IN-PERSON London Heritages. Section B

Abstract

“Th[e] combination of cultivation with half-wild and wild country is one of the most precious parts of our national heritage” Tansley, A.G. (1945). So posits Tansley’s assessment of the nation’s inheritance in the face of seismic change following WW2. Eighty years later and the wild and half-wild continue to confront change at unprecedented rates and scales. These changes fundamentally challenge how we conceive of, advocate for, and practice with the more than human animals that co-exist in heritage spaces. The current project examines heritage discourse relating to more than human animals and seeks to reexamine its anthropocentric, dualist traditions. Accepting that heritage practices require urgent, diverse and radical approaches, this research asks practitioners to think about how animals are situated within the heritage context. It will consider the role of and benefits to more than human animals when they are considered ‘heritage objects’ and asked to represent notions of nationality or indigeneity. The research will put forward suggestions as to how heritage constructs can move from thinking of animals as the ‘furry embodiments of heritage” (Coates, 2004, p.291) towards revised, multispecies definitions. Accordingly, heritage is asked to (re)consider an understanding of animals who have agency and are capable of actively co-shaping the heritage landscapes they share with human animals. In doing so, heritage may benefit from practices that acknowledges human and more than human entanglements as central to how we face the future.