Landscape as heritage: critical perspectives
Chairs: Giacomo Pettenati (University of Turin) and Margherita Cisani (University of Padua)
In their introduction to the special issue of the Landscape Research journal entitled "Landscape of heritage and heritage landscape", David Harvey and Emma Waterton note that, even if both landscape and heritage are widely discussed notions in the scholarly debate, "they have sat together too confortably, and for too long, within academic, policy and popular imagination" (Harvey and Waterton, 2015, p.905), calling for a critical approach to the research and interpretation of the relationships between these intertwined concepts.
The patrimonialisation of landscape (i.e. the identification of a landscape as heritage by individuals or groups) is a complex process, deeply linked to some specific characteristics of the notion of landscape itself, such as: the insiders/outsiders perspective, the selective and potentially exclusive nature of every landscape (and heritage) representation, the inherent continuously changing nature of landscapes, the complex governance of protected landscapes, the tension between use, transformation and conservation of artifacts and natural resources (Scazzosi, 2004).
This session welcomes contributions proposing critical reflections on landscape as heritage, trying to focus on the following topics:
- The critical analysis of the processes of landscapes patrimonialisation, with a specific focus on the power relationships that support the identification as heritage of some of the many landscapes that co-exist in the same places, through the definition of an "authorized heritage (or landscape) discourse" (Smith, 2009).
- Reflections on the governance of heritage landscapes. How landscape can be managed as heritage, when it is inherently constantly changing and it is linked to specific socio-economic systems, without "freezing" it in an imagined past?
- Critical contributions reflecting on the existing programs of safeguard and valorization of landscape as heritage, through the identification of "exceptional landscapes" (e.g. the Unesco World Heritage List or the IUCN protected landscapes approach).
- The heritage potential of ordinary and minorities landscapes, as inclusive and multivocal approach to the identification, representation and safeguard of landscape.
Essential bibliography:
Harvey D. (2015), "Landscape and heritage: trajectories and consequences", Landscape Research, 40:8, 911-924
Harvey, D. C., & Waterton, E. (2015). "Landscapes of heritage and heritage landscapes" Landscape Research, 40:8, 905-910.
Olwig, K. R., & Mitchell, D. (2007). Justice, power and the political landscape: from American space to the European Landscape Convention: introduction to a special issue. Landscape Research, 32(5), 525-531.
Scazzosi L. (2004), "Reading and Assessing the Landscape as Cultural and Historical Heritage", Landscape Research, Vol. 29, No. 4, 335-355
Smith L. (2006), Uses of Heritage, London, Routledge