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Dangers of reducing heritage value to economic terms

April 06, 2006

FerryLect06.thumb.JPGA prominent teacher, adviser and commentator on Australia’s national heritage, in a public lecture at The University of New England this week, spoke about the dangers of reducing heritage value to economic terms.

Delivering UNE’s second annual John Ferry Heritage Lecture, Professor Graeme Davison said that the heritage movement in Australia had entered a phase when “intangible” heritage (such as ideological traditions) was often considered to be more important than “tangible” heritage (such as buildings). He explained that there was always an interaction between these two aspects of heritage.

Graeme Davison, a Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor at Monash University in Melbourne, is currently the Director of the Monash University Centre at King’s College London. In his lecture on Tuesday, titled “Heritage in Retreat?”, he discussed the “golden era” for the built heritage of Australia in the 1970s and 1980s, and its decline since the 1990s. “The peak heritage organisations, such as the National Trust, have lost membership and influence,” he said, “while both State and Federal governments, bowing to neo-liberal economic doctrines, have become more reluctant to use coercive State power to protect the heritage.” In spite of this, he added, “’heritage’ remains a popular ideal”.

To preserve the fragile link with the past, Professor Davison said, it was always “better to err on the side of retention than of disposal”. Referring to the recent Productivity Commission report on the costs and benefits of heritage, he said: “Once you reduce the argument to economic terms only, the battle is at least half lost.”

Professor Davison was the Founding Director of the Monash Institute for Public History. His books "A Heritage Handbook" (co-edited, 1991) and "The Use and Abuse of Australian History" (2000) draw upon his experience as a former Chair of the Heritage Council of Victoria, a former councillor of the National Trust, and an adviser to the Commonwealth on world heritage. He has been a member of the Advisory Council of the National Archives of Australia, and an historical adviser to the National Museum of Australia.

The John Ferry Heritage Lecture, organised by UNE’s Heritage Futures Research Centre, honours the memory and work of the UNE-based historian Dr John Ferry (1949-2004). Dr Ferry wrote and taught about (among other things) heritage conservation and architectural history. He wrote books for use in schools, produced many conservation studies and reports, and was in constant demand to assist local councils and community groups to increase their awareness and use of local heritage assets. His prize-winning book, "Colonial Armidale", is regarded by many leading Australian historians as the best and most innovative local history written in Australia.

The photograph displayed here shows Professor Davison (left) with the Vice-Chancellor of UNE, Professor Alan Pettigrew (centre) and the foundation Director of UNE's Heritage Futures Research Centre, Professor Iain Davidson.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at April 6, 2006 09:52 AM