Representing Pasts – Visioning Futures

Abstract

Cultural heritage is tangible and intangible catalysts for recollecting collective memories and cultural signification. Through visiting the heritage and experiencing the existent spatial settings of exhibitions curated in the historical monument, the visitor may visually and spatially grasp some fragments of the stories and information of the heritage. However, through the spatial exhibition of the historical monument, the spectator may not bodily perceive the historical happenings occurred at the place. Narratives of collective events may not be revealed merely by physical relics or textual descriptions. In order to build up a connection between the past and the present, the paper intends to discuss what means and media can assist visitors in imagining the past of the heritage and in recalling their memories of the site. As the preservation and conservation of cultural heritages have been universal consensus and common interests, its association with modern lives has also been an important issue. The paper will study some site-specific theaters held in the south of Taiwan, so as to examine the correlation between site-specific performances and the conservation of historical monuments. Moreover, one broadcasting theater and guide that was produced by associating multiple media and was curated by the author will be discussed. In the light of Christopher B. Balme’s argument that site-specific performances “utilize natural features or historical spaces and buildings to provide a spatially determined semantic frame for the actual performance”, this paper argues that site-specific theaters may bring vitality into tangible cultural heritages. At the end of this paper, the notion of localization will be utilized to examine the spatial setting and the materiality of scenic design in relation to the site-specific theaters within cultural heritages.