorite education awareness and search programme could thus reap great benefits. </p>
<h2>What is a meteorite?</h2>
<p>A meteorite is a piece of rocky space debris that survives collision with Earth. Meteorites are usually discovered by someone who notices an unusual rock while out walking (called a “find”). However, around 2% of meteorites are classified as “falls” because they are retrieved after witnessed meteor fireball events.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/secrets-revealed-of-dash-cam-meteorite-that-rocked-russia-19923">Secrets revealed of 'dash-cam' meteorite that rocked Russia</a>
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<p>The meteorite family comprises several different types of rocks. A very small proportion of the <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/">approximately 72,000 meteorites recovered globally</a> to date are actually pieces blasted off the surfaces of the moon and Mars by giant impacts. The overwhelming majority appear to have originated in the asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. They are the shrapnel from past collisions between some of these asteroids that were ejected into orbits that have ended up crossing Earth’s path.</p>
<h2>Discovery and forensics</h2>
<p>Finding meteorites is not easy, which makes Mr Lombaard’s twin discoveries all the more significant. Because they originate in outer space, meteorites commonly contain iron in either metal or sulphide forms, both of which begin to deteriorate rapidly when they come into contact with free oxygen and water. </p>
<p>It is thus not surprising that nearly 80% of all meteorites have been found where arid climates aid their preservation, namely Antarctica and the Sahara desert. Meteorites typically become coated in a dark fusion crust during their fiery passage through the atmosphere. That makes the white Antarctic ice and the pale-coloured Sahara bedrock and sand perfect backdrops for searchers.</p>
<p>Mr Lombaard discovered the two meteorites during routine farming activities. The Brierskop meteorite is a 21.19g chondrite which he found on 18 September 2018. Chondrites are the oldest rocks in our solar system, dating back 4.567 billion years. It was only after he found the Wolfkop stone (also a chondrite, weighing 90.26g) 1km away from the Brierskop site on 27 August 2021 that he reached out to determine whether these were, as he suspected, meteorites. Contacting an expert is the best approach if you think you’ve found a meteorite.</p>
<p>The initial pictures he sent were very promising; our primary task was then to establish whether they represented two pieces from a single fall or had originated from separate falls.</p>
<p>Our analysis, which involved slicing a small piece from each stone and grinding it down to produce an ultra-thin wafer through which light from a microscope could pass, was able to show that the meteorites have distinct differences.</p>
<p>Brierskop contains less iron metal and less iron in its main silicate minerals than Wolfkop. The chondrules (particles in the rock) are much better preserved in Brierskop, indicating that they experienced less heating in the parent asteroid before the impact collision that liberated it. We then used the greater oxidation (rust) of the Wolfkop stone to suggest that its fall predated that of the Brierskop meteorite.</p>
<h2>South Africa’s meteorite heritage</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/national-heritage-resources-act">South African Heritage Act</a> No. 25 of 1999 classifies South African meteorites as national heritage items that cannot be damaged, removed, exported or traded without a permit issued by the South African Heritage Agency. The Meteoritical Society also requires that meteorites are properly stored and conserved at accredited institutions such as museums and universities for future research. Wolfkop and Brierskop are now stored at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, which is an accredited repository.</p>
<p>An average of between 10 and 50 meteorites are estimated to hit Earth’s surface every day. Technology will help drive new discoveries. In recent years an increasing number of countries have installed camera networks (such as NASA’s <a href="https://www.seti.org/cams">CAMS</a>) designed to record the trajectories of meteor fireballs that can then be triangulated to try to locate the fall site. The power of citizen science is also being harnessed in many places in the form of volunteer ground searches for fallen meteorites. </p>
<p>Prior to the two recent discoveries, the <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/">Meteoritical Bulletin Database</a> listed 49 meteorites as having been satisfactorily proved to be from South African sites. Mr Lombaard’s double find takes the country’s meteorite inventory above 50. There’s no doubt that more are just waiting to be found.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213402/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger Lawrence Gibson receives funding from the NRF. </span></em></p>Meteorites are usually discovered by someone who notices an unusual rock while out walking.Roger Lawrence Gibson, Professor of Structural Geology and Metamorphic Petrology, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2116572023-09-14T12:30:25Z2023-09-14T12:30:25ZThe importance of shining a light on hidden toxic histories<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548169/original/file-20230913-23-64mqmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C2927%2C1970&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Activists in Newark, N.J., offer tours that teach visitors about the city's legacy of industrial pollution and environmental racism.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-aerial-view-of-newark-new-jersey-shows-smoke-news-photo/635229321?adppopup=true">Charles Rotkin/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Indianapolis proudly claims <a href="https://www.wthr.com/article/entertainment/hoosiers-remember-elvis-presley-indianapolis-concert-amid-new-movie-buzz/531-503bd6a9-c645-4704-bfad-7577126aaad6">Elvis’ last concert</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2kWIa8wSC0">Robert Kennedy’s speech</a> in response to Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, and the Indianapolis 500. There’s a 9/11 memorial, a <a href="https://www.indianawarmemorials.org/explore/medal-of-honor-memorial/">Medal of Honor Memorial</a> and a statue of former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning.</p>
<p>What few locals know, let alone tourists, is that the city also houses one of the largest dry cleaning <a href="https://www.epa.gov/superfund/what-superfund">Superfund sites</a> in the U.S.</p>
<p>From 1952 to 2008, Tuchman Cleaners laundered clothes <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.638082">using perchloroethylene</a>, or PERC, a neurotoxin and possible carcinogen. Tuchman operated a chain of cleaners throughout the city, which sent clothes to a facility on Keystone Avenue for cleaning. It was also the location where used solution was stored in underground tanks.</p>
<p>Inspectors noted the presence of volatile organic compounds from leaking tanks and possible spills as early as 1989. By 1994, an underground plume had spread to a nearby aquifer. By the time the EPA became involved in 2011, the <a href="https://response.epa.gov/site/site_profile.aspx?site_id=7130">underground chemical plume</a> had seeped more than a mile underneath a residential area, reaching a well that supplies drinking water to the city.</p>
<p>When geographer <a href="https://liberalarts.iupui.edu/departments/geography/directory/owen-dwyer/">Owen Dwyer</a>, earth scientist <a href="https://science.iupui.edu/people-directory/people/filippelli-gabriel.html">Gabe Filippelli</a> and I investigated and wrote about the social and environmental <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003365259-24/dirty-laundry-toxic-heritage-dry-cleaning-indianapolis-indiana-elizabeth-kryder-reid-owen-dwyer-gabriel-filippelli?context=ubx&refId=242e9f98-2f2d-4587-9449-99734e77a875">history of dry cleaning in Indianapolis</a>, we were struck by how few people outside of the dry cleaning and environmental management fields were aware of this environmental damage. </p>
<p>There are no markers or memorials. There is no mention of it – or any other accounts of contamination – in Indianapolis’ many museums. This kind of silence has been called “<a href="https://www.orionmagazine.org/article/environmental-amnesia/">environmental amnesia</a>” or “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24906248">collective forgetting</a>.”</p>
<p>Societies celebrate heroes and commemorate tragedies. But where in public memory is environmental harm? What if people thought about it not only as a science or policy problem, but also as a part of history? Would it make a difference if pollution, along with biodiversity loss and climate change, was seen as part of our shared heritage? </p>
<h2>The slow violence of contamination</h2>
<p>Environmental harm often takes place gradually and out of sight, and this could be one reason why there’s so little public conversation and commemoration. In 2011, Princeton English professor <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674072343">Rob Nixon</a> came up with a term for this kind of environmental degradation: slow violence. </p>
<p>As underground storage tanks leak, <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003365259-10/ghost-wrecks-anthropocene-enduring-toxic-legacy-pacific-war-matthew-carter-ashley-meredith-augustine-kohler-ranger-walter-bill-jeffrey-paul-heersink?context=ubx&refId=9df11100-ce32-4e00-b590-5b9769b00df2">shipwrecks corrode</a>, coal ash ponds seep and <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003365259-6/toxic-heritage-forever-confronting-pfas-contamination-toxicity-lived-experience-thomas-pearson-daniel-renfrew?context=ubx&refId=ef6c0e6a-b9da-4008-9689-9a43a2dc3055">forever chemicals spread</a>, the creeping pace of poisoned soil and water fails to garner the attention that more dramatic environmental disasters attract.</p>
<p>Certain interests benefit from hiding the costs of pollution and its remediation. Sociologists <a href="https://www.russellsage.org/publications/sites-unseen">Scott Frickel and James R. Elliott</a> have studied urban pollution, and they highlight three reasons for its pervasiveness and persistence. </p>
<p>First, in cities, small factories, auto repair shops, dry cleaners and other light industries sometimes only stay open for a decade or two, making it challenging to regulate them and track their environmental impacts over time. By the time contamination is discovered, many facilities have long been shuttered or purchased by new owners. And the polluters have a direct financial interest in not being connected with it, since they could be held liable and forced to pay for cleanup.</p>
<p>Similarly, urban neighborhoods tend to have shifting demographics, and local residents are often not aware of historical pollution. </p>
<p>Finally, it can simply be politically expedient to look the other way and ignore the consequences of pollution. Cities may be concerned that publicizing toxic histories discourage investment and depress property values, and politicians are hesitant to fund projects that may have a long-term benefit but short-term costs. Indianapolis, for example, tried for decades to avoid mitigating the raw sewage flowing into the White River and Fall Creek, arguing it was too expensive to deal with. Only when required by a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2013-09/documents/indy0610-cd.pdf">consent decree</a> did the city start to address the problem.</p>
<p>Toxic legacies are also difficult to track because their effects may be hidden by distance and time. Anthropologist Peter Little <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/burning-matters-9780190934552?cc=us&lang=en&">traced the outsourcing of electronics waste recycling</a>, which is shipped from the places where electronics are bought and used, to countries such as Ghana, where labor is cheap and environmental regulations lax. </p>
<p>Then there are the toxic traces of military conflicts, which linger long after the fighting has stopped and troops have returned home. Historian and geologist Daniel Hubé has documented <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19475020.2017.1393347">the long-term environmental impact of World War I munitions</a>. </p>
<p>At the end of the war, unused and unexploded bombs and chemical weapons had to be disposed of. In France, at a site known as <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003365259-25/cleaning-battlefields-times-war-polluted-soils-times-peace-case-study-silent-visible-toxic-legacy-great-war-daniel-hub%C3%A9-tobias-bausinger?context=ubx&refId=630129c7-e447-48fd-a959-24bf0bae1d83">Place à Gaz</a>, hundreds of thousands of chemical weapons were burned. Today, the soils have been found to have extraordinarily high levels of arsenic and other heavy metals. </p>
<p>More than a century after the end of the war, little grows on the contaminated, barren land.</p>
<h2>Toxic tours and teaching moments</h2>
<p>There’s a growing movement to make toxic histories more visible.</p>
<p>In Providence, Rhode Island, artist Holly Ewald founded the <a href="http://www.upparts.org/">Urban Pond Procession</a> to call attention to Mashapaug Pond, which was contaminated by <a href="https://medallicartcollector.com/gorham.shtml">a Gorham Silver factory</a>. She worked with community partners to create wearable sculptures, puppets and giant fish, all of which were carried and worn in an annual parade that took place from 2008 to 2017.</p>
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<img alt="People march along a sidewalk playing instruments and holding signs featuring fish." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548175/original/file-20230913-3869-qv2hbs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548175/original/file-20230913-3869-qv2hbs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548175/original/file-20230913-3869-qv2hbs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548175/original/file-20230913-3869-qv2hbs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=415&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548175/original/file-20230913-3869-qv2hbs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548175/original/file-20230913-3869-qv2hbs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548175/original/file-20230913-3869-qv2hbs.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Urban Pond Procession took place each summer for 10 years in Providence, R.I.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Mary Beth Meehan, UPP Collection, Providence Public Library</span></span>
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<p>Cultural anthropologist Amelia Fiske collaborated with artist Jonas Fischer to create the graphic novel “<a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781487509538/toxic/">Tóxico</a>,” which will be published in 2024. It depicts petroleum pollution in the Ecuadorian Amazon, as well as the struggles of those fighting for environmental justice. </p>
<p>Toxic tours can educate the public about the histories, causes and consequences of environmental harm. For example, <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003365259-31/environmental-justice-tours-transformative-narratives-struggle-solidarity-activism-ana-isabel-baptista?context=ubx&refId=7e43d2ce-0c5c-41a4-a9b6-40ce10c0848c">Ironbound Community Corporation</a> in Newark, New Jersey, offers a tour of severely contaminated sites, such as the location of the former <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/08/nyregion/newark-s-toxic-tomb-six-acres-fouled-dioxin-agent-orange-s-deadly-byproduct.html">Agent Orange factory</a>, where the sediment in the sludge is laced with the carcinogen dioxin. The tour also goes by a detention center <a href="https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/overview-epas-brownfields-program">that’s built on a brownfield</a>, which has only undergone industrial-level remediation because that’s the standard all prisons are held to.</p>
<p>In 2017, the <a href="https://www.humanitiesactionlab.org/">Humanities Action Lab</a> organized “<a href="https://climatesofinequality.org/">Climates of Inequality</a>,” a traveling exhibit co-curated by more than 20 universities and local partners exploring environmental issues affecting communities around the world. The <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003365259-34/toxic-heritage-reparations-activating-memory-environmental-climate-justice-liz-%C5%A1ev%C4%8Denko?context=ubx&refId=e2e664c7-b4d9-4497-b4a4-6d4f5dd1b009">exhibit</a> brings attention to polluted waterways, the impacts of climate change, ecological damage on Indigenous lands and the ways in which immigrant agricultural workers experience heat stress and chronic pesticide exposure. The exhibits also explore the affected communities’ resilience and advocacy.</p>
<p>These stories of pollution and contamination, and their effects on people’s health and livelihoods, represent only a sampling of current efforts to curate toxic heritage. As sociologist Alice Mah writes in her foreword to “<a href="https://www.routledge.com/Toxic-Heritage-Legacies-Futures-and-Environmental-Injustice/Kryder-Reid-May/p/book/9781032429977">Toxic Heritage</a>”: “Reckoning with toxic heritage is an urgent collective task. It is also unsettling work. It requires confronting painful truths about the roots of toxic injustice with courage, honesty, and humility.”</p>
<p>I see public commemoration of hidden toxic histories as a way to push back against denial, habituation and amnesia. It creates a space for public conversation, and it opens up possibilities for a more just and sustainable future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211657/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Kryder-Reid receives funding from Indiana University and the Fulbright Program.</span></em></p>Societies celebrate heroes and commemorate tragedies. But why is there so little public acknowledgment of environmental disasters?Elizabeth Kryder-Reid, Chancellor's Professor of Anthropology and Museum Studies, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2067652023-07-05T01:26:04Z2023-07-05T01:26:04ZYIMBYs and NIMBYs unite! You can have both heritage protection and more housing<p>Heritage conservation <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/victoria-s-heritage-conundrum-20230630-p5dkuy.html">has been blamed</a> for making the housing crisis worse by standing in the way of new, higher-density housing. But protecting heritage and increasing housing should be complementary objectives. Heritage suffers when not enjoyed by our growing communities. Housing suffers when not shaped by our communal heritage.</p>
<p><a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691200224/yes-to-the-city">YIMBYs</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/30-minute-city-not-in-my-backyard-smart-cities-plan-must-let-people-have-their-say-59161">NIMBYs</a> are usually on opposing sides of this debate. Yet what they agree on is the desirability of heritage areas. People in both the Not In My Back Yard and Yes In My Back Yard camps want to live in established suburbs, often in the inner city, with attractive <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1026">historic urban landscapes</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, NIMBYs have exploited heritage loopholes to prevent development. There is a problem with how overly cautious practitioners and <a href="https://heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/2020/12/the-state-of-heritage-review-local-heritage/">under-resourced authorities</a> are <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429352713-10/changing-cities-evolving-values-1980s%E2%80%9390s-james-lesh?context=ubx&refId=1b4f749d-521c-4aec-b0d6-d1723b731852">applying heritage protections</a>. So, YIMBYs wrongly blame heritage itself for housing issues. </p>
<p>Empirical evidence that heritage is a barrier to housing supply is practically non-existent. It’s not a talking point among housing experts. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/4-ways-to-bring-down-rent-and-build-homes-faster-than-labors-10billion-housing-fund-205643">real issues</a> are urban policy, the tax system and housing supply.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-heritage-protection-is-about-how-people-use-places-not-just-their-architecture-and-history-138128">Why heritage protection is about how people use places, not just their architecture and history</a>
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<h2>In support of both heritage and housing</h2>
<p>Heritage should be seen as part of the housing solution. Advocates for both heritage and housing can and have been allies. </p>
