march, 2020

6mar4:10 pm- 6:00 pmErica Avrami "Re-imaging Authenticity and Reconstruction through the Lens of Justice"

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Event Details

Columbia Center for Archaeology Seminar

Erica Avrami, Columbia University

“Re-imaging Authenticity and Reconstruction through the Lens of Justice”

March 6th 2020 at 4.10pm

951 Schermerhorn Extension

In the heritage conservation field, the concept of authenticity influences much of professional practice. Though largely hinged to the integrity of original materials, the last quarter century has borne witness to fruitful debates and policy documents seeking to redefine authenticity by recognizing the diverse ways in which value is ascribed to places by multiple publics. By challenging material-contingent notions of authenticity, the discourse has sought to allow for more inclusive approaches to conservation. In practice, this has been difficult to achieve due to a heritage paradigm and policy infrastructure largely dominated by Anglo-European history and theory. The reconstruction of heritage, in particular, has been at the center of ongoing debates about what is and is not authentic, and thus what is or is not acceptable in terms of professional conservation standards. This talk will explore the ways in which authenticity is interpreted through a series of cases dealing with the destruction and reconstruction of heritage. By examining how professional values and community values may at times be in tension, it will consider how questions of social justice might inform a new perspective on authenticity that challenges the norms of contemporary conservation ethics.

 

 

Image © Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello:  Reconstruction of a building along Mulberry Row at Monticello that served as an iron storehouse and slave quarters.

Time

(Friday) 4:10 pm - 6:00 pm

Location

Columbia University, 951 Schermerhorn Ext.

  1200 Amsterdam Ave.
MC 5523
New York, NY 10027
  (212) 854-1390
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