Australia ICOMOS E-Mail News No. 343
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An information service provided by the Australia ICOMOS Secretariat
Friday 11 July 2008
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1)  Business Continuity skills - a call for resources and knowledgeable people
2)  Heritage in Asia: Converging Forces and Conflicting Values - call for papers
3)  CollAsia 2010: Developing appropriate skills in conservation - applications open
4)  Australia ICOMOS - Canberra Talk Series
5)  Victorian Interiors Workshop and Conference 24 to 26 July - last call for Registrations
6)  Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts: Media Release - $3 million boost to Indigenous heritage protection

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1) Business Continuity skills - a call for resources and knowledgeable people
 
The responsibility of cultural heritage organisations to plan for business continuity in times of natural or man-made disaster is an important element of an integrated approach to conservation and preservation. It's therefore noteworthy that a Skill Set in Business Continuity is now being developed for the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector.
 
Margaret Birtley from the Collections Council of Australia is a member of the Cultural Sector Advisory Committee to "Innovation and Business Skills Australia", the body that oversees - among other fields - library and museum training packages in the VET sector. Through this membership, she has been invited to serve on a Reference Group for the development of VET-level subjects that will constitute a Skill Set in Business Continuity.
 
The Skill Set will be included in the BSB07 Business Services Training Package, and will potentially reach into all areas of the Australian workforce. Other members of the Reference Group come from the SES (in NSW), Sydney Water, the ANZ bank, the Dept of Families & Community Services (SA) and La Trobe University.
 
Consultants appointed to develop the Skill Set have asked the Reference Group to assist them in several ways. Margaret is therefore seeking ASSISTANCE from the cultural heritage sector to share information with the consultants, as follows:
 
By 15 July (i.e. next Tuesday) or ASAP  
By Tuesday 12 August  
Further information
The development, consultation and validation of Skill Sets is a process located within the VET system of competency-based training. It has its own language and acronyms. Margaret says: "I am not a VET expert, but have access to further information that I can pass on if anyone wants more detail." 
 
Please feel free to share this opportunity to contribute with your colleagues and related networks. Margaret looks forward to receiving any information, resources or suggestions that come easily to hand or to mind.
 
Contact details:
Margaret Birtley
Tel:   (08) 8207 7272
Email:   ceo@collectionscouncil.com.au

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2) Heritage in Asia: Converging Forces and Conflicting Values - call for papers
 
An International Conference, 8 - 10 January 2009
Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore.
 
Abstract Deadline: 1 September 2008
 
Rapid economic and social change across Asia today means the region's heritage is at once under threat and undergoing a revival as never before. Expanding infrastructures, increasing incomes, liberalizing economies and the lowering of borders, both physical and political, are all converging as powerful forces transforming Asia's social, cultural and physical landscapes. But as the region's societies look forward, there are competing forces that ensure they re-visit the past and the inherited. In recent years the idea of 'heritage' - both natural and cultural - has come to the fore across Asia, driven by a language of identity, tradition, revival, and sustainability. For some, heritage has become an effective means for protecting those landscapes, rituals, artifacts or traditional values endangered by rapid socio-economic change. For others, it has emerged as a valuable resource for achieving wider goals such as poverty alleviation, the legitimization of narratives of place and past, nation building or the cultural profiling of citizens. And yet for others, heritage protection is an obstacle inhibiting progress, national unification, or the shedding of unwanted memories.
 
In a region of immensely uneven change - such that the pre-/industrial and post-industrial all co-exist to create simultaneous presents - major analytical challenges arise from the need to preserve, safeguard and restore in contexts where aspirations for modernization and development are powerful and legitimate forces. To date however, much of the analysis of heritage in Asia has relied upon inherited or borrowed conceptions, and assumptions about what should be valued and privileged. The legacies of colonialism, state-centric agendas, social inequality, and the uneasy management of pluralist populations all conspire to stifle open and innovative discussion. There is little doubt that over the coming decade the contestations surrounding heritage in Asia will continue to intensify, whereby converging forces and conflicting values are the norm.
 
Hosted in Singapore, Heritage in Asia: Converging Forces and Conflicting Values examines heritage in relation to the broader social, environmental and economic changes occurring across Asia today. Moving beyond sector specific analyses, we define heritage in holistic terms and include the natural and cultural, the tangible and intangible. We strongly welcome contributions which consider the validity of current heritage theory for understanding contemporary Asia, and where appropriate, offer new conceptual and analytical directions. We also encourage submissions from researchers who offer insights into the connections between heritage and social development, urban studies, post-conflict reconstruction, migration/diaspora, trans-national capitalism, human rights, or popular culture. The conference provides the interdisciplinary platform necessary for making sense of the broader contexts and forces surrounding heritage in Asia today; and, in so doing, offers an innovative look at the rapid and complex socio-cultural changes now occurring across the region.
 