<p>In Victoria, for example, architect and politician <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/former-labor-planning-minister-evan-walker-remembered-20150217-13gvr5.html">Evan Walker</a> introduced the first comprehensive local protections in the mid-1980s. He was ably supported by <a href="https://architectureau.com/articles/david-yencken-a-modern-day-polymath/">David Yencken</a>, who had been the first chairman of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2018.1475406">Australian Heritage Commission</a> and a developer of <a href="https://architectureau.com/articles/vermont-park/">innovative suburban housing</a>. These city visionaries recognised that we could keep the best of the past and complement it with new, higher-density builds.</p>
<p>Heritage protections were <a href="http://values.heritage.city/">created</a> at a time when our historic neighbourhoods were at risk of widespread demolitions for inferior new buildings. High-rise towers threatened areas like The Rocks in Sydney and Carlton in Melbourne. A surge in ad-hoc redevelopment put valued homes at risk in suburbs such as Brisbane’s New Farm, North Adelaide and Perth’s Subiaco.</p>
<p>Our heritage suburbs were not desirable like today. We only have our fabulous cities of villages because people fought hard for heritage protections. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534959/original/file-20230630-15-e2we55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photo of residents protesting against the development of their suburb" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534959/original/file-20230630-15-e2we55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534959/original/file-20230630-15-e2we55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534959/original/file-20230630-15-e2we55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534959/original/file-20230630-15-e2we55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534959/original/file-20230630-15-e2we55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534959/original/file-20230630-15-e2we55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534959/original/file-20230630-15-e2we55.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A residents’ group protests against redevelopment in Woolloomooloo, Sydney, ca. 1973.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">City of Sydney Archives</span></span>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-cities-owe-much-of-their-surviving-heritage-to-jack-mundey-138293">Our cities owe much of their surviving heritage to Jack Mundey</a>
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<p>Heritage is about <a href="https://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/books/values_heritage_management.html">what we find significant</a>. Eroding protections risks the social, physical and historic fabric of heritage neighbourhoods, the very reasons so many of us – including both YIMBYs and NIMBYs – want to live in them. These areas have vibrant high streets, excellent services such as schools and hospitals, and many transport options.</p>
<p>It’s notable, too, that the smaller block sizes in older suburbs already produce <a href="https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/treading-the-line-between-densifying-housing-and-preserving-our-built-heritage/">high levels of density by Australian standards</a>. Their walkability and infrastructure also make them more liveable. This heritage of urban vitality is worth conserving and replicating.</p>
<h2>We can build more housing in heritage areas</h2>
<p>A more palatable and sustainable solution is to build well-designed homes, hapartments and townhouses in and around heritage areas. There are architects and developers <a href="https://architectureau.com/articles/2023-houses-awards-shortlist-house-in-a-heritage-context/">who do this</a>. It may be a case of adapting obsolete historical buildings or constructing new buildings on appropriate sites. </p>
<p>When done well, new builds and incremental change improve our historic urban landscapes. Good examples include Perth’s Northbridge, Melbourne’s <a href="https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/scholarlywork/1566289-adaptive-histories--the-role-of-architectural-historians-in-urban-redevelopment-outcomes">Collingwood</a> and Sydney’s Chippendale.</p>
<p>Importantly, the best-designed new homes respect local history, prevailing design forms and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07293682.2009.10753406">neighbourhood character</a>. That is a great strength of heritage: it allows us to embrace the most significant and beautiful aspects of our existing built forms and social lives.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A new development rises behind a street of heritage building facades." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534962/original/file-20230630-17-kpnylj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534962/original/file-20230630-17-kpnylj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534962/original/file-20230630-17-kpnylj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534962/original/file-20230630-17-kpnylj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534962/original/file-20230630-17-kpnylj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534962/original/file-20230630-17-kpnylj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/534962/original/file-20230630-17-kpnylj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">In Northbridge, Perth, new builds and incremental change have enhanced a heritage neighbourhood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northbridge_Sign_and_The_Rechabite.jpg">The Logical Positivist/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/preserving-cities-how-trendies-shaped-australias-urban-heritage-66515">Preserving cities: how 'trendies' shaped Australia's urban heritage</a>
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<p>Heritage is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/07/our-cities-are-not-museums-we-must-stop-nimbys-weaponising-heritage-laws-to-block-affordable-housing">not just about</a> protecting grand monuments along Spring or Macquarie streets. It is also about everyday aspects of our suburbs: the sturdy stone street kerb, the intricate iron and lacework terrace, the worker’s timber cottage, the subdivided Federation home, the industrial warehouse turned apartment block and, of course, uplifting gardens, parks and trees.</p>
<p>The precincts, places and features that are heritage-protected reflect decades of community efforts. Today, residents still must have a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/08/how-gentrified-is-your-postcode-search-our-map-of-australias-capital-cities">right to have a say in planning</a> and to see their heritage protected. Conservation is enshrined in planning and heritage legislation and widely supported by the community.</p>
<h2>Overcoming barriers to densifying heritage areas</h2>
<p>Authorities too often say “no” to appropriate housing in heritage areas. It happens for many reasons, though so-called NIMBYism is a factor.</p>
<p>Many local councils have also had <a href="https://heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/research-projects/the-state-of-heritage-review-local-heritage/">funding for conservation cut</a>, while federal and state leadership in urban heritage is minimal. </p>
<p>Some traditional approaches to conservation do tend to prevent rather than promote reasonable change to heritage places. This is also unsustainable: adapting existing buildings is good for the environment.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/frozen-in-time-weve-become-blind-to-ways-to-build-sustainability-into-our-urban-heritage-187284">Frozen in time, we've become blind to ways to build sustainability into our urban heritage</a>
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<p>Many authorities lack the knowledge and resources to ensure new housing is consistent with heritage. We need to equip them with the innovative heritage approaches and creative design outlook they need to make better decisions. Planning and design panels with wide-ranging skills, including heritage, could work with communities to increase housing supply and choice where people want to live.</p>
<p>It’s essential to address the housing crisisc. More people should be able to enter the housing market and enjoy living in established suburbs. We have the heritage, planning and design tools to achieve both objectives. </p>
<p>Heritage strategies for increasing housing supply can include subdivision, adaptive reuse and infill development in and around heritage areas. It’s about designing the best housing for the specific context. Heritage policies should be reviewed and updated across Australia to support these kinds of outcomes.</p>
<p>The urban heritage of Australia’s cities is what makes them among the world’s most liveable. Heritage should not be about blocking housing, but rather about asking “how can we build housing better?”. Let’s embrace our urban past to shape our urban future. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/war-on-the-demolishers-probably-not-and-timing-of-nsw-heritage-review-is-curious-159525">War on the demolishers? Probably not, and timing of NSW heritage review is curious</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206765/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Lesh has consulted in the area of heritage conservation.</span></em></p>YIMBYs and NIMBYs agree on one thing – they both want to live in desirable heritage neighbourhoods. And despite heritage being blamed for lack of new housing in these areas, it’s not the real issue.James Lesh, Lecturer in Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2014792023-03-19T12:18:51Z2023-03-19T12:18:51ZWars in cities: three rules for protecting the built environment during conflict<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514768/original/file-20230311-2791-i5k8dp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">This is a digitally generated image of what a city might look like after a war.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the course of wars, the infrastructure of cities faces destruction. Fighting, regardless of its intentions, destroys roads, bridges, commercial and residential buildings, as well as the architecture they embody.</p>
<p>Throughout history and around the globe, calls to stop wars have focused on the value of people’s lives. In recent decades, there has been a lot of attention paid to protecting cultural heritage. However, there has been little consideration for the value of public places and people’s memories of these spaces.</p>
<p>Buildings – such as residential and commercial structures, schools and hospitals – are often destroyed in the chaos of conflict, leaving behind psychological trauma that can last for generations. In a recent paper, we set out why cities and their buildings need to be protected. This infrastructure, unique or not, represents people’s history, culture and social fabric. </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17549175.2023.2180076?src=&journalCode=rjou20">paper</a>, we coined the term “wartime urbanism” to describe what we believe needs to be done to preserve a city’s distinctive characteristics in times of conflict. </p>
<p>We propose three ways to do this: mapping a city’s real estate development and its relative urban value; enacting national and international laws that criminalise the destruction of physical assets; and raising public awareness about these laws and the importance of city assets.</p>
<p>During times of conflict, cultural heritage and city places can be protected <a href="https://theconversation.com/africas-wars-are-hurting-its-rich-heritage-how-the-law-can-help-180041">under various laws</a>. However, for these laws to be effective, governments must implement them during periods of peace.</p>
<p>We argue that politicians and urban practitioners should incorporate wartime urbanism into city planning and design. This would help protect buildings, infrastructure, services, facilities, and public and private places before, during and after wars. The less severe the material damage (in terms of human lives and physical structures) from conflict, the faster reconciliation can be.</p>
<h2>Protection from destruction</h2>
<p>Conflicts in different parts of the world have caused the displacement of millions of people, and the destruction of hundreds of thousands of buildings and critical infrastructure. When wars intensify, the protection of people is rightly prioritised. Protecting places, however, rarely finds mention.</p>
<p>Wars and the destruction they cause are considered <a href="https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/crimes-against-humanity.shtml">crimes against humanity</a>. Prosecution for such crimes is most often enforced by international courts, like The Hague’s <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/about/the-court">International Criminal Court</a>. However, several countries have listed crimes against humanity under their domestic laws.</p>
<p>But there is more that can be done. For instance, the 1945 <a href="https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter#:%7E:text=The%20Charter%20of%20the%20United,force%20on%2024%20October%201945.">United Nations Charter</a>, which lists the actions the organisation can take on a variety of issues, doesn’t include the protection of human property. </p>
<p>The 1972 <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/convention/#:%7E:text=The%20Convention%20concerning%20the%20Protection%20of%20World%20Cultural%20and%20Natural,the%20Cultural%20and%20Natural%20Heritage.">Convention on the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage</a> provides guidelines on securing sites of significant global value. These sites are part of everyday human heritage, and destroying them during peacetime is a crime punishable by law. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/ethiopias-war-in-tigray-risks-wiping-out-centuries-of-the-worlds-history-179829">Ethiopia's war in Tigray risks wiping out centuries of the world's history</a>
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<p>However, during war, everything is exposed to extreme destruction. Aggressors often seek to cause irreversible damage to the history and civilisation of the country under attack. If not by genocide, then by destroying people’s homes, memorials and valuable architectural assets. This was seen in <a href="https://theconversation.com/ethiopias-war-in-tigray-risks-wiping-out-centuries-of-the-worlds-history-179829">Ethiopia’s Tigray region</a> during the 2020-2022 war.</p>
<p>Urban planners can play a role in guiding <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/activities/811/">urban conservation and preservation</a> of city places by creating detailed plans that identify the assets that need to be protected – and how they can be protected. They can also develop strategies that mitigate the damage of war by focusing on how to rebuild in the aftermath.</p>
<h2>Three rules of wartime urbanism</h2>
<p>Wartime urbanism emphasises the importance of protecting cities or public places, regardless of their structure. This approach means professionals in architecture, urban planners and urban designers should develop plans that address the possibility of regional, global and international-level conflicts. </p>
<p>To protect city places from the destruction of war – or to restore and rebuild them to normal after a conflict ends – we propose three rules.</p>
<p><strong>1. Pre-documentary mapping</strong></p>
<p>Specialists in architecture and urban planning prepare maps that detail the development of a city, town or urban space. These maps should be kept in safe places physically and virtually. Should a war break out, developers can use these maps to rebuild infrastructure and restore city functions destroyed by conflict. This would help ensure that a city goes back to what it was, which would help minimise people’s psychological trauma. </p>
<p>These maps also preserve invaluable information about a city’s history and culture that can be used to inform future development and restoration projects. Because such maps document city assets, they can be used by international protection agencies to better measure the scale of destruction caused by war. They can also help identify areas of potential conflict – or spaces at risk of being targeted. Maps can further be used to advocate the rights of local populations when rebuilding after war. </p>
<p><strong>2. Criminalising destruction</strong></p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.un.org/en/our-work/maintain-international-peace-and-security#:%7E:text=Preventive%20Diplomacy%20and%20Mediation&text=The%20United%20Nations%20plays%20an,political%20missions%20in%20the%20field.">United Nations</a> and <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/odesa-inscribed-unescos-world-heritage-list-face-threats-destruction?hub=66116">Unesco</a> should add an item to their charters that states that ordinary buildings within a city should not be targeted and destroyed. This would give such buildings the same degree of importance as architecture and cultural artefacts. It would help rally people around protecting ordinary structures, and help reduce the risk of displacement and displacement-related poverty. </p>
<p><strong>3. Raising public awareness</strong></p>
<p>Educational institutions and the media need to raise public awareness on the impacts of war. Conflict not only affects lives, but places too. Destroying people’s homes, for instance, exacerbates poverty and trauma. </p>
<p>Public awareness efforts should also highlight laws around crimes against humanity, and other international and local statutes that punish those who sabotage the structure of cities. This would help deter aggressors from attacking infrastructure, and give citizens a <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/civil-war-to-blame-for-surge-in-online-sales-of-ethiopian-artifacts/a-61069797">greater understanding</a> of the importance of their physical spaces. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/africas-wars-are-hurting-its-rich-heritage-how-the-law-can-help-180041">Africa's wars are hurting its rich heritage: how the law can help</a>
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<p>By following these three rules, politicians and citizens can work together to preserve their cities. This would help reduce the time and money spent on rebuilding what wars destroy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201479/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abeer Elshater is now affiliated with Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Egypt and on temporary leave from Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hisham Abusaada does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Urban spaces are a repository of people’s beliefs, memories and collective conscience.Hisham Abusaada, Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, Housing and Building National Research CenterAbeer Elshater, Professor of Urban Morphology, Ain Shams UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1994682023-02-15T17:18:52Z2023-02-15T17:18:52ZDebate: Sorry, British Museum, a loan of the Parthenon Marbles is not a repatriation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508669/original/file-20230207-27-ph3gcf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2048%2C833&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Increasingly, the mood in the UK is leaning towards repatriating the Parthenon Marbles.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/consciousvision/3388915151">Justin Norris/Creative Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the last few weeks, we have been regularly reminded that secret talks have been taking place between the Greek government and the British Museum over the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/aad9827f-a552-49d4-a462-06425b9f86e3">return of the Parthenon marbles to Greece</a>. As soon the discussions became public knowledge, a wave of optimism swept the media, culminating in <em>The London Times</em> congratulating the former British chancellor and chair of the British Museum, George Osborne, on <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-view-on-an-elgin-marbles-deal-homeward-bound-6zzgvb9c2">brokering the deal</a>. But as accolades were prematurely showered on the British Museum, I watched in astonishment and bit my lip.</p>
<p>As an international legal expert who spent the past two years working on the merits of the repatriation claim for my book <a href="https://catharinetiti.com/The-Parthenon-Marbles-and-International-Law/"><em>The Parthenon Marbles and International Law</em></a>, I had a sneaking suspicion that this was not <em>it</em> yet. Or was I missing something? The general euphoria must have been triggered by something grander than Osborne’s modest concession that <a href="https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/britain-and-greece-could-strike-deal-to-share-elgin-marbles-george-osborne-tells/">“there’s a deal to be done”</a> and his apparent willingness to <em>loan</em> the marbles to Greece? Surely by now we know better than to place our hopes in silky rhetoric of this kind that seems to make promises it has not made?</p>
