Refining cultural heritage

IFACCA/Artshub, 16 September 2003, USA

Rockefeller Foundation Humanities Fellows at the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage in Washington DC will help expand and refine a theoretical framework for 'cultural heritage discourse' over the next three years. The refinement aims to reflect the perspectives, activities, and participation of academic specialists, civil society groups, and public cultural organisations that can inform dialogues across social, political, and disciplinary boundaries. The Fellows recognise that the meaning of 'cultural heritage' is largely determined by experts and used as a basis for multinational, national, state, and local programs, but should also be the focus of ideas and programs generated by non-governmental organisations, ethnic, regional, and community-based groups. They further assert that the concept of 'cultural heritage' lacks an academic and disciplinary base which results in the silencing of voices of the bearers and stewards of cultural heritage - often the poor, excluded, and marginalised. The Smithsonian will work on the theoretical development of the concept of cultural heritage and its intersection with theories of culture, art, class, race, ethnicity, gender, and globalisation. Fellows will be drawn from three sectors of cultural engagement, including academic institutions, public organisations, and cultural communities, with approximately half of the fellows coming from outside the United States. The intention is to both cross-fertilise sectors of cultural heritage work and to expose international and US thinkers to one another. The primary focus for 2004-2005 fellowships is the relation between cultural heritage and political representation; 2005-2006, between cultural heritage and economic pursuits; and 2006-2007, between cultural heritage and the arts. For further information, email culturalheritagefellows@si.edu.

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