From the French Revolution in the eighteenth century, to the communist revolutions in twentieth century Russia and China to the Arab Spring in the twenty-first century, heritage has been in the crosshairs of aspirations to change and utopian constructions of possible futures. This research seminar will explore the unique and complex relationship between cultural heritage and revolutions, two concepts with seemingly opposed temporal connotations.

5 MAY 2017

18:00 – 20:00 Documentary Screening & informal dinner Revolution ’67 - PBS documentary (90 min.), Bongiorno Productions

6 MAY 2017

9:00 INTRODUCTION

9:10 Dominique Poulot – The French Revolution and the Democratization of Heritage: Or the Parallel Inventions of Vandalism and Heritage

Chair: Mathilde LeLoup

9:30 – 11:00 SESSION 1 – REVOLUTIONARY VANGUARDS IN RETROSPECT
Chair: Tom Crowley

Astrid Swenson – Out with the old? The role of revolution in the rise of heritage

Julie Deschepper – Between past and future: the “heritage revolution” in Russia

Heonik Kwon – Shrine for displaced spirits: A heritage of the Vietnamese revolution

Tom Stammers – The Homeless Heritage of the French Revolution

11:00-11:20 COFFEE BREAK

11:20- 12:30 SESSION 2 – BUILDING AND DESTROYING SOCIALIST PASTS
Chair: Margaret Comer

Francesco Iacono – Counter-revolution or why it is impossible to have a heritage of communism and what can we do about it

Myroslava Hartmond – Where The Bodies Are Buried: A Comparative Study of Lenin Disposal in Post-Communist States

Laura Demeter – Regime Change and Cultural Heritage Protection, a Matter of State Security

12:30 – 1:00 Martha McGuinn – authentic.obj (Artist talk in the South Lecture Room)

1:00 – 2:00 LUNCH

2:00-3:00 SESSION 3 – MATERIALITY AND IMMATERIALITY OF REVOLUTION
Chair: Marie Louise Stig Sørensen

Dr Lila Janik – Materiality of praxis and substance: a tangible witnesses to the Russian Revolution and the subsequent oppression

John Carman – Anarchist ambiguity: the past and creating a free society

Michael Falser – From Maoist Revolution to the Mimicking of UNESCO’s Cold War Diplomacy. The Khmer Rouge and the (Un)Making of Angkor/Cambodia as Cultural Heritage (1975-1990)

3:00-3:45 SESSION 4 – EXHIBITING REVOLUTION
Chair: Johanna Zetterstrom-Sharp

Dr. Jennifer E. Altehenger – Industrial Chinoiserie: China’s Pavilion at the Leipzig Trade Fairs in the 1950s

Flaminia Bartolini – Entertaining Italy with Propaganda: The Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution in Rome

4:15-5:00 SESSION 5 – THE ARAB SPRING: RECONCILING COMPETING VISIONS
Chair: Dacia Viejo Rose

Dr. Shadia Mahmoud – Museums and Cultural Heritage in Post-Revolution Egypt: Transformation and Transmission

Dena Qaddumi – Confronting the Past for the sake of the Future: Cultural Heritage in Tunis

5:00-5:30 DISCUSSION

5:30-6:00 WINE RECEPTION

7:00 DINNER