<p>Apparently, we don’t. The need to make-believe is so strong that we grasp at the slightest opportunity and imagine that at last the marbles will be going home. The British journalist Andrew Marr recently captured this mood of exasperation in <em>The New Statesman</em>, when he <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2023/01/andrew-marr-elgin-marbles-greece-british-museum">called on the museum to return the marbles</a>: “Give them back. For goodness’ sake, just give them back.”</p>
<h2>Possession vs. ownership</h2>
<p>If a loan is what’s on offer, then Greece cannot accept it. A loan would mean that the British Museum does not only possess the marbles but it also owns them – a beautiful illustration of the legal slogan “Possession is nine tenths of the law”, if you possess them, you own them. But Greece does not recognise what the museum does not have: ownership. The museum has nine tenths of the law. It has possession. And the museum knows that. An offer of a loan is a bait with consequences for the Greek claim under international law and the Greeks are right to beware of the British Museum bearing gifts. A loan is not repatriation and does not deal with the underlying matter of ownership.</p>
<p>Let’s stop hiding behind our thumbs. The dispute about the Parthenon marbles is not just about where they should best be located. It is also <em>primarily</em> a dispute about ownership. It is a dispute about rights and wrongs, and the need to redress a past wrong.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2006/02/01/germanys-heidelberg-university-returns-parthenon-fragment-to-greece">Heidelberg University</a> and the <a href="https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/exhibition-programs/first-return-parthenon-sculpture-abroad-new-acropolis-museum">Antonino Salinas Museum</a> in Palermo have already handed to Athens the Parthenon fragments previously kept in their collections. In December last year, Pope Francis announced that the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/world/europe/vatican-parthenon-marbles-greece.html">Vatican will be returning its fragments</a>. The British Museum, which holds about half the surviving sculpture from the Parthenon, will have to follow their example. Does anyone imagine that 200 years from now, the Greeks will still have to clamour for the marbles’ return? I don’t. It is inevitable that the marbles will go home soon, although I don’t believe that the museum knows that yet.</p>
<h2>Shifting attitudes</h2>
<p>Both the museum and the current government continue to resist repatriation. But how long can they hold out against mounting opposition? Something has been fundamentally changing and it will become impossible for the British Museum and the government to cling on to the marbles for much longer. Attitudes internationally toward the return of cultural heritage have been evolving. Changing attitudes matter. They show that what was acceptable in the past, no longer is. Changing attitudes also shape international law. Societies evolve. The law changes in consequence.</p>
<p>Now is the time for the noble grand gesture, and it has the support of the British public. Ed Vaizey said it: returning the marbles would be <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ed-vaizey-stunning-treasures-await-if-british-museum-returns-the-elgin-marbles-77n5zn8lv">“the big thing to do”</a>. It would be the magnanimous thing to do.</p>
<p>Alternatives do exist. Remember what happened to <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1756-0619-1">Hans Sloane’s bust</a> in the British Museum? Hans Sloane was the museum’s founding father, and his bust was once proudly displayed. But he was also a slave-owner. A scandal erupted a couple of years ago about the display of his bust in the British Museum. Oliver Dowden, then British culture secretary, warned national museums against <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-from-culture-secretary-on-hm-government-position-on-contested-heritage">removing contested cultural objects from their collections</a>. And the British Museum responded: <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-54325905">we will not</a>.</p>
<p>Sure, technically, Sloane’s bust was not removed. But where is it now? It was quietly transferred to a <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/british-museum-moves-bust-founder-who-profited-enslavement-180975680/">glass cabinet, and Sloane was described as a slave owner</a>. For two years, I lived on a London street named after Sloane, and for close to ten in a neighbourhood strewn with streets and buildings named after him or members of his family. I never gave it a second thought. I honestly had no idea who Sloane was. But now I know. The museum’s initial resistance to the removal of Sloane’s bust did more harm to it than swiftly taking responsibility and acting accordingly would have done. Welcome to changing times.</p>
<h2>The future of <em>deaccessioning</em> under debate</h2>
<p>A practical detail remains, a thorny issue of possible conflict between the government and the museum. How should the marbles be repatriated? Should national museums have the right to “deaccession” items in their collections on legal or moral grounds? In October last year, the government decided to delay the entry into force of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/charities-act-2022-implementation-plan">two provisions of the Charities Act 2022</a> that would allow national museums subject to statutory bans on deaccessioning (the British Museum is one of them) to remove items from their collections on moral grounds.</p>
<p>Should the museum return them or should parliament pass an act transferring them to Athens? From a legal viewpoint, I’d much rather the UK government passed an act transferring the marbles to Greece. <a href="https://statutes.org.uk/site/the-statutes/nineteenth-century/1816-56-george-3-c-99-the-elgin-marbles-act/">An act vested their curation in the British Museum</a>. An act can send them back home. Better while it is still the magnanimous thing to do. With pomp. History will remember.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199468/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catharine Titi ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>An international legal expert explains why the Greeks are right to be wary of the British Museum’s offer to loan them the Parthenon marbles.Catharine Titi, Research Associate Professor, National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Université Paris-Panthéon-AssasLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1982472023-02-14T13:41:41Z2023-02-14T13:41:41ZWhat is Mondiacult? 6 take-aways from the world’s biggest cultural policy gathering<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508369/original/file-20230206-21-8bineg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">hadynyah/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Culture’s status in global society got a major boost in 2022 when it was recommended to become its own sustainable development goal. This happened at the Unesco World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – called <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/mondiacult2022?TSPD_101_R0=080713870fab2000a09e1f590eee9236224b49b65b35b132c616cc394977b0a02ac2e62027c474a20861e610e0143000765baf2107ff32468755177504b7b9a252592c01e65570cbe751e36ef19eb1605e90d2f17ad9e80a512b2762ca6cb961">Mondiacult</a>. The world’s most important cultural policy gathering took place in Mexico City 40 years after its first edition in the same city. The 2022 meeting gathered 2,600 participants including 135 government ministers, 83 non-governmental organisations, 32 intergovernmental organisations and nine UN agencies. </p>
<p>Mondiacult is important because it’s a decision-making meeting that helps shape the world’s cultural policies and especially the relationship between culture and development. What was clear is that there is a shift in this relationship. Culture does not only contribute to sustainable development but is one of development’s components. </p>
<p>Culture aids <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals">sustainable development goals</a> in areas like health, education and environment. For example, local customs and traditional knowledge are relevant in promoting health programmes. Local and traditional products are useful for sustainable production. Indigenous knowledge helps develop environmental practices to fight climate change. </p>
<p><a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals">Sustainable development goals</a> – like clean water and quality education – are the United Nations (UN) blueprint for a better future for all. At Mondiacult, culture was raised to the status of being its own sustainable development goal. A careful reading of the <a href="https://www.unesco.org/sites/default/files/medias/fichiers/2022/10/6.MONDIACULT_EN_DRAFT%20FINAL%20DECLARATION_FINAL_1.pdf">final declaration</a> offers several reasons why:</p>
<h2>1. Culture can fight climate change</h2>
<p>Culture can contribute to the reduction of climate change’s negative impact. Ecological organisations and other stakeholders are now interested in discovering the usefulness of cultural practices and other local know-how to preserve the environment. Ancient communities faced climate crises and developed their own resilient practices rooted in cultural heritage. That is why concepts like indigenous knowledge systems have emerged. </p>
<h2>2. Digital must be ethical</h2>
<p>The transition from analogue to digital has become an important aspect in the production, distribution and consumption of cultural and creative goods and services. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the value of digital and online spaces. Augmented reality, for example, enables exploring museum collections from a phone or computer. Virtual reality enables the visiting of historical monuments. Blockchain technology and artificial intelligence have grown hugely, but bring new ethical concerns. Which is why Unesco has adopted a set of <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000380455_fre.locale=fr">recommendations</a> on the ethics of artificial intelligence.</p>
<h2>3. Cultural diversity matters</h2>
<p>Our world is made of many different cultures. Acknowledging and accepting this cultural diversity is an ethical imperative, in Mondiacult 2022’s view. For the cultural ministers gathered in Mexico City, cultural diversity is the “founding principle of all of Unesco’s cultural conventions, recommendations and declarations. It cannot be separated from respect for human dignity and all fundamental human rights.” </p>
<h2>4. Cultural objects must be returned</h2>
<p>Another “ethical imperative” is the return of cultural assets to countries that they were looted from. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/benin-bronzes-what-is-the-significance-of-their-repatriation-to-nigeria-171444">Benin bronzes</a> case is a good example – ancient cultural objects stolen from Nigeria by colonial forces who are now slowly returning them. This restitution is crucial because it is supposed to “promote the right of peoples and communities to enjoy their cultural heritage … to strengthen social cohesion and the intergenerational transmission of cultural heritage”. It would be morally unfair to deny restitution, according to Mondiacult 2022. </p>
<h2>5. Culture is a global public good</h2>
<p>Culture is “our most powerful global public good”, <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000382082_eng">wrote</a> Unesco official Ernesto Ottone:</p>
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<p>Today, more than ever, we need to find meaning, we need universality, we need culture in all its diversity. </p>
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<p>Culture is reaffirmed as the “existential foundation” of humanity in this period of multiple crises on the planet. Now that a high-level meeting like Mondiacult has affirmed that culture is a public good, it must be preserved in the same way as the environment is.</p>
<h2>6. Culture is a development goal in itself</h2>
<p>Most significant is a new momentum to give culture a central place in the global development agenda. Before Mondiacult, Unesco’s aim was to convince the world’s policymakers that culture can <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000371557.locale=fr">contribute</a> significantly to achieving sustainable development goals. Now, Mondiacult 2022’s ambitious final <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/mondiacult-2022-states-adopt-historic-declaration-culture?TSPD_101_R0=080713870fab2000f74c4eb59493c567f3e18b1c8872e37ae64990e839cf3668f57e49286fb9f65f08249d61f71430003d79c69a210fba638ee45377843ff76e26f08becf03cf6dff247f25bfdb1b4b06649a8fba6fb9883fadb4106e6dc9543">declaration</a> affirms:</p>
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<p>We call on the UN secretary general to firmly anchor culture as a global public good and to integrate it as a specific goal in its own right in the development agenda beyond 2030.</p>
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<p>The cultural goal is to achieve “more harmony between peoples and communities”. This could involve the promotion of cultural diversity, the return of cultural assets, increased budgets for creative activities and other policies. </p>
<h2>Why this matters</h2>
<p>If the UN adopts this option of culture being a sustainable development goal, the post-2030 sustainable development agenda will have new content. This will change how development agencies deal with culture and how universities teach the relationship between culture and development. The result could be more funding for culture, which is increasingly underfunded by governments. </p>
<p>In addition, making cultural diversity an “ethical imperative” should play a role, if possible, in discussions about the commercialisation of cultural goods and services and the digital transition. </p>
<p>Next to come will be Mondiacult’s conditions of implementation. This is a follow-up action plan that should mobilise stakeholders to embrace Mondiacult’s outcomes ahead of the 2024 UN <a href="https://www.un.org/en/common-agenda/implementation">Summit of the Future</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198247/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ribio Nzeza Bunketi Buse does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The huge gathering of policymakers focused on culture’s crucial role in sustainable development.Ribio Nzeza Bunketi Buse, Associate Professor, University of Kinshasa Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1975392023-01-29T18:33:48Z2023-01-29T18:33:48ZWhat makes archaeology useful as well as exciting? It offers lessons from the past<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504640/original/file-20230116-14-caekqf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Great Zimbabwe</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Archaeology is fun. It’s so much fun that sometimes people do not treat it with the seriousness it deserves. Studying the past, through what people leave behind, can offer insights into some of the world’s <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/making-archaeology-relevant-to-global-challenges-a-global-south-perspective/5F0E4C5D48FDD2D77D4ED1F4402F3740">challenges</a> – like hunger, health, and protecting the environment.</p>
<p>Some of the most impressive archaeological sites in the world include <a href="https://www.economist.com/interactive/christmas-specials/2021/12/18/great-zimbabwe-archaeology">Great Zimbabwe</a>, the Egyptian <a href="https://theconversation.com/racism-is-behind-outlandish-theories-about-africas-ancient-architecture-83898">Pyramids</a> and the Great Wall of China. Side by side with these very old and massive structures are sediments, old bones, seeds, pottery, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-found-the-earliest-glass-production-south-of-the-sahara-and-what-it-means-142059">glass</a>, metals and human <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-cave-site-in-kenyas-forests-reveals-the-oldest-human-burial-in-africa-160343">skeletons</a>. All yield clues about ancient environments, <a href="https://theconversation.com/65-000-year-old-stone-swiss-army-knives-show-early-humans-had-long-distance-social-networks-184648">societies</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/at-unguja-ukuu-human-activity-transformed-the-coast-of-zanzibar-more-than-1-000-years-ago-176035">economies</a>. </p>
<p>Archaeological discoveries sometimes grab headlines: Howard Carter’s discovery of <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/the-discovery-of-king-tuts-tomb/">Tutankhamun’s tomb</a> in Egypt in 1922, the <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/terra-cotta-warriors-found">Terracotta Army</a> discovery by local farmers in China in 1974, the spectacular objects of <a href="https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-585;jsessionid=CED15264FBBE42956F1B722E51F56113">Igbo Ukwu</a> in Nigeria, the gold burials of <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-book-on-mapungubwe-archive-contests-history-of-south-african-world-heritage-site-187926">Mapungubwe</a> and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/spectacular-anglo-saxon-burial-uncovered-heres-what-it-tells-us-about-women-in-seventh-century-england-196675">Staffordshire hoard</a> in England are a few examples that come to mind. </p>
<p>At <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Great-Zimbabwe-Reclaiming-a-Confiscated-Past/Chirikure/p/book/9780367638979?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9e6GmajE_AIVqRkGAB2ASAeQEAMYASAAEgJNufD_BwE">Great Zimbabwe</a>, the excavation team I lead always discovers interesting things that show how this place was once connected across Africa and with India and China. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-found-the-earliest-glass-production-south-of-the-sahara-and-what-it-means-142059">How we found the earliest glass production south of the Sahara, and what it means</a>
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<p>But beyond being interesting, what is the value of these discoveries? The short answer is that they offer lessons from human experience. They show us different options that we could think about and modify to suit changing circumstances. Materials, land use, water storage, cultural practices and ways to manage <a href="https://theconversation.com/archaeology-shows-how-ancient-african-societies-managed-pandemics-138217">health</a> are just some of the kinds of options I mean. </p>
<h2>Lessons from human experience</h2>
<p>For example, of the many “gifts” that the Romans gave to the world, concrete is one of the most studied materials. It has the potential to reduce greenhouse gases known to cause global warming and climate extremes. <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add1602">Studies</a> in design and engineering are showing that adapting Roman techniques can improve modern concrete formulations, making them durable and environmentally friendly. </p>
<p>And modern designers have been inspired by <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/mrs-online-proceedings-library-archive/article/abs/craft-knowledge-as-an-intangible-cultural-property-a-case-study-of-samarkand-tiles-and-traditional-potters-in-uzbekistan/CEF57A6A272919D6CD6A3CCC3F331F40">research</a> into ancient tiles used in Asian regions such as Uzbekistan. </p>
<p>Learning from the past also promotes balanced approaches to sustainable farming practices. It can lead to responsible <a href="https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/reclaiming-great-zimbabwes-past-to-learn-lessons-for-the-future">planetary stewardship</a>. For example, we can learn about growing traditional crops such as millet and sorghum that are not only nutritious but also help in <a href="https://theconversation.com/chemical-traces-in-ancient-west-african-pots-show-a-diet-rich-in-plants-177579">biodiversity</a> conservation and heritage protection.</p>
