IN-PERSON London Heritages. Section A

Abstract

Issues of heritage as associated with Historic England are explained through the architecture of the National Portrait Gallery and the urban London location. The 1971 grade I listing is read against key moments including inception in 1890, the 2000 overhaul and last year’s major refurbishments. Notions of authenticity in relation to heritage are evaluated through history, material changes and the exhibited portraits. The qualities specific to the site, building and contents are not seen as absolutes, but juxtaposed to create new readings and interpretations. Tangible and intangible constructs of heritage are explored through techniques of montage, dialectics and Walter Benjamin’s discourse on historiography and ‘aura’. Hence heritage concerning the Gallery is read within a spatio-temporal plethora of different physical and experiential configurations that are conceptual, relational, and the consequences of social, economical, cultural and political forces over the past century. Assumptions that old is better and valued are challenged to affirm that buildings are evidence of the cultures and communities that made them over time. Changes and intersections where the architecture, artworks, and theoretical discussions coincide create additional narratives that now consider technological advances like augmented reality to integrate the past and present. The new arguments are time and context contingent, attributed to multiple authors and most importantly, demonstrate that user-led and dependent actions alter understandings of the architecture, and subsequent meanings and experiences that shift accordingly. Here, the relevance of heritage and the Gallery beyond 2025 are advanced as creative processes that emphasise transitory, experiential and participatory qualities.