HERITAGE AND SUSTAINABILITY: INSTITUTE OF ART AND LAW SEMINAR: 29 MARCH 2022.
| Author | Gould, Emily |
How do we balance the need to protect the tangible and intangible manifestations of our shared past against the demands of contemporary life and the interests of future generations? How can a country promote its cultural treasures for tourism and investment purposes whilst protecting them from the risks of increased visitor numbers? Can economic imperatives align with sustainability objectives or are they destined always to conflict? These were just some of the difficult and thought-provoking questions addressed by the panel of speakers taking part in the Institute of Art and Law's first seminar on the theme of sustainability, organised and moderated by Meera Karan.
The stark questions posed for humanity by the climate emergency were addressed in the context of cultural heritage protection. Issues tackled by the speakers ranged from the destruction of Indigenous heritage in Australia to the imminent threats faced by the city of Venice and the burgeoning of cultural development in the Middle East.
Whilst the speakers addressed a diverse range of perspectives and hailed from a variety of jurisdictions, a number of common themes quickly emerged. The first, a significant and widespread source of frustration, was the problem of disjointed regulation and opaque and inconsistent decision making. Surprising though it may seem, the difficulties engendered by these factors have affected cultural heritage protection in nations as far-flung and diverse as Australia and Spain.
Dr Steven Churches (1) described a number of cases involving the destruction of Indigenous cultural heritage in Australia, explaining how the complex interaction between state/ territory law and Commonwealth law (2) had played a significant part in the results that ensued. Whilst in the 1990 case of Bropho v. Western Australia, (3) an agent of the Crown (in the form of a development corporation) was held to be subject to state laws for the protection of Indigenous cultural heritage, (4) in subsequent cases, the commercial interests of logging and mining companies were protected by the State, with devastating consequences for natural and cultural heritage in some instances. (5) The Rio Tinto case (6) involving the demolition of Indigenous rock art dating back to 40,000 BCE in the Juukan Gorge is a prominent recent example.
The division of competencies in Spain between the national government and the seventeen regions was described by Marta Suarez-Mansilla. (7) Whilst a number of...
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