<p>Clues to environmental changes can come from unexpected places. One of the most exciting archaeological discoveries I have worked on is the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11457-010-9059-9">Oranjemund shipwreck</a>. Diamond miners in Namibia stumbled on this in 2008 when dredging sand. A Portuguese ship had sunk in the 1530s and its cargo was on the seabed. Through international collaborations, we rescued 20 tons of copper, nearly 40kg of gold coins, 7 tons of unworked elephant tusks and many other items from the ship. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504857/original/file-20230117-18-d5uwp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504857/original/file-20230117-18-d5uwp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504857/original/file-20230117-18-d5uwp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504857/original/file-20230117-18-d5uwp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504857/original/file-20230117-18-d5uwp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504857/original/file-20230117-18-d5uwp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504857/original/file-20230117-18-d5uwp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504857/original/file-20230117-18-d5uwp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mine workers excavate an ivory tusk found on site of a shipwreck in Oranjemund, Namibia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Amy Toensing / Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Work by teams bringing together different scientific techniques, such as stable isotopes and ancient DNA, identified the West African forest region as the source of the elephants hunted for their <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982220316638">ivory</a>. Most of that elephant population has since disappeared, through unsustainable consumption. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fossil-tracks-and-trunk-marks-reveal-signs-of-ancient-elephants-on-south-africas-coast-164306">Fossil tracks and trunk marks reveal signs of ancient elephants on South Africa's coast</a>
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<p>Archaeology also shines a light on the different ways human societies have organised themselves. For example, discoveries of <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/Bantu_Migration">evidence</a> showing the migrations of different groups of people in Africa show the limitations imposed by the national borders created by <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/berlin-conference">colonial powers</a>. Before European colonialism, African peoples were connected in different ways. Archaeology presents this African heritage and offers social cohesion as an alternative to <a href="https://theconversation.com/xenophobia-does-not-tell-the-full-story-of-migration-in-south-africa-182784">xenophobia</a>. </p>
<h2>Multidisciplinary discovery</h2>
<p>Another value of archaeology is that it uses multiple <a href="https://theconversation.com/ancient-dna-helps-reveal-social-changes-in-africa-50-000-years-ago-that-shaped-the-human-story-175436">fields of knowledge</a> to discover and interpret findings. Studies of <a href="https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-68;jsessionid=D5D108B5CB4C4FBAC536C5EE12F12808">precolonial African trade</a>, for example, use multiple sources and techniques such as oral and documentary history, languages and archaeological materials analysis to show that communities in southern Africa were networked with each other and those in central and eastern Africa. Archaeologists recovered iron gongs produced in central Africa at Great Zimbabwe together with a coin minted at Kilwa on the Indian Ocean coast. This shows movement of resources and people within Africa – which is once again a goal through the <a href="https://theconversation.com/africas-free-trade-area-offers-promise-for-cities-but-only-if-theres-investment-187177">African Continental Free Trade Area</a>. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://theconversation.com/archaeological-site-along-the-nile-opens-a-window-on-the-nubian-civilization-that-flourished-in-ancient-sudan-174575">heritage</a>, archaeological discoveries also have economic and intrinsic value. Some of the world’s most visited tourism destinations are archaeological sites – Machu Picchu in Peru is one. This goes against the perception that archaeology is all about discovery for discovery’s sake and that it is a luxury in a hard-pressed world. </p>
<p>Archaeology matters because lessons from the past can put solutions on the table, mixing excitement with problem solving.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197539/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shadreck Chirikure receives funding from the British Academy, the University of Oxford, the National Research Foundation of South Africa, and the University of Cape Town. He is affiliated with the University of Cape Town. </span></em></p>Archaeological discoveries show the different options that have solved human problems over time.Shadreck Chirikure, Director, Research Laboratory, Professor of Archaeological Science and British Academy Global Professor, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1961712022-12-16T12:00:16Z2022-12-16T12:00:16ZWhy Wellcome closed its Medicine Man exhibition – and others should follow suit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499556/original/file-20221207-25-khi4s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4030%2C2463&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Wellcome Collection gallery in central London.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-january-2018-view-entrance-wellcome-797225785">William Barton</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In November the Wellcome Collection closed their Medicine Man gallery. In a <a href="https://twitter.com/ExploreWellcome/status/1596091202381975552">Twitter thread</a>, they acknowledged that “the display still perpetuates a version of medical history that is based on racist, sexist and ableist theories and language.”</p>
<p>Medicine Man <a href="https://inews.co.uk/culture/arts/wellcome-collection-director-melanie-keen-challenged-relics-colonialism-racism-578335">told history</a> from a narrow, <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/pages/YLnsihAAACEAfsuu">eurocentric perspective</a>. As such, the Wellcome’s decision to rethink its gallery is not a matter of erasing history, but of deepening it.</p>
<p>As they rethink their collections, Wellcome and others like it must remember that <a href="https://clas.osu.edu/sites/clas.osu.edu/files/Tuck%20and%20Yang%202012%20Decolonization%20is%20not%20a%20metaphor.pdf">decolonisation is not a metaphor</a>, and that this move must be followed up by more concrete action.</p>
<h2>Henry Wellcome and his collection</h2>
<p>Henry Wellcome (1853-1939) was an American collector who amassed a fortune through his pharmaceutical firm.</p>
<p>Through a network of collecting agents, Wellcome accumulated millions of objects over the course of his career.</p>
<p>In 1912, collecting agent Charles Thompson <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/ervknb4k">wrote a letter</a> to his colleague Paira Mall advising that he should not come home until “India is completely ransacked.”</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499573/original/file-20221207-3544-liif7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sepia portrait shows Henry Wellcome with short hair and a huge handlebar moustache." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499573/original/file-20221207-3544-liif7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499573/original/file-20221207-3544-liif7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499573/original/file-20221207-3544-liif7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499573/original/file-20221207-3544-liif7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=921&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499573/original/file-20221207-3544-liif7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499573/original/file-20221207-3544-liif7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499573/original/file-20221207-3544-liif7b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1157&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Henry Wellcome photographed in 1890.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/eb8jgc9m">Henry van der Weyde</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTiHMadfw5o">Colonial thinking</a> was a fundamental part of the feverish collecting in Wellcome’s company. The Medicine Man gallery is the culmination of this effort.</p>
<p>15 years old, it housed a selection of Wellcome’s collection, focusing on the collector, with scant context regarding how the objects were acquired. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://societyhistorycollecting.org/forum/shc-caa-decentering-collecting-histories/">myth of the heroic European male collector</a> is pervasive in personal collection museums. Collectors are often portrayed as pioneering men with a <a href="https://pmj.bmj.com/content/93/1102/507">“passion for exploration”</a>.</p>
<p>Museums have been slow to tackle this narrative, which omits the networks of collectors that often relied upon <a href="https://natsca.org/sites/default/files/publications/JoNSC-Vol6-DasandLowe2018.pdf">indigenous labour and knowledge</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499552/original/file-20221207-11275-tzl53c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Nail-studded container for nkisi force, carved wooden figure with mirrored container, Bakongo people, west-central Africa, 1882-1920. Front three quarter view. White background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499552/original/file-20221207-11275-tzl53c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499552/original/file-20221207-11275-tzl53c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=758&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499552/original/file-20221207-11275-tzl53c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=758&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499552/original/file-20221207-11275-tzl53c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=758&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499552/original/file-20221207-11275-tzl53c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=953&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499552/original/file-20221207-11275-tzl53c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=953&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499552/original/file-20221207-11275-tzl53c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=953&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A nail studded wooden statue from the Democratic Republic of the Congo dated between 1882-1920.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/fvvpmxfm/items">Wellcome Collection</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This portrayal also mutes histories of violence ubiquitous in 19th century collecting. </p>
<p><a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/fvvpmxfm">One object in the gallery</a>, a nail studded statue from the Democratic Republic of the Congo is dated between 1882-1920. This encompasses 22 years of the <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/belgian-king-establishes-congo-free-state">Congo Free State</a>, a notoriously violent regime that decimated over half of the country’s population.</p>
<p>Displaying this object without context for its creation and acquisition allows the violence of this history to continue. </p>
<p>Decontextualising objects suppresses public awareness of colonial violence, facilitating historical whitewashing that allows for continued <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/belgian-king-returns-mask-congo-symbolic-gesture-restitution-2022-06-08/">denial of accountability.</a></p>
<p>Thousands of objects in Wellcome’s collection, among millions in UK museums, were <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv18msmcr?turn_away=true&seq=3">acquired in violent, colonial contexts</a> and put on display for audiences to gawk at or walk past, unbothered. Many objects are sacred, intimate, personal. Many contain human remains.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499553/original/file-20221207-15956-is41t8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sepia portrait of Paira Mall in suit, with strong dark moustache." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499553/original/file-20221207-15956-is41t8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499553/original/file-20221207-15956-is41t8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499553/original/file-20221207-15956-is41t8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499553/original/file-20221207-15956-is41t8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=826&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499553/original/file-20221207-15956-is41t8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1038&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499553/original/file-20221207-15956-is41t8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1038&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499553/original/file-20221207-15956-is41t8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1038&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Paira Mall received a letter from fellow collecting agent Charles Thompson stating that he would not come home until ‘India is completely ransacked’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/u3msy3uj/images?id=daqcnh8t">Wellcome Collection</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Prior to the closing of Medicine Man, Wellcome <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/event-series/Yv5GQhAAAILuA2Mb">attempted to introduce</a> new perspectives into the gallery: alternative labels, artistic responses to objects and critical engagements led by the Visitor Experience Team.</p>
<p>These interventions showed an evolving attitude. Though, as the museum <a href="https://twitter.com/ExploreWellcome/status/1596091202381975552">acknowledged</a>, this did not change the wider narrative of the gallery. </p>
<p>The pivot from a Wellcome-centric narrative towards “the narratives and lived experiences of those who have been silenced” is a necessary step forward.</p>
<h2>The state of colonial collections in Britain</h2>
<p>Wellcome has had relative freedom within the museum world thanks to its access to private funding.</p>
<p>In 2020, former UK culture secretary <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-from-culture-secretary-on-hm-government-position-on-contested-heritage">Oliver Dowden wrote</a> to national institutions threatening to cut funding if they took “actions motivated by activism or politics”. </p>
<p>As a result, alternatively funded museums such as Wellcome, <a href="https://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/">Pitt Rivers Museum</a> and the <a href="https://powell-cottonmuseum.org/">Powell-Cotton Museum</a> have taken the lead over national ones in confronting their collections.</p>
<p>Though it is important to diversify perspectives in galleries, true decolonial action must stem from the <a href="https://decolonialdictionary.wordpress.com/2020/12/09/return/">active return</a> of <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/new-zealand-toi-moko-repatriation">human remains</a> and <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/on-display-here-wanted-by-india-1988002.html">objects</a>. </p>
<p>Looting was a tool of colonial violence, and it is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/28/opinion/looted-benin-bronzes.html">only through this process</a> that justice can begin.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Exhibitions in the Medicine Man collection are shown, including a display case with artificial limbs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499555/original/file-20221207-12-9otzao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499555/original/file-20221207-12-9otzao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499555/original/file-20221207-12-9otzao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499555/original/file-20221207-12-9otzao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499555/original/file-20221207-12-9otzao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499555/original/file-20221207-12-9otzao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499555/original/file-20221207-12-9otzao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The now closed Medicine Man collection gallery at Wellcome.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:One_of_the_halls_of_the_Wellcome_Collection,_London.jpg">Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Wellcome has a history of returning human remains, fulfilling claims from <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/pages/WyjZcCgAAKgALCuN">Māori/Moriori</a> and <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/pages/WyjbTCgAAKgALDPr">Hawaiian</a> communities. Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum has set up a <a href="https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/features/2020/11/a-new-approach-to-repatriation/">partnership</a> with Maasai representatives to discuss objects of Maasai origin and London’s Horniman museum <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-63783561">sent back</a> 72 objects to Nigeria in November.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.returningheritage.com/case-studies">More institutions</a> must follow these examples.</p>
<p>Those sceptical of restitution have asked – what would happen to museums if their collections were all returned? For most, this is not a realistic risk.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/fact_sheet_bm_collection.pdf">The British Museum</a> has 80,000 objects on display at any one time – just 1% of their entire collection. </p>
<p>If any museum <em>was</em> emptied through returns, this would be a reflection on the historical injustices in the collection and a major success in accountability.</p>
<p>This question circles back to the Wellcome Collection’s original <a href="https://twitter.com/ExploreWellcome/status/1596091202381975552">tweet</a> - “What’s the point of museums?” It is the job of museum professionals and audiences today to grapple with this, and broaden their perspectives and imagination.</p>
<p>Smaller, emerging museums, such as the <a href="https://www.museumofbritishcolonialism.org/">Museum of British Colonialism</a>, the <a href="https://www.migrationmuseum.org/">Migration Museum</a> and <a href="https://queerbritain.org.uk/">Queer Britain</a>, have risen to the front lines as agents for social change that help <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/53014592">represent</a> and respect all the histories that reflect the British community.</p>
<p>Museums are not neutral - the stories they tell and the objects they display are always an active and powerful choice.</p>
<h2>A long way to go</h2>
<p>Despite Wellcome’s positive steps, they must do more internally to ensure their dedication to addressing racism. A <a href="https://wellcome.org/news/insufficient-progress-anti-racism-wellcome-evaluation-finds">summer report</a> revealed that the Wellcome perpetuated <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-systemic-racism-and-institutional-racism-131152">systematic racism</a> and outlined a pattern of discrimination, harassment and <a href="https://theconversation.com/microaggressions-arent-just-innocent-blunders-research-links-them-with-racial-bias-145894">microagressions</a> faced by staff.</p>
<p>The report reflects broader <a href="https://www.museumsassociation.org/campaigns/anti-racism/museums-and-anti-racism/">structures of institutional racism in the heritage field</a>.</p>
<p>The heritage sector has a lot of work to do before they can genuinely claim anti-racist progress. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-systemic-racism-and-institutional-racism-131152">Explainer: what is systemic racism and institutional racism?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Museums must strengthen their commitments to creating more equitable and just societies. This includes following the <a href="https://openrestitution.africa/reclaiming-restitution-report/">advice of activists</a> in repatriating colonial collections and fostering equitable environments in their own communities.</p>
<p>Closing the Medicine Man gallery was a good step forward, but there is still a long way to go.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196171/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anaïs Walsdorf is a previous employee of the Wellcome Collection.</span></em></p>Closing racist exhibitions is a good step, but it doesn’t go far enough to decolonise our museums – an expert explains.Anaïs Walsdorf, PhD candidate, History, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1865122022-07-27T14:49:00Z2022-07-27T14:49:00ZBelgium is reviewing its colonial past in the DRC: it’s a sensitive but necessary process<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473646/original/file-20220712-22-r756em.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">DRC President
Felix Tshisekedi, left, receives a ceremonial mask from Belgium's King Philippe in June 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Arsene Mpiana/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The year 2022 is shaping up to be a critical period for the <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/belgium-king-philippe-congo-challenge-dont-do-anything-to-cause-trouble/">troubled relationship</a> between Kinshasa and Brussels. </p>
