What is heritage?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines “heritage” as property that is or maybe inherited; an inheritance,” “valued things such as historic buildings thathave been passed down from previous generation” and “relating to things of historic or cultural value that are worthy of preservation”

Heritage can also be categorised as tangible and intangible heritage. On the one hand, tangible heritage can be considered as sacred sites, physical spaces, natural and cultural heritage, artefacts and other material resources. On the other hand, intangible heritage incorporates histories and social memories, relationships amongresidents, rituals, traditions and shared sense of place.

For Laurajane Smith, she describes the intangibility of heritage as the inherent nature of all heritage to be intangible. She asserts that mnemonic tangible objects and places are merely physical representations of the values derived from a cultural process involving remembering, experiencing and establishing identities to understand and engage with the present.

About the speaker and moderator

Dr Laurajane Smith is the head of the Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies at Australian National University (ANU). Her research work challenges the idea of heritage as primarily or simply an object or site and retheorises heritage as a cultural process of meaning and memory making

Dr Steve Brown is an honorary associate with The University of Sydney. He is an active member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). His research interests include cultural landscapes and Indigenous heritage.

About Community Heritage Around the Globe (CHATg)

"Community Heritage Around the Globe" (CHATg) is a webinar series organised by My Community where Singaporeans can explore community heritage through a series of webinars, virtual tours and workshops in other cities. In this series, we will visit community museums, old towns and places and meet heritage thought-leaders and academics from other parts of the world. The series takes place every 3rd Saturday of the month

Duration & Venue

• Time: 2pm (Singapore); 4pm (Australian Capital Territory)
• Day/Date: Sunday, 21 June 2020
• Language: English
• Venue: Zoom (A webinar link and password will be emailed to participants one day before the event)