Heritage in Asia: Converging Forces and Conflicting Values

[i]International Conference [/i] 8 to 10 January 2009 Singapore, Singapore 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. Proposed Themes: - Heritage in Cosmopolitan Urban Spaces - Heritage, Reconstruction and Reconciliation - Economies of Heritage - Heritage and Diversità - Heritage and Modernity Registration Admission is free. Do register early as seats are available on a first come, first served basis. We would gratefully request that you RSVP to Valerie Yeo at Tel No. 6516 5279 or e-mail: [url=mailto:valerie.yeo@nus.edu.sg]valerie.yeo@nus.edu.sg[/url] indicating your name, email, designation, organization/ affiliation and contact number. Visit the official site: http://www.ari.nus.edu.sg/events_categorydetails.asp?categoryid=6&eventid=814