<p>In June, during a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Belgian king Philippe <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20220608-belgian-king-reiterates-regrets-for-colonial-past-in-dr-congo-stops-short-of-apology">expressed his regret</a> for the wounds of his country’s colonial past. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo then <a href="https://english.news.cn/europe/20220621/64608b85a7b64007a8fd83618d904ea2/c.html">apologised</a> for Belgium’s “moral responsibility” for the 1961 assassination of DRC Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. The country later repatriated his <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/belgium-hands-over-lumumba-tooth-family-60-years-after-murder/">remains</a>. </p>
<p>From the outset, DRC President Félix Tshisekedi has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/06/09/belgium-king-philippe-democratic-republic-congo-colonialism/">said</a> that the challenge for the two nations is to look to the future. He hopes in particular that stronger ties with Belgium will help attract more investments. </p>
<p>But there are those in the DRC who think Belgium hasn’t done enough yet to compensate for its past. Opposition senator Francine Nkanga, for instance, <a href="https://twitter.com/Muyumba/status/1534810273713950720">has said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We will never look to the future without an apology and reparations from Belgium.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So even if both Kinshasa and Brussels want to frame their relationship as one looking into the future, it’s clear that their common past still weighs heavily on their countries. </p>
<p>In July 2020, Belgium set up a parliamentary commission to look into the country’s colonial history and how to best address its consequences. </p>
<p>The commission is expected to come up with <a href="https://www.lachambre.be/kvvcr/pdf_sections/pri/congo/55K1462001.pdf">concrete recommendations</a> later this year. It’s hoped they will provide an idea of how to heal the relationships between Belgians, Congolese, Rwandans and Burundians. </p>
<p>It’s a Herculean task. </p>
<p>The commission’s mission is to shed light on a controversial history. It’s required to critically assess the roles of the state, monarchy, church and corporations during Leopold II’s regime (1885-1908). It will also cover Belgium’s colonial rule (1908-1960), and the country’s history in Rwanda and Burundi (1919-1962). </p>
<p>I interviewed Wouter De Vriendt, the chairperson of the commission, for insights into the team’s work. He said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The recommendations could be deployed in many fields: decolonisation of the public space, cultural heritage, fight against racism and xenophobia, academic research, education, and diplomatic and development cooperation relations.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But some <a href="https://www.lalibre.be/belgique/politique-belge/2022/06/22/lopen-vld-et-la-n-va-renoncent-a-la-mission-parlementaire-en-afrique-centrale-pas-de-plus-value-et-un-cout-trop-important-XHCLG3VGWNF57OBSLHEQYPYB7M/">political parties</a> question this scope. Criticisms have also mounted from people of African descent living in Belgium. </p>
<p>Among other things, they say the commission doesn’t sufficiently include black and mixed-race people, and that their current struggles aren’t taken into account. In their view, the floor is primarily given to academic experts, revealing a persistent <a href="https://blogs.mediapart.fr/plis/blog/100222/pacification-du-passe-colonial-belge-auto-erotisme-et-decentrement-decolonial">coloniality</a> of knowledge. </p>
<p>As a history professor who has <a href="https://uclouvain.be/fr/repertoires/anne-sophie.gijs">examined</a> the influence of the past on current political, economic and cultural relations between Africa and Europe, I’m aware that it’s crucial yet intricate to understand the points of view of people whose experiences we don’t share. </p>
<p>The work of Belgium’s parliamentary commission crystallises some of those challenges societies in Europe face when dealing with their colonial past. It may be on a difficult path, but it’s a necessary one.</p>
<h2>Grappling with the past</h2>
<p>In 2020, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/techstream/how-george-floyd-changed-the-online-conversation-around-black-lives-matter/">George Floyd’s murder</a> in the US and the worldwide Black Lives Matter movement revived long-standing claims from <a href="https://www.memoirecoloniale.be/">diaspora organisations</a> that have denounced the persistence of neo-colonial patterns in Belgium. </p>
<p>These trends still feed <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23745118.2019.1645422">racism and discrimination</a> in the country today. </p>
<p>In July 2020, Belgium’s parliament <a href="https://www.brusselstimes.com/117289/parliament-approves-commission-on-belgiums-colonial-past">appointed</a> a commission to investigate the country’s colonial past, document its consequences and propose appropriate responses. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/patrice-lumumbas-tooth-represents-plunder-resilience-and-reparation-186241">Patrice Lumumba’s tooth represents plunder, resilience and reparation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The first task of the commission – with <a href="https://www.lachambre.be/kvvcr/showpage.cfm?section=/comm&language=fr&cfm=/site/wwwcfm/comm/com.cfm?com=10219">17 members</a> from across Belgium’s political spectrum – was to appoint a multi-disciplinary committee. These 10 experts <a href="https://www.dekamer.be/FLWB/PDF/55/1462/55K1462002.pdf">released a report</a> in October 2021. </p>
<p>In a bid to broaden and deepen the conclusions of this report, parliamentarians organised hearings with diaspora and civil society. A large panel of international experts also makes presentations every week on the responsibilities of the actors involved in colonisation. </p>
<p>The debate is currently focused on relevant kinds of reparation and reconciliation processes. </p>
<p>The interviewed experts change weekly, but three independent academic specialists are working with parliament permanently. </p>
<h2>A rocky path</h2>
<p>From the onset, the commission faced hurdles. </p>
<p>While public and political attention peaked with the Black Lives Matter movement, priorities shifted following the COVID pandemic in 2020 and the 2022 war in Ukraine, and their economic fallout. </p>
<p>This prompted <a href="https://www.lalibre.be/belgique/politique-belge/2022/06/22/lopen-vld-et-la-n-va-renoncent-a-la-mission-parlementaire-en-afrique-centrale-pas-de-plus-value-et-un-cout-trop-important-XHCLG3VGWNF57OBSLHEQYPYB7M/">certain parties</a> to question the importance of the commission’s exercise. </p>
<p>In particular, establishing historical responsibilities and possible financial reparations triggered <a href="https://www.rtbf.be/article/passe-colonial-l-open-vld-et-la-n-va-renoncent-a-la-mission-parlementaire-en-afrique-centrale-11017385">heated debates</a> between experts and political parties. </p>
<p>For observers, the dire humanitarian and security situation, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61092878">recently aggravated in Eastern Congo</a>, should be higher on the political agenda than the scrutiny of history. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/retracing-belgiums-dark-past-in-the-congo-and-attempts-to-forge-deeper-ties-184903">Retracing Belgium's dark past in the Congo, and attempts to forge deeper ties</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some also worry about the political gains that lawmakers taking part in the commission may seek to reap.</p>
<p>In response to this, De Vriendt told me: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The commission represents a broad range of Belgian ideologies and interests, and is synthesising many topics and opinions … This is the first time that diasporas have been included in a parliamentary initiative to such an extent … The three independent academics additionally help to depoliticise and objectify the work and methodology adopted.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yet the points of view shared each week can be diametrically opposed. Drawing constructive conclusions for present and future generations will, therefore, be a trying task. </p>
<p>But when I interviewed him, De Vriendt emphasised that the commission’s objective “is not to come to a shared ‘truth’ nor to create consensus around a definitive narrative on history”.</p>
<p>Its aim, he said, was to “demonstrate that Belgium is capable of an open, lucid and thorough reflection on its past and its consequences, and … practical recommendations will follow, paving the way for appeased and improved relations between Belgians, Congolese, Rwandans and Burundians”. </p>
<h2>What reconciliation means</h2>
<p>Among possible reparations, official apologies and financial retribution are most frequently listed. But they are the tip of an iceberg. </p>
<p>To move past the past, Belgium is considering other avenues. These include <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/belgium-takes-first-small-step-in-returning-art-to-congo/">restitution of artefacts</a>, joint research between Congolese and Belgians, reformed education, facilitation of visas for people from its former colonies and fighting discrimination faced by African descendants in Belgium. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/uganda-drc-reparations-verdict-raises-questions-about-the-price-of-justice-177485">Uganda-DRC reparations verdict raises questions about the price of justice</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The final recommendations could also apply to Belgium’s development policy in central Africa to foster more inclusive and equitable partnerships. </p>
<p>Given the scope of competencies targeted, all layers of the Belgian state will likely be called to action in the final report expected in December 2022. This will include the federal government and local authorities. They, in turn, will have to take inspiration from the proposals, should they choose to do so.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186512/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne-Sophie Gijs does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Belgium wants to frame its relationship with Congo, Rwanda and Burundi as one looking into the future – but the past weighs heavily.Anne-Sophie Gijs, Professor, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1873142022-07-21T12:26:27Z2022-07-21T12:26:27ZRevealing Nottingham’s secret history through augmented reality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475384/original/file-20220721-9733-7q78pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Market Wall</span> </figcaption></figure><p>You probably know of Robin Hood, the heroic outlaw who stole from the rich and gave to the poor of Nottingham. What you probably didn’t know was that he had to evade two sheriffs because, in the late middle ages, Nottingham city was split into two boroughs, each with its own laws and ways of life.</p>
<p>History is sometimes selective and important facts can easily be forgotten. This is the case in the history of Nottingham city. Few people are likely to be aware that for 700 years after the Norman colonisation in 1068, the town was split into two boroughs: one populated by Normans, the other by Anglo-Saxons. </p>
<p>Fascinated by this lesser-known history, last year, I decided to make this hidden secret of Nottingham, and its intangible heritage as the “city of the towns”, more known using augmented reality (AR) technology. Using historical maps and archaeological data, I led a research team at Nottingham Trent University to recreate in 3D the original shape and position of the Market Wall that separated the Norman borough from the Anglo-Saxon borough in Nottingham.</p>
<h2>A divided Market Square</h2>
<p>The large market square, which is still there and is the second largest market square in the UK, was shared by the two boroughs but was divided by a wall around 1.6 metres high. The wall was to separate livestock from other goods and to define different administration and laws. People were, however, allowed to move freely from one side to the other, as is clearly shown in <a href="http://www.thorotonsociety.org.uk/publications/articles/johnspeed.htm">historical maps of Nottingham</a> and archival documentation. </p>
<p>The purpose of the Nottingham Market Wall was as an administrative boundary between the two boroughs and was very different from many other segregation walls, like the Berlin Wall. In medieval Nottingham, both sides could “cross the border” any time they wanted, living together in peace, sharing their culture, and creating a “melting pot” that is probably the secret behind the character of this unique town.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An AR representation of a wall in a square." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475379/original/file-20220721-22-nvfwbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475379/original/file-20220721-22-nvfwbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=290&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475379/original/file-20220721-22-nvfwbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=290&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475379/original/file-20220721-22-nvfwbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=290&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475379/original/file-20220721-22-nvfwbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475379/original/file-20220721-22-nvfwbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475379/original/file-20220721-22-nvfwbc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=364&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Market Wall showing the Norman and Anglo Saxon side through the app.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrea Moneta</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My interest in the wall started when I noticed in the old Market Square a long water drain with a grill that had a strange shape. I later discovered that it was inspired by an old map of Nottingham depicting the Market Wall. I immediately thought that this important yet unknown aspect of Nottingham’s heritage should be visually revealed. The best way, I believed was by using augmented reality technology, not just for the possibility to have a realistic view of the historical wall blended right into the user’s view of the real world, but also because AR is a technology available on our smartphones so that anyone can easily discover and interact with the deep roots of the city. </p>
<h2>Creating the Market Wall AR app</h2>
<p>The project aimed to invite Nottingham’s citizens and tourists to experience and interact with the historical roots of the city through virtual archaeology, using their smartphones or tablets. After downloading and installing the free AR app from <a href="https://amoneta4.wixsite.com/marketwall">www.themarketwall.com</a> users can go into the Old Market square and visualise through their smartphone where the Market Wall was and interact with it, getting closer and around, walking along its length.</p>
<p>The app also includes two other historical elements, the Malt Cross, a pillar on a pile of ten steps where public announcements and punishments (whipping) were made that were located at the crossing between Long Row and Market Street. The other element is the ducking stool, a tool to punish mainly women for scolding or backbiting (talking behind someone’s back) by bonding them to a chair fixed on a pole so that they could be immersed in a pond that was originally located where the fountain in the Old Market square now is. </p>
<p>These landmarks of public announcements and punishments can help users immerse themselves in medieval Nottingham, experiencing the role of the historical Saturday Market, the old name of the square, in the social and political life of Nottingham, beyond trade and commerce. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A ar representation of a Medieval pillar." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475381/original/file-20220721-23-nokg5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475381/original/file-20220721-23-nokg5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475381/original/file-20220721-23-nokg5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475381/original/file-20220721-23-nokg5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=282&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475381/original/file-20220721-23-nokg5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475381/original/file-20220721-23-nokg5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475381/original/file-20220721-23-nokg5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Malt Cross.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrea Moneta</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Using the AR app in the Old Market square, visitors can see how the Market Wall, Malt Cross and ducking stool once looked and virtually interact with them. AR technology can contribute in an easy, enjoyable way to reveal the identity of places and the intangible attributes of heritage that are not physically visible anymore. </p>
<p>The app created interest in the local and national <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3gx37x033no">press</a>, but it also generated curiosity in the citizens. Over 100 users to date have downloaded the app. </p>
<p>With smartphones becoming more powerful, AR technology is developing and creating more possibilities to integrate virtual reality with our real world. Digitally enhancing natural environments, the built environment and heritage sites, AR on smartphones and tablets are extending museums and exhibition beyond their traditional parameters and possibly also audiences. </p>
<p>Connecting reality with the “metaverse”, a collective virtual open space that is believed to be the next evolution of the internet, could make each city a museum that is ready to be experienced across the past, present and future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187314/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Moneta does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nottingham was once two towns divided by a wall in Market Square.Andrea Moneta, Senior Lecturer in Theatre Design, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1800412022-03-29T16:11:56Z2022-03-29T16:11:56ZAfrica’s wars are hurting its rich heritage: how the law can help<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454550/original/file-20220327-17-5dlfkq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some of the ancient manuscripts Jihadists burnt in Timbuktu in 2013 during civil conflict in Mali.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michele Cattani/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://issafrica.org/pscreport/psc-insights/african-conflicts-to-watch-in-2022#:%7E:text=Libya%2C%20South%20Sudan%2C%20the%20Central,war%20from%202018%20to%202019.">Several countries</a> across the African continent are currently embroiled in war. Some of those worst hit are South Sudan, Ethiopia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, the Central African Republic and Burkina Faso. These armed conflicts are caused by a range of factors, including bad governance, corruption, poverty, rights violations and religious intolerance.</p>
<p>Armed conflict has led to the loss of <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/wars-killed-5-million-african-children-over-20-years-says-study/a-45299472">millions of African lives</a> over the decades and negatively affected national development. It has also caused <a href="https://theconversation.com/africas-rich-heritage-is-under-threat-42335">huge losses</a> to cultural heritage.</p>
<p>As a scholar of international law, with a focus on cultural property law, my <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dLFq0jAAAAAJ&hl=en">research and policy briefs</a> have analysed applicable policies and legislation that would protect heritage during conflict. </p>
<p>I have found that without a reawakening of cultural conscience among Africans – and political will from governments – the continent’s heritage will continue to suffer neglect and destruction. </p>
<p>Partnerships among African states, heritage stakeholders, and regional and international organisations are equally fundamental in establishing a solid foundation for heritage protection.</p>
<h2>Widespread destruction</h2>
<p>There are several accounts of the destruction to Africa’s heritage in conflict situations. </p>
<p>For instance, the war between <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-44004212">Eritrea and Ethiopia</a> – which started in 1998 and ended with a peace deal in 2000 – resulted in the Ethiopian army <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254758888_Outstanding_universal_value_world_heritage_cities_and_sustainability_mapping_assessment_processes">toppling</a> the Stella of Matara, a 2,500-year-old sculpture of cultural significance. </p>
