ART: World Heritage Sites
INSTRUCTIONS:
Whose Heritage? V4149 17/18
Take-Away Paper, Spring 2018
Answer three questions, including compulsory question 1. Each question is equally weighted.
Word limit: 2500 words in total. This excludes footnote references and bibliographies.
You have 48 hours to complete the paper.
Submit your answers by Saturday 26th May, 4pm, through Turnitin.
You are advised to consult the advice and information on assessment in Art History on Study Direct. Please ensure that your work is referenced correctly, and you provide a bibliography. Your work should also be illustrated.
Compulsory Question 1.
You have been asked to propose a new site or object for inclusion in UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites. Please justify your selection according to at least one of UNESCO’s ten Criteria for Selection and explain why this particular site is worth protecting. You are permitted to choose any site or object, from any country, provided it is not already included on the list.
What range of meanings does your chosen heritage site or object have, and for whom? Explain the cultural significance of your site or object in relation to the various people who value it.
2. Discuss the impact of digitizing collections on public access to, and experience of, material heritage in the museum.
3. Should looted objects be returned by museums to their countries of origin? Analyse the recent debate surrounding this question, with reference to specific examples in British collections.
4. Analyse how heritage has been used as a weapon of war with reference to two specific examples. What role does World Heritage status play in protecting sites from destruction during war?
5. What role does nostalgia play in the formation of national heritage? Discuss in relation to two examples.
6. What definition of intangible heritage do we need to develop in order to assess how LGBTQ+ histories are being preserved in Britain?
7. How and why did the curators of the 2012 Brighton Photo Biennial engage with histories of squatting?
8. Analyse the relationship between entertainment and authenticity in heritage re-enactments. Discuss two examples of the ways in which re-enacting the past meets the demands of the present.
9. Why is Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site, Colorado, such a contested heritage site?
10. Critically evaluate the relationship between tourism and slavery heritage sites in West Africa.
END OF PAPER
SOLUTION:
INSTRUCTIONS
ART: World Heritage Sites
Students Name
Course Name
Date of Submission
Question 1
You have been asked to propose a new site or object for inclusion in UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites. Please justify your selection according to at least one of UNESCO’s ten Criteria for Selection and explain why this particular site is worth protecting. You are permitted to choose any site or object, from any country, provided it is not already included on the list.
What range of meanings does your chosen heritage site or object have, and for whom? Explain the cultural significance of your site or object concerning the various people who value it.
The UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites features different historical city centers from various countries across the world. However, Stockholm's Old Town also known as Gamla Stan (Figure 1) is missing from list[1]. Around the Stockholm region, UNESCO has Woodland Cemetery, Drottningholm, and Birka as heritage sites that are judged to be invaluable to all of humanity. During the thirteenth century, Gamla Stan was surrounded by a protective wall inside it had narrow streets that weaved across the island. The city center is located at "Stadsholmen" an island that is quite difficult to be traced on a map. Today, Stockholm’s Old Town still maintains the same layout as it reflects a medieval settlement. The poor documentation of the city centers, oldest streets and buildings, has played an essential role to Gamla Stan being snubbed by UNESCO. It is argued that the buildings in the city center are older than officially recorded. For that reason, due to the richness of history surrounding the area, it proves to be an essential and excellent choice for those individuals touring Sweden.
Figure 1: Stockholm’s Old Town[2]
Presently, talks are ongoing to determine the acknowledgment of Gamla Stan as a cultural heritage site by UNESCO. The city center meets various selection...
