Keynote lecture by Dr. Marion Steiner, TICCIH Secretary General, at the International Workshop on Industrial Heritage organized by the Heritage Commission of KSA in Riyadh
Abstract: The lecture initiates with addressing current definitions of Industrial Heritage as stated in official charters and declarations that have been authored by The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH) over the past two decades, in particular the TICCIH Nizhny Tagil Charter (2003) and the joint TICCIH-ICOMOS Dublin Principles (2011). We then takes a look back on how TICCIH was founded in the specific social context of deindustrialization in Europe in the 1970s, highlighting the main motivations for setting up a network of people who were motivated to draft basic guidelines for a type of heritage that was then not yet considered a part of the cultural heritage canon. Particular attention in that is paid to the role of emerging experts in the field and their relation with local social movements that arose across countries within a context of large-scale demolition of former industrial facilities in Europe and North America.
While pointing out the pioneering work that TICCIH has been conducting over the past half century since its creation in 1973, especially via the production of important Thematic Studies on special types of industrial heritage, a Handbook on Good Practices in the field (2011) and a Bulletin that is published four times a year, my presentation will then focus on critical perspectives from the global South. These have been there from the start but have become stronger and louder over the past fifteen years. Specific declarations have been published from Asia and Latin America that propose very interesting and less Eurocentric conceptualizations of what Industrial Heritage actually means and should mean in a global context. I will then dedicate an important part of my lecture to the discussion of four specific examples from Latin America that highlight the need to readdress key concepts, theory and methodology in the field of industrial heritage conservation, for being able to cope with and work from the realities on the ground that are different and specific across the world. Inspiring input for what is an on-going debate has recently been pushed within the framework of the last TICCIH Latin America congress held in October 2023 in Monterrey, Mexico, and an International and Interdisciplinary Congress on Industrial Heritage, Social Issues and challenges for New Governance in Concepción, Chile, the week before. Having a series of issues put on the table for further discussion in recent time, TICCIH is now proactively moving towards a redefinition of Industrial Heritage that can cope with the challenges of the 21st century, and towards retooling itself aiming at becoming a truly global organization that acknowledges and draws from the benefits of cultural diversity across the globe in horizontal, pluralistic and collaborative ways.
The overall program:
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Lama Alhamawi: “Experts discuss revitalization of industrial heritage sites at Diriyah workshop”, Arab News, 7 May 2024
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Download the workshop brochure (Arab-English)
Download the program (Arab-English)