<p>In Mali in 2012, rebel Islamist groups took over Timbuktu and <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20160822-mali-icc-justice-timbuktu-jihadist-cultural-heritage-destruction">destroyed</a> mosques, mausoleums and Sufi tombs that had been built as far back as the 15th century.</p>
<p>In Côte d'Ivoire, sacred circular masks were <a href="https://www.iccrom.org/sites/default/files/publications/2019-11/iccrom_ics06_culturalheritagepostwar_en_0_0.pdf">stolen and some burnt</a> during a conflict that began in 2002. The Klin Kpli, the sacred talking drum of the Baoule people, was stolen from the royal court of Sakassou.</p>
<p>In Senegal between 1990 and 2011, churches, mosques and sacred forests <a href="https://www.iccrom.org/sites/default/files/publications/2019-11/iccrom_ics06_culturalheritagepostwar_en_0_0.pdf">were destroyed</a> as civilians used them for refuge and combatants sought to hide from government troops.</p>
<p>In the Nigerian civil war between 1967 and 1970, the Oron Museum in the country’s east was occupied by troops. The Oran Kepi ancestral figures kept there were moved to Umuahia town in the south for safekeeping. When the war reached Umuahia, the objects were transferred to Orlu, about 70km away. Unfortunately, a lack of knowledge on the value of these artefacts led to their being <a href="https://www.iccrom.org/sites/default/files/publications/2019-11/iccrom_ics06_culturalheritagepostwar_en_0_0.pdf">used as firewood</a> by the residents of Orlu.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-iccs-al-mahdi-ruling-protects-cultural-heritage-but-didnt-go-far-enough-67071">The ICC's Al-Mahdi ruling protects cultural heritage, but didn't go far enough</a>
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<p>In Sierra Leone, the civil war between 1991 and 2002 <a href="https://www.iccrom.org/sites/default/files/publications/2019-11/iccrom_ics06_culturalheritagepostwar_en_0_0.pdf">severely damaged</a> a museum in Freetown. Some artefacts were riddled with bullet holes, while others were destroyed by rain due to the damage done to the museum’s roof, windows and doors. </p>
<p>Ethiopia has more recently illustrated how armed conflict destroys historical items. The country’s northern region of Tigray – rich in religious heritage and a tourist attraction – has been war-torn since November 2020. </p>
<p>Ancient manuscripts and invaluable artefacts in the region have been <a href="https://africanarguments.org/2021/03/tigray-why-are-soldiers-attacking-religious-heritage-sites/">targeted</a> for destruction and looting by Ethiopian and Eritrean troops.</p>
<h2>International treaties</h2>
<p>International law provides for the protection of cultural heritage during war. However, for these legal mechanisms to take effect, governments need to have effected them during times of peace. </p>
<p>One such law is the <a href="https://en.unesco.org/protecting-heritage/convention-and-protocols/1954-convention">1954 Hague Convention</a> for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. It has Protocols I and II. </p>
<p>Protocol II is the most effective at protecting heritage during conflict. State parties to the protocol can exercise universal jurisdiction to extradite or to try any heritage offenders found in their territory.</p>
<p>Another important law is the <a href="http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=13039&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html">1970 UNESCO Convention</a> on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. There is also the <a href="https://www.unidroit.org/english/conventions/1995culturalproperty/1995culturalproperty-e.pdf">1995 UNIDROIT Convention</a> on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects. </p>
<p>The 1970 UNESCO and 1995 UNIDROIT conventions – if properly implemented by countries – can help prevent the looting and illicit trafficking of cultural property. To implement these conventions, state parties need to, among other things, have up-to-date heritage legislation and inventories of their artefacts. </p>
<p>However, no African country has any laws specifically aimed at domesticating these international conventions. This makes implementation of their provisions largely impossible.</p>
<h2>Ethiopia and the treaties</h2>
<p>Ethiopia became a <a href="https://en.unesco.org/sites/default/files/liste_etats_partis_convention_1970_en.pdf">state party</a> to the 1954 Hague Convention on 31 August 2015. However, it has not joined the convention’s 1999 Protocol II. This means the country cannot benefit from these provisions.</p>
<p>In 2021, Ethiopia submitted to the 1954 Hague Convention committee a report on its activities under the treaty for the <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379957">period between 2017 and 2020</a>. The country outlined its implementation of Articles 3, 25 and 28 of the Hague Convention. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-africas-people-culture-and-heritage-are-a-form-of-liberation-103700">For Africa's people, culture and heritage are a form of liberation</a>
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<p>Article 3 covers measures put in place in peacetime to safeguard cultural property against the foreseeable effects of an armed conflict. </p>
<p>Article 25 addresses measures geared towards public enlightenment. This includes training of the military and civilian populations in peacetime on principles that would ensure the protection of cultural property. </p>
<p>Article 28 focuses on putting mechanisms in place nationally for sanctioning nationals and foreigners who violate the convention’s provisions. </p>
<p>Additionally, Ethiopia ratified the 1970 UNESCO Convention in November 2017. Articles 7 and 9 of the convention allow for international cooperation among state parties. This ensures that objects illicitly removed from the territory of a state are returned. </p>
<p>Ethiopia can rely on these provisions and, through diplomatic offices, ensure the return of objects looted during the war. </p>
<p>However, there are <a href="https://eritreahub.org/first-comprehensive-analysis-of-the-looting-of-tigrays-heritage-as-ebay-halts-sale-of-ethiopian-treasures">reports</a> that Ethiopian forces are behind the destruction and looting of various historical and cultural heritage items in Tigray. This illustrates the gaps in the government’s political will to safeguard the country’s heritage. </p>
<h2>Reversing the trend</h2>
<p>Misinformation and a shallow understanding of the significance of heritage items are at the root of the violence demonstrated against heritage items in many parts of Africa – and <a href="https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/destroying-cultural-heritage-more-just-material-damage">beyond</a>.</p>
<p>To counter these, protecting heritage requires:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>political will</p></li>
<li><p>civic education on the value of heritage</p></li>
<li><p>partnership among African states, heritage stakeholders, and regional and international organisations</p></li>
<li><p>strengthening national legislation and harmonising it with international best practices.</p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180041/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Afolasade A. Adewumi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Protecting the continent’s historical artefacts requires political will from governments – and a reawakening of cultural conscience among Africans.Afolasade A. Adewumi, Senior Lecturer, University of IbadanLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1797522022-03-29T01:24:25Z2022-03-29T01:24:25ZNow Shackleton’s Endurance has been found, who determines what happens to the famous shipwreck?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454609/original/file-20220328-23-lbd07s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A view of the bow of the Endurance.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust/National Geographic</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tonight’s federal budget will include more than <a href="https://theconversation.com/scott-morrison-commits-804-million-over-a-decade-for-the-antarctic-177548">A$800 million over ten years</a> to provide a “clear marker” of Australia’s “scientific leadership” in Antarctica. </p>
<p>The funds will go towards drones and helicopters amid mounting (<a href="https://www.aspi.org.au/report/eyes-wide-open-managing-australia-china-antarctic-relationship">although somewhat exaggerated</a>) concerns over Chinese activity in the region. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-krill-aquarium-climate-research-and-geopolitics-how-australias-800-million-antarctic-funding-will-be-spent-177609">A krill aquarium, climate research, and geopolitics: how Australia's $800 million Antarctic funding will be spent</a>
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<p>But political assets in the polar region include more than expensive state of the art toys. Earlier this month, one of the most famous shipwrecks in history, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance, was <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60654016">discovered</a> in the Weddell Sea – a part of Antarctica claimed by multiple nations. </p>
<h2>The Endurance</h2>
<p>There is enormous excitement around the discovery of the Endurance.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Sir Ernest Shackleton." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454843/original/file-20220328-17-1lk9t16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454843/original/file-20220328-17-1lk9t16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454843/original/file-20220328-17-1lk9t16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454843/original/file-20220328-17-1lk9t16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454843/original/file-20220328-17-1lk9t16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454843/original/file-20220328-17-1lk9t16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454843/original/file-20220328-17-1lk9t16.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sir Ernest Shackleton.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The wreck provides a physical connection to a great tale of human survival, as it was the vessel used during the British explorer’s 1914-1916 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. </p>
<p>It became stuck in the ice and eventually sunk. Remarkably, none of the men died during the ordeal, despite having to camp on the ice for months during an austral winter.</p>
<p>But now the Endurance has been found, who owns it and who should look after it?</p>
<h2>The Antarctic Treaty</h2>
<p>Antarctica is governed differently from other parts of the world. The <a href="https://www.ats.aq/index_e.html">Antarctic Treaty</a> was signed in 1959, with its first provision stating “Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only”. It also provides for free and cooperative scientific investigation on and around the frozen continent.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/finding-shackletons-ship-why-our-fascination-with-antarctica-endures-179354">Finding Shackleton's ship: why our fascination with Antarctica endures</a>
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<p>At the time of signing, seven countries – Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom – had territorial claims in the region. But under the treaty, no country can assert (or deny) a claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica.</p>
<p>Despite this strong legal foundation, cultural heritage provides an opportunity for nations – in this case Britain – to assert their past, as well as their intended future, presence in the region. </p>
<h2>Historic sites in Antarctica</h2>
<p>The Antarctic is governed via annual meetings, attended by signatories to the treaty. At these meetings, countries can designate historic remains as official <a href="https://www.ats.aq/devAS/Meetings/Measure/444?s=1&from=1/1/1958&to=1/1/2158&cat=0&top=0&type=0&stat=0&txt=Historic%20Sites%20and%20Monuments&curr=0&page=2">historic sites or monuments</a>. </p>
<p>At the 2019 meeting, the UK successfully proposed the Endurance wreck as an official historic site, despite not knowing its location or state at the time. After learning of plans by NGOs to search for the wreck, the UK said it wanted to “confirm the protection status of the vessel in the event that it is located”. </p>
<p>The “<a href="https://www.ats.aq/devph/en/apa-database/187">historic site</a>” status protects:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>all artefacts contained within or formerly contained within the ship, which may be lying on the seabed in or near the wreck within a 150-metre radius.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Who is responsible for the sunken ship?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://endurance22.org/endurance-is-found">Endurance22</a> expedition, backed by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, located the wreck in remarkable condition just over three weeks ago. This expedition had set itself the task of searching for and surveying the shipwreck. </p>
<p>Since 2019, the UK has effectively designated itself as manager of the site – which includes the personal possessions within and all artefacts lying on the seabed nearby. The UK has also stated the wreck should not be not moved or disturbed and only photographed according to strict <a href="https://www.iphc-icomos.org/polar-heritage-resources/iphc-antarctic-underwater-material-culture-guidelines">heritage guidelines</a>. </p>
<p>This is also in line with comments from Shackleton’s granddaughter Alexandra Shackleton, who <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/shackletons-endurance-should-keep-its-secrets-insist-family-xv2t0nh55">says</a> there should be no “rummaging” and “whatever there is will stay there.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A view of the stern of the wreck of Endurance." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454492/original/file-20220327-27-inbnco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454492/original/file-20220327-27-inbnco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454492/original/file-20220327-27-inbnco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454492/original/file-20220327-27-inbnco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454492/original/file-20220327-27-inbnco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454492/original/file-20220327-27-inbnco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454492/original/file-20220327-27-inbnco.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A view of the stern of the wreck of the <em>Endurance</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust/National Geographic/AP/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These preemptive steps are somewhat controversial because the seabed on which the Endurance rests is an area contested between the UK and Argentina. </p>
<p>Although, by definition, a seabed is not within claimed territory, it rests below waters belonging to claimed territory – meaning the wreck could be interpreted by the wider international community as lying outside of the UK’s jurisdiction. </p>
<p>Also worth noting is that the very heritage trust in charge of the expedition originates from <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/brief-history-falklands-war-180976349/">hotly contested territory</a> between the two countries – the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas. </p>
<h2>Other complications</h2>
<p>Another challenge is posed by the <a href="https://www.un.org/depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_overview_convention.htm">United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea</a>. This sets out that archaeological and historical objects found at sea should be protected. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-wreck-of-endurance-is-a-bridge-to-a-bygone-age-and-a-reminder-of-antarcticas-uncertain-future-179021">The wreck of Endurance is a bridge to a bygone age, and a reminder of Antarctica's uncertain future</a>
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<p>The ship used to search for the wreck was provided by South Africa, while funding was provided primarily by UK private and commercial sources. South Africa has signed the convention, while the UK has agreed to abide by its rules, but is <a href="https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/bCPIC0YZ4yFGYZwzLswBKRf?domain=unesco.org.uk">not a signatory</a>. </p>
<p>This has created a feeling of unease among the expert community, who understand that even though the wreck is not currently easy to access (for one, it is more than 3 kilometres below the surface), with technological developments, this situation may change.</p>
<h2>What happens now?</h2>
<p>Ultimately, the management of the site will set a precedent for the treatment of underwater cultural heritage in the region more widely.</p>
<p>The big question policymakers and diplomats now face is whether a line will be drawn when it comes to having not-yet-found shipwrecks internationally recognised as heritage sites.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The Endurance stuck in the Weddell Sea." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454493/original/file-20220327-21-17ff8ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454493/original/file-20220327-21-17ff8ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454493/original/file-20220327-21-17ff8ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454493/original/file-20220327-21-17ff8ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454493/original/file-20220327-21-17ff8ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454493/original/file-20220327-21-17ff8ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/454493/original/file-20220327-21-17ff8ce.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Antarctic photographer Frank Hurley captured the Endurance stuck in the Weddell Sea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Frank Hurley/ Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Two more sites will likely test this question: the San Telmo and the SS Hampson. Spain proposed the San Telmo – a Spanish naval ship that sunk in the Drake Passage in 1819 supposedly carrying the first “humans to live and die” in Antarctica – as an official historic site at the 2021 meeting. </p>
<p>The SS Hampson is expected to be the large unidentified wooden sailing boat wrecked at Hampson Cove, Elephant Island. The UK is again the manager of the site, given it established the cove’s official heritage status back in 1998. </p>
<p>Like the recent discoveries of other wrecks, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/12/hms-terror-wreck-found-arctic-nearly-170-years-northwest-passage-attempt">the Erebus and Terror</a> in the high Arctic, these sunken ships represent more than just deteriorating artefacts. </p>
<p>They provide a way for countries to demonstrate their historical occupation of a region where traditional displays of territorial sovereignty are banned.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179752/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Hingley is affiliated with the International Polar Heritage Committee. </span></em></p>Earlier this month, one of the most famous shipwrecks in history was discovered in a part of Antarctica claimed by multiple nations.Rebecca Hingley, Research associate, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1745632022-02-04T11:13:34Z2022-02-04T11:13:34ZUK city status: why even small towns compete for the royal honour<p>As part of the Queen’s platinum jubilee celebrations in 2022, towns from across the United Kingdom, and further afield, are competing for city status. The list of competitors numbers 38, with 23 from England, eight from Scotland, three from Northern Ireland, three from various British overseas territories and one – Wrexham – from Wales. </p>
<p>This year’s competition marks several firsts. It is the first time applicants from beyond the British Isles have been included. Also, the judging panel has been made public and for the first time, it includes not only government officials but heritage experts, among them Kate Mavor, the CEO of English Heritage.</p>
<p>Although the award is ultimately an honour bestowed by the Queen, towns interested in city status make their case to the government, traditionally to the Home Office but in recent times to whichever department of state accepts responsibility. This has included the ministries of justice and culture, media and sport and, for 2022, the Cabinet Office.</p>