Confirmed Keynote Speakers:
 
Prof. William Logan, UNESCO Chair and Director of Cultural Heritage Centre for Asia-Pacific, Deakin University
Dr Nobuko Inaba, Professor of World Heritage Studies Program , University of Tsukuba
Dr Johannes Widodo, Professor of Architecture, National University of Singapore
 
Proposed Themes:
 
Heritage in Cosmopolitan Urban Spaces
Across Asia cities continue to expand at unprecedented rates. Migrating populations, urban development and real estate speculation are placing severe pressure on fragile heritage resources.  Simultaneously though, as cities compete for attention in today's 'new economies' they increasingly draw on heritage resources to brand themselves as sites of cultural or historical interest. What strategies successfully protect historic sites from the real estate developer? What role should the residues of colonialism play in new urban blueprints? How can the social pluralism of today's urban landscapes be reflected and equitably represented in the built environment? Potential themes include:
   
Heritage, Reconstruction and Reconciliation
In recent years devastating disasters - whether it be from earthquakes, cyclones and tsunamis, or from the manmade violence of civil wars and conflict - have led to the destruction of irreplaceable architectural and archaeological sites across Asia. But should reconstruction and revival merely be about the heritage resources themselves, or can heritage play a wider role in the re-constitution of traumatized communities and the reconstruction of livelihoods? Does the language of 'commemoration', so favored by the international community, merely result in the retention of localized hostilities or can memorials be used as a tool for reconciliation? Potential themes include:
   
Economies of Heritage
Heritage is now widely employed as a 'resource' for socio-economic development. The use of cultural and natural heritage by governments, non-governmental agencies and institutions like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank within a framework of development has yet to receive the critical attention it deserves. Is heritage merely being exploited as an economic resource by wealthy elites or can it contribute to programs of 'sustainable development' that foster more equitable economic growth? Can poverty reduction help curb the illicit trafficking of cultural antiquities? In what circumstances do initiatives to promote intangible heritage create gender specific economies? Potential themes include:
   
Heritage and Diversity
In recent years cultural heritage has emerged as an effective tool for promoting a benign language of difference within and across communities. But how successfully do current heritage policies reflect the cultural, ethnic and religious diversities of Asia? Do UNESCO conventions on 'intangible heritage' promote pluralism or are they enabling states to further their agendas of culturally profiling their citizens? How will the consumption of the Other or the exotic by a fast growing Asian tourism market influence the socio-cultural topography of the region? Potential themes include:
   
Heritage and Modernity
Modernity across Asia has destabilized previously accepted assumptions about 'authenticity' and the aesthetics of nature and culture. Do heritage frameworks conceived within the cultural traditions of 'Western' modernity remain valid for Asia today? In a region undergoing rapid industrialization, is industrial heritage a relevant category of social commemoration? Does a concern for the preservation of cultural heritage inhibit the shedding of the 'post-colonial'? How should natural landscapes best be protected from 'modern' intrusions?  What rights should communities living inside historic landscapes have towards development and 'modernization'? Do new media technologies present new opportunities for interpreting the past? Potential themes include:
   
Submission Details
 
250-word abstracts and a 5-line biography should be submitted by 1 September 2008. Successful applicants will be advised by 15 September 2008and will be required to send in a completed paper by 15 December 2008. Some funding will be available for those in the Asian Region, post-graduate students, and others unable to fund themselves. Selected papers will be put forward for publication in a refereed edited volume.
 
Please submit enquiries and/or Abstracts to Dr Patrick Daly (aripd@nus.edu.sg) or Dr Tim Winter (tim.winter@usyd.edu.au).
 
Further details and Submission Form available at:
 http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/events_categorydetails.asp?categoryid=6&eventid=814

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3) CollAsia 2010: Developing appropriate skills in conservation - applications open
 
Applications are now open for the course on 'CollAsia 2010: Developing appropriate skills in conservation', to be held in A New Delhi, India from 10 - 30 September 2008.
 
Application deadline: 10 August 2008
 
For further information, visit: http://www.iccrom.org/eng/01train_en/announce_en/2008_09CollAsia_en.shtml

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4) Australia ICOMOS - Canberra Talk Series
 
SUSHI AND LATTE - HERITAGE STORIES FROM JAPAN
 
Japan has many wonderful ancient heritage places which sit side-by-side with thoroughly modern developments. This talk will look at two of Japan's World Heritage sites - Itsukushima Shrine and Genbaku Dome/the Atomic Bomb Dome, both in Hiroshima.  Some of the history and heritage values of these sites will be presented, along with observations about some of the challenges they face in a changing world.
 
