A FUTURE FOR WHOSE PAST?

The motto of the European Heritage Year 1975 was “A future for our past”. 50 years later, in view of the consequences of war, climate change, migration and displacement, we are faced with the question of whose past is meant by “ours” and whether we can still speak of a common past at all. Under the motto “A Future for whose Past? The Heritage of Minorities, Fringe Groups and People without a Lobby”, we will discuss whose heritage we are talking about, who decides what is important for society’s memory and what characterizes this society. Do the objects protected by monument, nature and heritage protection laws and thus preserved for the future really represent history? Or have we not long been talking about stories? What heritage is important for minorities, marginalized people and people without a lobby and what measures need to be taken to ensure that the heritage of the future reflects and represents the social developments of the past? What do inclusive perspectives in heritage conservation mean? Do we need new inventories, practices and approaches – and a more diverse culture of remembrance?