<p>As I have shown in <a href="https://www.routledge.com/City-Status-in-the-British-Isles-18302002/Beckett/p/book/9781138252127">my book</a>, City Status in the British Isles, 1830-2002, if the administering department of state has changed regularly, just who is responsible for the competitions and their outcomes is not at all clear. Local MPs are expected to use their influence on behalf of their towns. In fact, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/urban-history/article/inventing-and-reinventing-the-modern-city-the-2012-city-status-competition-in-the-united-kingdom/2A2944B1076DC7CB8033363B46D7205B">I have found</a> that city-status competitions are essentially about political patronage. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An orange tender boat brings visitors ashore from a cruise boat." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444339/original/file-20220203-25-asx4ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444339/original/file-20220203-25-asx4ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444339/original/file-20220203-25-asx4ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444339/original/file-20220203-25-asx4ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444339/original/file-20220203-25-asx4ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444339/original/file-20220203-25-asx4ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444339/original/file-20220203-25-asx4ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Is Port Stanley, on the Falkland Islands – population 2,000 – to be one of the newest British cities?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/stanley-falkland-islands-february-2020-tender-2107389653">Vintagepix | Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How towns apply</h2>
<p>There are no straightforward criteria a town has to meet in order to compete. Applicants need neither prove population size nor boast a vibrant local economy; they need no medieval churches or Grade I-listed buildings to their name either. </p>
<p>As such, the platinum jubilee list includes Reading, a southern English town with a population of 163,000 and Alcester, a small Warwickshire town with a population of 7,000. And then there’s Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, which counts just over 2,000 inhabitants. </p>
<p>The government has framed the 2022 competition in terms of civic pride. Applicants were told to emphasise notions of heritage, innovation and greater prosperity and opportunity in their application. They were also told to highlight royal connections, presumably because city status is in the Queen’s gift. Quite how these connections are taken into account by the judging panel is unclear.</p>
<p>Those towns that are successful in their bids will have the right to append “City of” to their names and to change their street signs. They will also update their coats of arms.</p>
<p>According to the UK government, this brings many benefits. Cities, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/full-list-of-places-aiming-to-become-jubilee-cities-revealed">it claims</a>, do better than non-cities: “Winning can provide a boost to local communities and open up new opportunities for people who live there, as is the case with previous winners Perth and Preston where the local economies benefited from their improved national and global standing.”</p>
<p>Less quantifiable outcomes include international exposure and the general buzz of local excitement as feelings of pride, community and nationalism are generated by winning the competition. </p>
<h2>How cities are chosen</h2>
<p>Towns and boroughs in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have competed in such civic honours competitions since 1977, when Derby, in the East Midlands, won on the occasion of the Queen’s silver jubilee. Between the 1992, 2002 and <a href="https://theconversation.com/jubilee-queens-elizabeth-and-victorias-diamond-reigns-5251">2012</a> jubilees, a total of 15 towns have been granted city status. </p>
<p>Jubilee honours aside, there are other instances where towns have been granted the title by <a href="https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/royal-charters/">royal charter</a>. An unexpected competition was organised as part of the Millennium celebrations in 2000, which saw Brighton and Hove, Wolverhampton and Inverness gain city status. <a href="https://theconversation.com/southend-on-sea-how-british-towns-become-cities-170236">Southend-on-Sea followed suit</a> in October 2021, in honour of the late David Amess and his longstanding campaign to see the resort town feted. </p>
<p>Applications for the 2022 competition were submitted in December 2021 and the winners are expected to be announced in the spring. There is no fixed number of winners in any given year. But since there are applicants from each province of the UK it is a fair bet on past performance that each will have at least one successful candidate.</p>
<p>As Wrexham is the only candidate from Wales it can probably expect to succeed. Northern Ireland has three candidates. Possibly these will all succeed given the need to recognise the different communities in the province. </p>
<p>Of England’s 23 candidates, on past performance, no more than three are likely to succeed. The presence on the panel of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/people/catherine-frances">Catherine Francis</a>, the director general for local government and public services at the housing department may suggest that the government is thinking politically about which towns might be promoted, and not just about heritage and royalty.</p>
<p>None of this makes absolute sense. If it is advantageous for a large town to be a city, and the government’s own data suggests it is, why should towns like Blackburn, or Bournemouth, Colchester, Doncaster, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Northampton and others not automatically receive a charter? After all, the Centre for Cities, an independent thinktank dedicated to improving urban economies throughout the UK, lists, among the 63 urban areas that it covers, <a href="https://www.centreforcities.org/city-by-city/">25 English towns</a> which do not have city charters. These include Aldershot, Basildon and Slough, all with a population exceeding 180,000. </p>
<p>While a few places have taken matters into their own hands and declared themselves cities, either temporarily (like Milton Keynes) or permanently (Dunfermline in Scotland and Medway in England), for the most part, town officials abstain from using the term “city” in the absence of a charter. Instead, towns with city status pretensions go through these competitions, which are increasingly like as a sort of beauty contest, wherein patronage is key. </p>
<p>When Preston, a Labour stronghold succeeded in 2002, the Conservative MP for Chelmsford, Simon Burns <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/mar/15/communities.politics1">accused</a> Labour ministers in the House of Commons of engaging “in a cynical political fix” to only reward their stronghold towns with the title. After the Tories and the Liberal Democrats joined forces in 2010, the coalition government made <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/mar/14/st-asaph-chelmsford-perth-city-status">Chelmsford</a> a city in 2012, in what would appear to be a direct response to Burns’ criticisms. What began as a royal honour has now become now a tool for <a href="https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/88559/3/AHRC_Cultural_Value_KO%20Final.pdf">civic boosterism</a> and for currying political favour.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174563/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Beckett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>To fête the 70th year of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, several towns – and a few villages – are to be granted the royal right to call themselves cities.John Beckett, Professor of English Regional History, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1757582022-02-01T15:03:50Z2022-02-01T15:03:50ZHow climate change is washing away precious evidence of our distant past<p>As well as threatening <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-could-cause-abrupt-biodiversity-losses-this-century-135968">biodiversity</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-climate-change-and-extreme-weather-may-lead-to-food-shortages-and-escalating-prices-172646">food systems</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-resulting-in-profound-immediate-and-worsening-health-impacts-over-120-researchers-say-151027">human health</a>, climate change has another victim: ancient artefacts. At some UK sites of archaeological interest, unusually heavy rainfall is eroding layers of protective peat to damage the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60091485">preserved relics</a> that lie beneath.</p>
<p>Some of the UK’s finest archaeological remains have been found buried in <a href="https://peatlands.org/peat/peat/">peat</a>, a type of soil that’s naturally high in acidity and low in oxygen. That means it <a href="https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/preserving-archaeological-remains/heag100a-preserving-archaeological-remains/">preserves</a> wood, leather and textiles extremely well, as the microorganisms that would usually cause these materials to break down can’t thrive. </p>
<p>Peat has helped to keep Britain’s ancient environments alive for modern analysis: from <a href="http://avalonmarshes.org/the-avalon-marshes/heritage/sweet-track/">neolithic trackways</a> marking where our ancestors travelled between settlements in Somerset, to preserved bodies like the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-28589151">Lindow Man</a> found in a bog in Cheshire. The peat environment in which Lindow Man was buried dramatically reduced <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14732971.2020.1779439?journalCode=yjwa20">decay</a>, meaning that his hair and beard have remained visible even after almost 2,000 years. </p>
<p>But climate change is bringing increasingly hotter summers and wetter winters to the UK, including unprecedentedly <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00275-3">heavy</a> local rainfall. This changes the landscape by washing away layers of soil and peat to reveal archaeological buildings, items and human remains.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An ancient stone fort with low walls" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443476/original/file-20220131-13-1wa719c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443476/original/file-20220131-13-1wa719c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443476/original/file-20220131-13-1wa719c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443476/original/file-20220131-13-1wa719c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443476/original/file-20220131-13-1wa719c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443476/original/file-20220131-13-1wa719c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443476/original/file-20220131-13-1wa719c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vindolanda, a Roman fort, holds a huge range of archaeological evidence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vindolanda.jpg">Francis/Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To better understand how fast these changes are taking place – and what their consequences might be for future archaeologists – our colleagues are studying what’s happening at <a href="https://www.vindolanda.com/blog/fact-file-magna">Magna</a>, the site of an ancient Roman fort in Northumberland. </p>
<h2>Magna</h2>
<p>Magna is one of the most fascinating, well-preserved sites in the UK. As a strategic army base, it would have held a commanding position at the <a href="https://www.vindolanda.com/appeal/revealing-magna">junction</a> between three key Roman roads: the Stanegate, Military Way and Maiden Way. Surveys suggest that it was occupied from AD80-85 to the end of Roman Britain, in around AD410. </p>
<p>To study it, archaeologists dug boreholes and inserted devices called <a href="https://www.encardio.com/blog/piezometers-types-functions-how-it-works">piezometers</a> to collect data on groundwater levels and temperature. They’re also sending peat samples to a laboratory for chemical and microbiological analysis. This information will help us to understand how the local environment is changing and what effect this might have on archaeological degradation.</p>
<p>Another Roman fort just a few miles east of Magna, Vindolanda, has provided some of the most significant finds from Roman Britain. Here, archaeologists have discovered the first evidence of handwriting by a woman (Claudia Severa writing to invite her friend Sulpicia Lepidina to her upcoming birthday party), the world’s oldest boxing gloves from around AD120, and the largest Roman leather shoe collection ever found – consisting of an astonishing 7,000 items. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Mannequin feet wearing black leather shoes" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443478/original/file-20220131-126279-5o09dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443478/original/file-20220131-126279-5o09dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443478/original/file-20220131-126279-5o09dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443478/original/file-20220131-126279-5o09dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443478/original/file-20220131-126279-5o09dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443478/original/file-20220131-126279-5o09dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443478/original/file-20220131-126279-5o09dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Items like these Roman black leather shoes are often found preserved in peat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dandiffendale/26456729122">Dan Diffendale/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These remarkable finds are due to the fort’s unique, peat-rich environment, which means that they’re also threatened by climate-driven deterioration. We fear that finds which haven’t yet been discovered may soon be irreversibly damaged due to the effects of climate change.</p>
<h2>The point of peat</h2>
<p>Peatlands cover about 3% of the world’s land area but are one of its best natural <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/28/ultimate-bogs-how-saving-peatlands-could-help-save-the-planet">carbon stores</a>, holding twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests.</p>
<p>In England and Northern Ireland, <a href="https://www.assemblyresearchmatters.org/2021/05/06/peatlands-what-are-they-where-are-they-and-why-do-they-matter/">peatland</a> makes up 10%-12% of all land, while Scotland has 20% peatland cover. Historically, these landscapes have been drained for use in farming, with peat dried to burn for fuel: releasing massive amounts of <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-cant-let-markets-decide-the-future-of-removing-carbon-from-the-atmosphere-171379">carbon</a> into the atmosphere.</p>
<p>Across Europe, an estimated 100,000km² of peatland has been <a href="https://www.cbd.int/financial/fiscalenviron/eu-studyehscountries.pdf">lost</a> over the last 50 years. Much of what remains is poor quality. In the UK, only a fifth of UK peatlands can be described as “<a href="https://repository.uel.ac.uk/download/3a9417a736ff3310b863d8e03f47e2335903c29f10ce1f25a48c84b5bdf49004/2113214/Wawrzyczek_etal_blindedmanuscript_11march2018_accepted-changes%20-%20final%20submitted%20version.pdf">near pristine</a>”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A forest viewed from above" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443479/original/file-20220131-27-e1tqq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443479/original/file-20220131-27-e1tqq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443479/original/file-20220131-27-e1tqq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443479/original/file-20220131-27-e1tqq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443479/original/file-20220131-27-e1tqq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443479/original/file-20220131-27-e1tqq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/443479/original/file-20220131-27-e1tqq7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Peatland stores huge amounts of carbon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cifor/36811390855">Cifor/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The drainage, cutting and agriculture that have damaged these ecosystems have caused equal damage to the archaeological finds buried within them. Peat growth is slowed or stopped when peatlands are drained, leading to oxidised soil that encourages destructive microorganisms to proliferate. </p>
<p>Archaeologists and policymakers are now working side by side to keep peatlands protected environments, to help capture and preserve both carbon and the evidence of the UK’s history.</p>
<p>And this <a href="https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/technical-advice/peatlands/">commitment</a> to protecting peatlands and the heritage they shelter has gone global. Last year, a <a href="https://www.cultureatcop.com/events/peatlands-climate-change-and-cultural-heritage-global-perspectives-problems-solutions-2021">session</a> at the UN climate conference <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop26-agreed-rules-on-trading-carbon-emissions-but-theyre-fatally-flawed-173922">COP26</a> was dedicated to highlighting the importance of protecting peatland. But this is only the beginning of a long journey to ensure that peatlands, and the treasures they hold, will remain safe for generations to come.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rosie Everett works for Northumbria University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gillian Taylor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Increasing rainfall and degrading peatland are threatening archaeological artefacts buried in UK land.Gillian Taylor, Associate Professor in Archaeology, Teesside UniversityRosie Everett, Lecturer in Forensic Science, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1736572021-12-15T14:34:22Z2021-12-15T14:34:22ZFive exciting African museums to add to your travel wish list<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437155/original/file-20211213-13-1xumx7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A display in the Museum of Black Civilisations in Dakar, Senegal.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">SEYLLOU/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Museums don’t often feature on vacation itineraries. That’s probably because people think of these spaces as dull houses of antiquities. But there are few better ways to learn about a country’s history, its people and their cultures than by visiting a museum.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m biased: as <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nompumelelo-Maringa">an archaeozoologist</a> – an archaeologist who studies animal fossils (mostly rodents) – I like digging in the past. And I’ve worked as a museum tour guide, at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Origins Centre Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa. </p>
<p>So I love museums, because they archive, preserve and display objects of significant importance. They allow you to delve deep into the past with eye-catching displays of artefacts, ancient textiles, high-quality images and short films that narrate how our ancestors lived. </p>
<p>In recent years, <a href="https://theconversation.com/virtual-reality-breathes-new-life-into-african-fossils-art-and-artefacts-83911">virtual reality</a> has added an exciting dimension to the world of museums. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many museums have introduced fully virtual tours so that distance is no object. </p>
<p>If virtual tours are unavailable for your museum of choice, search for their formal or social media platforms (websites, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter). Many museums use these platforms to share detailed information, high-resolution photographs, videos, and audio files. Another alternative is the <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/">Google Arts and Culture App</a>: it provides phenomenal images of the exhibitions, limited virtual tours (similar to the Google Maps Street view) of the museum and general interactive activities to rouse your interest. </p>
<p>For those who are planning a holiday on the African continent, I’ve put together a list of museums that would be a delight to visit. Some offer digital and virtual reality alternatives; others require a physical visit. And if you can’t get there now, why not add these to your bucket list for future museum adventures?</p>
<h2>Maison Tiskiwin/Musée Tiskiwin (Tiskiwin Museum) – Marrakech, Morocco</h2>
<p><a href="https://tiskiwin.wdro.nl/">This museum</a> is one of the oldest in Marrakech. It focuses on the history and culture of the Amazigh and Tuareg people, indigenous nomadic groups in North Africa. It holds a collection of objects acquired by the founder of the museum, Dutch anthropologist Bert Flint. He collected these cultural items during decades of North African expeditions. The exhibits represent different regions, recreating the former caravan route from Marrakech to Timbuktu. Each exhibit is generously filled with crafts, artworks, traditional attire, and intricately designed carpets.</p>