Members and the public are welcome. Refreshments available.
 
This is part of a series of talks organised in Canberra by Australia ICOMOS.
 
Time & Date:  5.00-6.30 pm, Thursday 24 July - the talk will actually start at 5.30pm.
 
Venue:  Menzies Room, National Archives of Australia, East Block, Queen Victoria Terrace, Parkes (enter from Kings Avenue side).
 
RSVP:  To Duncan Marshall at marsd@ozemail.com.au

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5) Victorian Interiors Workshop and Conference 24 to 26 July - last call for registrations
 
24th July - Conservation Workshop at the Centre for Materials Conservation at University of Melbourne.  Full cost $80.
 
This workshop is almost full but consideration will be given to holding a supplementary workshop on Monday 28th July if registrations are received by 18th July. Please register ASAP.
 
25th July - Site visits. Meet at State Library, Swanston and Latrobe Streets at 8.45am for 9.00am start. Featuring inspections of exceptional interiors in city and suburbs. 5.00pm finish.
 
26th July - Conference at Melbourne University with speakers from interstate with latest case studies and research projects featuring highest value interiors and finishes (including High Style, Industrial, Domestic and Ecclesiastical interiors). 8.45am for 9.00am start. 5.00pm finish.
 
Full cost $145 for site visits and conference includes coach transfer, catering and printed proceedings.
 
Inquiries to milesbl@unimelb,edu.au or ellsmore@optusnet.com.au .
 
Bookings to Prof. Miles Lewis, Faculty of Architecture, Melbourne University Victoria 3010. Cheques payable to University of Melbourne.
 
Visit http://www.heritage.vic.gov.au/page_27.asp?ID=27 to download the flyer.

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6) Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts: Media Release - $3 million boost to Indigenous heritage protection
 
Celebrating NAIDOC week Heritage Minister, Peter Garrett has announced more than $3 million in support from the Commonwealth Government's Indigenous Heritage Program for 49 Indigenous projects across Australia.
 
Mr Garrett said the program was aimed at helping community groups and individuals identify, conserve and promote the heritage values of places important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
 
"The 49 projects being funded in this round of the Indigenous Heritage Program are spread across the country and share a common aim to maintain and protect Indigenous heritage values as an important part of Australia's heritage.
 
"They include six New South Wales, 12 Northern Territory, eight Queensland, five South Australian, two Tasmanian, two Victorian and 14 Western Australian projects.
 
"In the Walgett region in New South Wales around $70 000 will help to protect sites of significance such as burials, campsites, bora grounds and hunting grounds to ensure the traditional knowledge of this rich Aboriginal heritage is passed on.
 
"The Maroochy Shire Council in Queensland will receive more than $90 000 to identify and protect cultural sites in the region through undertaking cultural heritage surveys, cultural heritage mapping and establishing a cultural heritage database with traditional owners.
 
"In South Australia about $45 000 will be used to record oral histories of Ngarrindjeri elders and create a DVD and other interpretive products about Dapung-Talkinjeri people and their land and lifestyles."
 
Mr Garrett said Indigenous heritage was an important part of our nation's past, present and future story, with significance not just for our Indigenous communities but for our entire Australian society. 
 
"It's vital we protect, preserve and promote their places so that future generations can share and pass on these stories for years to come."
 
The Indigenous Heritage Program is delivered in cooperation with the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) and Indigenous Coordination Centres (ICCs) as part of the whole of government delivery of services to Indigenous Australians.
 
A full list of the projects that have received 2008/09 Indigenous Heritage Program funding is available at http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/programs/ihp/outcomes-08-09.html
 
For more information visit http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/about/indigenous/index.html

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in the Australia ICOMOS Email News are not necessarily those of Australia ICOMOS Inc. or its Executive Committee. The text of Australia ICOMOS Email news is drawn from various sources including organizations other than Australia ICOMOS Inc. The Australia ICOMOS Email news serves solely as an information source and aims to present a wide range of opinions which may be of interest to readers. Articles submitted for inclusion may be edited.
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Australia ICOMOS Secretariat
Georgia Meros, Secretariat Officer
Cultural Heritage Centre for Asia and the Pacific
Deakin University
221 Burwood Highway
Burwood Victoria 3125
Telephone: (03) 9251 7131
Facsimile: (03) 9251 7158
Email: austicomos@deakin.edu.au
http://www.icomos.org/australia

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