Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Cultural Heritage in Conflict
Ruins have often captured human imagination and, in one way or another, they have been inscribed in a community’s memory, history, or lore. The past decades, however, have witnessed a
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Cultural Heritage in Conflict
Ruins have often captured human imagination and, in one way or another, they have been inscribed in a community’s memory, history, or lore. The past decades, however, have witnessed a considerable shift of meaning concerning deliberate destruction and the symbolic character of ruins. The detonation of Stari Bridge in Mostar (1993) has become one of the iconic images representing the Bosnian War. The targeted demolition of the Bamyan Buddhas in Afghanistan (2001) can be seen as a prelude to the then-impending military intervention.
The destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, India, stands out as a symbol of communalism, a religiously exclusionist nation-state, and the deliberate attempt to eradicate centuries of peaceful Hindu-Muslim coexistence, while the deliberate destruction of heritage sites, museums, and libraries in Iraq and Syria serve as a symbol for the atrocities of a still ongoing conflict that has left thousands of people displaced or dead.
The history of destruction is as old as humanity. What has changed, however, is the way how acts of destruction are promulgated, celebrated, and perpetuated by carefully staging and filming them as well as by distributing these records on video-sharing websites. Similarly, the reactions that destruction causes among the viewers of these records gained more and more importance. While ancient temples or statues feel no fear, anguish, or pain when they are blown up, it is societies that are distressed by their fate.
During the past decades, there has been an ever-growing number of publications, commentaries, and conferences on the destruction of cultural heritage. At the same time, artists and writers have also turned to the question of destruction, be it under circumstances of war and conflict as outlined above, or in the context of neo-liberal urbanization and gentrification, proposing ways of challenging these developments through their artworks, installations, and writings or by initiating grass-roots projects in the attempt to preserve buildings and create awareness for their value among urban authorities.
An international and interdisciplinary conference hel