<h2>Nairobi National Museum – Nairobi, Kenya</h2>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437153/original/file-20211213-21-1087mwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437153/original/file-20211213-21-1087mwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437153/original/file-20211213-21-1087mwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437153/original/file-20211213-21-1087mwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437153/original/file-20211213-21-1087mwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437153/original/file-20211213-21-1087mwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437153/original/file-20211213-21-1087mwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437153/original/file-20211213-21-1087mwm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Nairobi National Museum in Kenya collects and logs thousands of fossils each year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">SIMON MAINA/AFP via Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.museums.or.ke/nairobi-national-museum/">This museum’s</a> beautiful architecture and modern interior design set the ambience for bountiful exploration. It focuses on four aspects: culture, history, contemporary art, and nature. All are well represented and celebrated. Statues and artworks are peppered in among the collections. Visitors can explore at their own pace, using self-guided tour options.</p>
<h2>Musée des Civilisations Noires (Museum of Black Civilisations) – Dakar, Senegal</h2>
<p>Long before European settlers arrived on the continent, African civilisations boasted advanced heritage, technology and knowledge systems. <a href="http://www.mcn.sn/mcn-template/index.html">This museum</a> evokes that history. It educates visitors about the diversity and versatility of African civilisations. Elaborate masks, statues, art pieces and objects of significance are displayed throughout – each with its own story to tell. It doesn’t shy away from darker matters, examining how communities were demoralised, divided and diminished during colonialism.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437157/original/file-20211213-27-emc1nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437157/original/file-20211213-27-emc1nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437157/original/file-20211213-27-emc1nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437157/original/file-20211213-27-emc1nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437157/original/file-20211213-27-emc1nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437157/original/file-20211213-27-emc1nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437157/original/file-20211213-27-emc1nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">All the exhibits at Dakar’s Museum of Black Civilisations reveal stories about the continent’s pre-colonial past.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">SEYLLOU/AFP via Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Museu Nacional de Antropologia (National Museum of Anthropology) – Luanda, Angola</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.facebook.com/museunacion/">National Museum of Anthropology</a> is especially significant because it was opened in 1976, soon after Angola gained its <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Angola/Independence-and-civil-war">independence from Portugal</a>. The museum cleverly captures Angola’s heritage; you’ll find a variety of masks, musical instruments, sculptures, art pieces, traditional accessories, and attire on display. Some of these date as far back as the early days of the <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/kingdom-kongo-1390-1914">Kingdom of Kongo</a> (1390-1914), which was centred on what is today northern Angola.</p>
<h2>Maropeng: Official Visitor Centre for the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site – Krugersdorp, South Africa</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.maropeng.co.za/content/page/maropeng-visitor-centre">Maropeng visitor centre</a> is a world-class exhibition at the Cradle of Humankind, a world heritage site. The museum is centred on our human ancestors and their development over millions of years. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437156/original/file-20211213-13-1v072je.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437156/original/file-20211213-13-1v072je.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437156/original/file-20211213-13-1v072je.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437156/original/file-20211213-13-1v072je.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437156/original/file-20211213-13-1v072je.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437156/original/file-20211213-13-1v072je.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437156/original/file-20211213-13-1v072je.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A visitor explores part of the visitors’ centre at the Cradle of Humankind near Johannesburg, South Africa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The exhibitions are organised chronologically from the formation of our planet to recent modern developments; they cover a wide range of topics that you can navigate at your own pace. Aspects of adventure and intrigue are introduced with a family friendly boat ride, interactive games and fun activities that add to this pleasurable experience. Lastly, you can explore a few archaeological sites on a pleasant walk on the paths outside the Tumulus (main museum).</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173657/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nompumelelo Maringa does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Museums allow us to delve deep into the past with eye-catching displays of artefacts, ancient textiles, high-quality images and short films that narrate how our ancestors lived.Nompumelelo Maringa, Faunal research assistant, Genus, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1697852021-10-26T14:22:42Z2021-10-26T14:22:42ZNigerian museums must tell stories of slavery with more complexity and nuance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427828/original/file-20211021-25-1ifhwxo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Gidan Makama national museum in Kano, Nigeria.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Aminu Abubakar/AFP/Getty</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In many parts of the world, museums are considering how to present history through different lenses, rather than just representing colonial and imperialistic views of certain events, countries or whole continents.</p>
<p>The current museum presentations of exhibits and information about slavery – especially the transatlantic slave trade – are a stark example of colonisation that’s been spun through a white, eurocentric lens. Hence, it’s become a key part of the decolonisation debate. </p>
<p>Museums all over the world have struggled to move beyond presenting more than emotionally removed snapshots of the slave trade. Most of these halls are continuing a long tradition of disconnecting themselves and the public from personal and local stories of slavery. This makes them disconnected from community and public memories. </p>
<p>African museums are also guilty of this practice. The transatlantic slave trade was a 400-year period during which African people were stolen from their homes and shipped to colonial nations. It was complex and multi-faceted. But when presented by museums today, it is communicated as a singular and temporarily isolated event. African museums frame the transatlantic slave trade narratives from an economic perspective. Their narratives are built around economic drivers and the economic effects of slavery on African countries, and the countries that benefited from the trade.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21619441.2021.1963034">recent study</a>, I examined how slavery is presented in two Nigerian museums. One is Calabar’s Slave History <a href="http://slaveryandremembrance.org/partners/partner/?id=P0027">Museum</a>, which is government-funded; the other is the privately run Seriki Faremi Williams Abass <a href="https://seriki-williams-abass-slave-museum.business.site">Museum</a>. In both museums, the dominant narrative about slavery is that the Europeans arrived; the slave trade developed; and then it was abolished.</p>
<p>Little attention is paid to the practice of slavery in the region before Europeans arrived in the 1440s. There’s little mention of how the practice persisted, even after the British outlawed the slave trade in its empire. There’s no mention of concerns about <a href="https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/resources/downloads/">modern slavery</a> in Nigeria.</p>
<p>This is an isolationist approach to a large, complex set of stories. When I spoke with local communities descended from victims of slavery, members strongly criticised government funded museums’ approach. They kicked against the museums’ failure to convey the complete, complex, and conflicting localised human story of the slave trade. They also wanted museums to reflect that slavery continues to have an impact on local communities today. Especially on the culture and identity of individuals and ethnic groups.</p>
<h2>Official avoidance of history</h2>
<p>Elsewhere in Nigeria, transatlantic slavery and the slave trade are largely absent from national or state museums, including the <a href="https://momaa.org/directory/nigerian-national-museum/">Nigerian National Museum</a> in Lagos.</p>
<p>This official avoidance of the history of slavery and its accompanying acts of oppression and injustice could be linked to the colonial legacies of many of these museums. It may also be connected to wider political rhetoric that unsuccessfully urges Nigerians to forget such dark chapters. Of course, such avoidance is not limited to Nigeria – it’s a global trend of deliberate erasure. It has deep roots in imperialist and eurocentric agendas.</p>
<p>After independence in 1960, Nigeria’s heritage and past were used to enlighten and educate the public in national “official” histories. The aim was <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/og/article/view/141270">nation-building</a>. Six decades later, it has culminated in the exclusion of the transatlantic slave trade from wider narratives of independence, colonial geography, and ethnic histories in Nigerian museums.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427834/original/file-20211021-17-o98oax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A yellow bungalow, with a lawn." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427834/original/file-20211021-17-o98oax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427834/original/file-20211021-17-o98oax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427834/original/file-20211021-17-o98oax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427834/original/file-20211021-17-o98oax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427834/original/file-20211021-17-o98oax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427834/original/file-20211021-17-o98oax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427834/original/file-20211021-17-o98oax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The Slavery Museum at Badagry, Nigeria.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MyLoupe/Universal Images Group/Getty Images</span></span>
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<p>Colonial heritage narratives about Nigeria have not been amended throughout the years. These incorrect narratives linger, despite evidence that slavery and enslavement form the core of the country’s personal, local and cultural memories. </p>
<p>Official efforts have failed to consider community narratives and memories, thereby removing Nigerians from the centre of their own history and heritage. The result is that these museums are often perceived as locally irrelevant: there is a disconnect between the official narrative and the descendent community’s <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333776834_Heritage_and_Community_Archaeology_in_South-Western_Nigeria">versions</a> of the past. </p>
<p>One of the museums in my study, the Seriki Faremi Williams Abass Slave Museum in Badagry, was developed as a direct result of the gaps in official museums’ offerings.</p>
<h2>Local collaboration is key</h2>
<p>It is critical that museum professionals in Nigeria – and the rest of the world – begin to open up dialogue with diverse local communities. Museums must be immersed in people-centric local narratives. They have to also build <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21619441.2021.1963034">trust</a> with the communities in which they operate. </p>
<p>This collaboration will allow for the co-production of culturally relevant, personalised and empathetic narratives. Via this collaboration, the story of slavery and slave trade can be sensitively and accurately presented. It will also enable museums to highlight the unique cultural impact of slavery on specific localities, especially at the points of origin and final destination. </p>
<p>This approach could encourage the public and museums to question over-simplified stories of the past. It’s also a valuable way to support empathy with the past. This could enable the public to face uncomfortable and potentially personal truths about the slave trade and enslavement that move beyond victimisation and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00083968.2013.771422">stereotypes</a>. </p>
<p>By considering transatlantic slavery and slave trade through this lens, museums have the potential to connect people to the past, so communities might learn, reflect and heal.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169785/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Faye Sayer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nigerian museums continue to present colonised versions of history. This harms local communities.Faye Sayer, Researcher in Community Archaeology and Public History, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1611352021-05-21T13:24:47Z2021-05-21T13:24:47ZFour tips to make the most of your next gallery visit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402126/original/file-20210521-17-1de65pi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3876%2C2584&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Galleries are great places for solo trips.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/portrait-woman-wearing-protection-mask-museum-1779979442">Chubykin Arkady/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Going to a gallery can be an escape from the everyday – an opportunity to fall into a moment of reverie in front of an artwork that you know cannot be replicated in print or online. Then there are the spaces themselves: old stately homes, converted power stations and even in carparks. There is nothing quite like a visit to a gallery and now, with COVID restrictions lifting, we can once again go to them. But where to begin and how to make the most of that first trip back?</p>
<p>I have spent the last 20 years working in museums and galleries. In that time, I’ve observed how different people come to these spaces looking for different things.</p>
<p>Whether you’re ready to embrace the world with the full force of a pent-up socialite in need of a culture fix, want to take the children for a day out, or whether you seek solace from solitude, these four tips will help you make the best decisions about when, where and how you bounce back into art and culture.</p>
<h2>1. Alone together</h2>
<p>Art and cultural spaces are great for a solo visit. At the <a href="https://mima.art">Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art</a> (MIMA), where I am director, almost 20% of our visitors come alone. Elders, vulnerable adults, refugees and asylum seekers all report feeling safe in the galleries and are often confident to come on their own. </p>
<p>Floating around an exhibition, just taking in the vibe and then reading a novel in the cafe is a perfectly lovely way to spend an afternoon. No one will blink an eyelid that you’re a lone wanderer. Buy the exhibition catalogue and do a deep dive, or skim the surface and zone in and out of art, ideas and people watching. </p>
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<p>If you’re seeking quiet time, try arriving early in the morning or a little later in the afternoon to miss the hustle and bustle of midday. We’ve all spent a fair amount of time with ourselves over the past year but this doesn’t mean we have to do everything in one big social dash. </p>
<p>Museum and gallery visits are being prescribed by some <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/evidence-and-case-studies/social-prescribing-linked-me-to-art-which-saved-my-life/">GPs</a> as part of an approach to build mental wellbeing and resilience. Art galleries and cultural spaces are great ways to see things anew, to invest in your imagination and build up to other social encounters.</p>
<h2>2. A good place for a ‘thunk’</h2>
<p>If you’re bringing a clan of any kind, it’s worth remembering that boredom thresholds vary. Keeping different age groups happy can make for a much more enjoyable experience and building activities into your visit can help.</p>
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<p>At MIMA, the team have been using artworks to pose “thunks”. A “thunk” is a question that doesn’t have a right or wrong answer. “Where does the sky start?”, “Is soup a food or a drink?”, “What colour is a Tuesday?”. </p>
<p>Also, don’t be afraid to get in contact with the gallery or museum in advance as they may have special resources that you can access.</p>
<h2>3. Augment your visit</h2>
<p>One of my favourite experiences in a gallery was following a lovely elderly chap give a guided tour to his family. They were captivated. Retired, he would make an advance trip to a museum, read up online and then delight his family with a fascinating tour. </p>
<p>The digital world is filled with all sorts of wonders that can enhance your experience in a similar way. From unique documentary footage, contextual narrative and interviews with artists and curators, this material can bring your visit to life.</p>
<p>Apps such as <a href="https://smartify.org/">Smartify</a>, for example, provide behind-the-scenes information about artworks in public collections throughout the UK. This can be a fun way to augment your IRL experience on the day or to bone up in advance. </p>
<h2>4. Just one new thing</h2>
<p>It can be difficult for museums and galleries to provide sanctuary, the quiet needed for contemplation while also being a fun and engaging family activity at the same time. </p>
<p>Whether you’re looking for the former or latter, with the restrictions we’ve all experienced it can be tempting to overload a visit with expectation and risk feelings of disappointment if, in the event, the reality is somewhat different.</p>
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<img alt="Abstract art." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402123/original/file-20210521-15-h57eja.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402123/original/file-20210521-15-h57eja.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402123/original/file-20210521-15-h57eja.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402123/original/file-20210521-15-h57eja.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402123/original/file-20210521-15-h57eja.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402123/original/file-20210521-15-h57eja.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402123/original/file-20210521-15-h57eja.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Otobong Nkanga is currently showing at MIMA.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Otobong Nkanga</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A good approach is to aim to leave the gallery or museum with just one new thing. This could be seeing an entirely new artwork in the permanent collection, having learned one new fact about an artist or a period in time, or simply that brightly coloured pencil you bought in the gift shop. </p>
<p>This will be the first of many visits so enjoy it for what it is and leave feedback – great places really want to know what you enjoyed and what you’d like to see more (or less) of. And if you loved something, tell the world!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161135/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Sillars does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Whether it’s a day out with the kids or a solo visit, these tips will achieve the experience you want.Laura Sillars, Dean of the MIMA School of Art and Design, Teesside UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.