PANEL: ACAHUCH x ICOMOS GA 2023 x Lovell Chen : Heritage Changes - or does it?

The event will be held in person and online.

The themes for the upcoming ICOMOS GA23 Scientific Symposium are 'Resilience - Responsibility - Rights - Relationships', under the main banner, Heritage Changes. In light of this, and with the twin aims of challenging the current assumptions of heritage practice and considering it in relation to other disciplines, Lovell Chen invites you to a no-holds barred panel discussion — reflecting views from a range of perspectives: community and society, environment and climate change, first nations and anthropology, curators and writers, the marginalised ... and more.

If conservation and cultural heritage are to endure, do we need to think differently? Would their role in society be reinvigorated through greater integration with social, economic and environmental concerns? How do we ensure that heritage conservation remains relevant? Is heritage an impediment to reaching zero carbon?

We have now lived with heritage lists and registers for decades. Many include buildings and places selected based on judgements of marginal relevance to us today and, even though the value systems we use to judge heritage significance are continually evolving, past decisions are not reviewed. The lists continue to grow. Is it time to start 'deaccessioning'? Are heritage registers holding us back, given that adaptation of existing structures plays a major role in reducing the impacts of climate change?

This promises to be a lively discussion! Join us.

Speakers

ADAM MORNEMENT
Lovell Chen
Event facilitator and MC

Adam works in cultural heritage management. He is a Director of Lovell Chen and a former member of Australia ICOMOS Executive Committee. An aspiration to challenge traditional approaches to heritage practice is a common thread connecting the diverse projects he has led in recent years — an approach that recognises that the role in society of cultural heritage is not static. He trained as an historian in the UK, and gained a masters degree at Deakin. Before joining Lovell Chen he worked as a journalist and author. He is a former Deputy Editor of World Architecture and feature writer for The Times (magazine), and has provided editorial consultancy to European government agencies. Recent projects include a management plan for Federation Square, and co-authorship of a study on social value for the Heritage Council of Victoria.

AMY HUBBARD
Capire Consulting Studio
Community engagement consultant

Amy is a Director and co-founder of Capire, a specialist community engagement consultancy based in Melbourne. As well as community engagement, she is particularly interested in the strengthening of communities and in community resilience. Her background is in urban planning and design, sustainability consulting and major infrastructure projects — and she came to see that the affected community's experience was often left out. With Capire, she has worked on over 500 community engagement projects, in Australia and overseas. Capire's clients include government departments, city councils and major utility organisations. She delivers training to state and local government bodies, undertakes evaluations, guest lectures and is the principal author of practice publications. Amy is the former Deputy Chair of the International Association of Public Participation (Australasia).

PAUL CARTER
Material Thinking
Writer, artist and cultural interpreter

Paul is the Creative Director of Material Thinking, a practice-based research laboratory specialising in place applications. He is an internationally renowned writer, artist and cultural interpreter— author of more than 20 books, including Material Thinking: The Theory and Practice of Creative Research. He has written extensively on white settler societies; their foundational myths and the ways these inform the places they create and the national narratives that hold them together. He works with communities to identify shared creative aspirations, translating them into design propositions that express a sense of place. Paul's public art projects have been installed across Australia, notably at Sydney Olympic Park and Melbourne’s Federation Square. In 2018-19, he co-curated an archaeology and climate change exhibition at the National Archaeological Museum, Paestum, Italy. He is Professor of Design (Urbanism) at RMIT University.

Dr HEATHER THREADGOLD and MELINDA KENNEDY
MURRI : YUL Consultants
First Nations cultural heritage perspectives

Heather and Melinda are Co-directors of MURRI : YUL — an organisation that provides heritage advice and consults on cultural perspectives, anthropology, and embedded Aboriginal urban design and landscape architecture. It undertakes research and provides facilitators and engagement services. Heather and Melinda have 30 years' combined experience. Heather works as a cultural heritage advisor, historian and anthropologist, and leads on landscape architecture. She is a highly experienced facilitator, a member of the Heritage Advisory Committee for the City of Greater Geelong, and lectures at Deakin University. Melinda also works as a cultural heritage advisor, focusing on Aboriginal knowledge systems, natural cultural resource management, and perspectives and narratives relating to urban design. She is a Wadawurrung Traditional Owner, a member of the Victorian Aboriginal Council, and lectures at Deakin on indigenous processes and narratives.

Dr RICHARD GILLESPIE
Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, the University of Melbourne
Curator and academic

Richard is Curator of the heritage collections at the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Melbourne, where he is also a Senior Principal Fellow in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies. He collaborates with students and stakeholders to build and document collections, and curates exhibitions on campus. Curatorial and heritage projects outside the university include collaborative work with communities such as Indigenous Traditional Owners, trade unions and local history groups. His distinguished career includes 25 years with Museums Victoria as a curator and museum manager, and leading the development of 30 (some award-winning) exhibitions at Melbourne Museum, Immigration Museum, Scienceworks and Royal Exhibition Building. An historian, Fulbright Graduate Scholar and graduate of the Getty Leadership Program, he has been the recipient of significant fellowships, including a Mellon Fellowship.

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