Week 8 | Heritage

Visual Culture

JR (2017) Giant Picnic. Mexican-US border installation

PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO COMPLETE THE MEQ'S

final submission is next week

• Cover Page (Include Student ID, Name, Cohort, Portfolio Title)
• Introduction
• Research and Discussion
• Secondary Image Visual Analysis 1
• Secondary Image Visual Analysis 2
• Primary Image Visual Analysis
• Creative Response
• Conclusion
• Bibliography

Final Submission Checklist

3rd of November at 5:00 pm

Learning outcomes

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding in the process and contexts of interpreting visual material. Show an understanding and independent interpretation of the roles of both producer and viewer in visual communication. Apply research skills in the construction and presentation of a coherent discussion on topics relevant to the course material.

L01

L02

L03

session 1

portfolio development

week 8

Week 8 Session 1 Objectives:Portfolio Development 1) To develop an image related to one of the options. 2) To explain the message of your image.

session 1 objectives

An Ibo mask at the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Belgium.

session 2

portfolio development

week 8

Week 8 Session 1 Objectives:Portfolio Development1) To develop an image related to one of the options. 2) To explain the message of your image.

session 2 objectives

Nefertiti bust at Neues Museum Berlin

session 3

visual culture and heritage analysis and discussion

1) To discuss whether the restitution of cultural objects should occur and how this relates to cultural and social justice. 2) To understand the importance and cultural value of heritage and their contribution (through visual means) to identity, memory, and nation building.

session 3 objectives

View of the Machu Picchu complex, Peru.

Heritage is a property, something that is inherited, passed down from previous generations. In the case of cultural heritage, the heritage doesn’t consist of money or property, but of culture, values, and traditions. Cultural heritage implies a shared bond, our belonging to a community. It represents our history and our identity; our bond to the past, to our present, and the future.

what is heritage?

Cultural heritage often brings to mind artifacts (paintings, drawings, prints, mosaics, sculptures), historical monuments and buildings, as well as archaeological sites. But the concept of cultural heritage is even wider than that, and includes all evidence of human creativity and expression: photographs, documents, books and manuscripts, and instruments, etc. Today, towns, underwater heritage, and the natural environment are also considered part of cultural heritage since communities identify with the natural landscape. Moreover, cultural heritage is not only limited to material objects that we can see and touch. It also consists of immaterial elements: traditions, oral history, performing arts, social practices, traditional craftsmanship, representations, rituals, knowledge, and skills transmitted from generation to generation within a community.

Tangible and intangible cultural heritage

whose heritage?

Let’s the Mona Lisa for example; the Mona Lisa painted in the early sixteenth century by Leonardo da Vinci, and displayed at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. From a modern point of view, whose national heritage does the Mona Lisa belong to?Leonardo was a very famous Italian painter, that’s why the Mona Lisa is obviously part of the Italian cultural heritage. When Leonardo went to France, to work at King's Francis I court, he probably brought the Mona Lisa with him. It seems that in 1518 King Francis I acquired the Mona Lisa, which therefore ended up in the royal collections: that’s why it is obviously part of the French national heritage, too. This painting has been defined as the best known, the most visited, the most written about, and the most parodied work of art in the world: as such, it belongs to the cultural heritage of all humankind.

But cultural heritage is not just a set of cultural objects or traditions from the past. It is also the result of a selection process: a process of memory and oblivion that characterizes every human society constantly engaged in choosing—for both cultural and political reasons—what is worthy of being preserved for future generations and what is not.

what gets to be heritage and what not?

All peoples make their contribution to the culture of the world. That’s why it’s important to respect and safeguard all cultural heritage, through national laws and international treaties. Illicit trafficking of artifacts and cultural objects, pillaging of archaeological sites, and destruction of historical buildings and monuments cause irreparable damage to the cultural heritage of a country.

Restitution and repatriation

Restitution is the process by which cultural objects are returned to an individual or a community. Repatriation is the process by which cultural objects are returned to a nation or state at the request of a government. Restitution can be a means of doing justice for past wrongs, it can be a sensitive and complicated process.

Restitution and repatriation

Restitution and repatriation in our times

For more than four centuries, Great Britain established a presence on different continents in its quest for imperial power and economic prosperity. For the indigenous populations, it led to violence, racism and exploitation. Many of the objects sourced from this colonial era, some prized in UK museum collections, were seized by violent force, looted as ‘trophies of war’, or auctioned off to finance these military expeditions. This process is also true for other colonial powers such as: Spain, Portugal, Germany, Netherlands, USA, Canada, Australia, and many many other countries. Acts of seizure were then considered a right of occupation. But today, as society's values have evolved, no museum would consider accepting an object acquired under these same violent conditions.

Restitution and repatriation in our times

Britain's national collections have resisted all requests for repatriation, leaving them increasingly isolated within the wider museum community. In the absence of any international legal framework to enforce the return of cultural property looted before 1970, Britain's national collections continue to maintain they are under no legal obligation to return looted objects acquired before that date. They also refer to their obligations, enshrined in different Acts of Parliament, that prevent repatriations from national collections.

heritage objects held by the united kingdom

Restitution and repatriation in our times

Amidst a growing clamour for western museums to consider their role and social function within today's society, changes are taking place: museums are starting to confront their uncomfortable legacies of colonialism, racism and slavery; pressure is mounting to reveal the full history of objects held in museum collections; the public is demanding greater transparency.Governments are also responding to these changes. In 2021, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands announced their plans to introduce new legal guidelines for returning objects of special cultural, historic or religious significance to countries of origin, prioritising objects removed by military force.

CONTENT NOTEThe following videos, contain images and discuss themes related to past and current social conflicts and wars. Some students might find the material challenging

protecting heritage

The protection of cultural property is an old problem.

problematic heritage

conclusion

In an era of globalization, cultural heritage helps us to remember our cultural diversity, and its understanding develops mutual respect and renewed dialogue amongst different cultures.