Mike Robinson
Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage
Heritage is an ever expanding category that includes not only the tangible built and natural environments, but also the intangible world of rituals, practices and the like. It appears that the heritage that surrounds us is always present and will remain when we have passed on. Indeed the inter-generational persistence of heritage – its capacity to remain and outlive generations – is one of the elements that defines it. Of course, heritage grows old too and in ways that we do not often understand or appreciate. Buildings need to be maintained as they show their signs of aging and maintenance costs can be very high forcing us to consider the benefits of their “being in the world”. Indeed, some of these benefits relate to helping us cope with our own aging. Critically, the relationships that we share with the heritage around us also changes and this too forces us to address the question of how long do we keep our heritage alive.
Taking note of the different approaches between European and Asian cultures, in this presentation, I raise some moral questions surrounding how and why societies allow heritage to grow old and ask: Is this good for society? Is this good for heritage? Should we not allow some heritage to die and, if so, on what basis do we decide this? How do we calculate the good that heritage can generate and how does that benefit the human condition of aging?
I argue that we need to re-think what heritage does for our communities and societies with regard to both past and future generations and that the concept of rebirth is helpful in assisting us in allowing some of our heritage to die.
(Presented in the 2018 Chulalongkorn Asian Heritage Forum : Culture of Longevity, 15-16 August 2018, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Bangkok, organized by Institute of Thai Studies, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Population Studies, Chulalongkorn University)