Governing heritage dissonance : promises and realities of selected cultural policies

In times when con icts are becoming increasingly culturalized and fuelled by identity politics, this pioneering study is timely in connecting heritage studies and cultural policies with issues of di erence, con icts and reconciliation. Using the case of South East Europe as exploration ground for wider philosophical and practical questions related to heritage, it calls on us to rethink how we approach the past and deal with diversities – among cultures, nations, communities, classes, gender, and generations. Finally, Kisić o ers invaluable insights in the bene ts and aws of international development aid and transitional justice actions in post-con ict areas, making a strong case for the crucial role of culture and heritage in overcoming symbolic violence and creating understanding of ‘the other’. Governing Heritage Dissonance is a valuable contribution to the continued development of ‘New Heritage’ thinking. Written, refreshingly, from a South East European perspective it gives a cogent rebuttal to the notion that heritage is cosy or comfortable, and instead deals with dissonance and plurality as aspects of all heritage, as intrinsic as they are unavoidable. Through her analysis of four examples of attempts in South East Europe to use heritage to re-forge consensus and unity, Kisić in e ect asks why heritage dissonance is feared – must we always try to smooth it away, can its tensions be used constructively? Endorsements 5 Table of Contents 9 Foreword 13 Acknowledgements 15 Preface 19 Executive Summary 23 1. Setting the Stage 27 1.1 Theoretical framework 32 1.2 South East Europe as a testing zone 34 1.3 Methods for analysing case studies 37 2. Dissonant Heritage or Heritage Dissonance? 49 2.1 Dissonant heritage as a ‘special’ heritage niche 52 2.2 Heritage as inherently dissonant process 54 3. Heritage Dissonance as the Object of Cultural Policy 59 3.1 Neutralizing dissonance: Athens 1931, Venice 1964 and UNESCO 1972 61 3.2 Acknowledging dissonance: UNESCO 2001, UNESCO 2003 and Faro 2005 65 3.3 From authorized towards inclusive heritage discourse 70 4. Con ict and Politics of Reconciliation Through Heritage 77 4.1 Politics of ethno-nationalization and imported reconciliation 83 4.2 From post-con ict reconstruction of heritage to a dialogue around heritage dissonance 90 9 5. Creating Common Heritage Through the World Heritage List 97 5.1 Transnational nominations to the World Heritage List: beyond competitive national practice 101 5.2 Politically desirable narrative of the nomination process and its divergent aspects 103 5.3 Creating the framework for the nomination process 107 5.4 Caught between political correctness and contestations 110 5.5 Dissonant interpretations of Stećaks within ethno-national imaginations 114 5.6 Crafting a discourse of interrelatedness: Stećaks as a bridge of diversities 120 5.7 Supporting a common interpretation: critique, disclaims and unease 122 5.8 Engineering for the World Heritage List: leaning on the authorized heritage discourse 127 5.9 Sustainability of shared interpretation: strength or a threat? 130 6. Interpreting the Common History of the Balkans 141 6.1 Creating peace in the minds: UNESCO Venice O ce as a reconciliatory force in SEE 145 6.2 Reading the exhibition: creating a common narrative for South East Europe 147 6.3 Setting the tone for Imagining the Balkans 152 6.4 The rst turning point: from critical to consensual, from concept to artefacts 155 6.5 The second turning point: from mutually exclusive celebration to inclusive construction 162 6.6 ‘Spirit of cohesion’: silencing the dissonance 163 6.7 Haunting ghosts from the past: drop o s, diplomatic disputes and audience reactions 168 6.8 Exhibition as the excess within a limited space for movement 174 10 7. Musealizing Yugoslavia: Towards a Critical Participative Museum 189 7.1 Museum of Yugoslav History: from mirror re ection of politics to active creator 191 7.2 Promises of the New Old Museum: a national institution with regional scope and responsibility 195 7.3 The place for discussion on Yugoslav history: an outstanding event 200 7.4 Reading the exhibition: a problematic country that was destined to fail 202 7.5 Crafting a story of Yugoslavia: dissonance within ambition for objectivism 205 7.6 On the convict’s chair: ‘What have you done to my country?’ 219 7.7 Museum as Scheherazade: between a rock and a hard place 226 8. Documenta: Dealing with Heritage of War and Repression 239 8.1 Croatia’s post-war context: heroization and victimization as a driver of national identity 243 8.2 Memory, heritage and human rights: putting individuals in focus 246 8.3 Croatian Memories Archive: creating pluralist heritage of wars 249 8.4 Voicing in from the margins: between a traitor and unavoidable partner? 257 8.5 From troublesome Western Balkans to the EU know- how provider 266 9. Conclusions: Towards Dynamic Pluralist Heritage 271 9.1 Reconciliation policies beyond the heritage of wars and con ict 273 9.2 Discourse matters 275 9.3 Authorized heritage discourse as inherently problematic 277 9.4 Inclusive heritage discourse: towards dynamic pluralist heritage 280 11 9.5 Projects as social arenas: interactions, limitations and the need for inter-sectoral cooperation 284 9.6 Beyond the unwillingness to learn 288 9.7 Wider implications of heritage dissonance for heritage policy, practice and research 292 Bibliography 297 List of CPRA 2013 Jury Members 315 Awarded researchers 2004 - 2013 322 Research explores cultural policies and specific policy tools aimed at working with heritage dissonance and heritage related conflicts created for and implemented within the region of South East Europe (SEE) with the aim of contributing to reconciliation, mutual understanding and peace-building. The research analyses four distinctive cases which worked with heritage dissonance developed within and for the SEE region (the transnational nomination for UNESCO World Heritage List of Stećaks, medieval tombstones by the Ministries of Culture of Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina; the regional exhibition Imagining the Balkans: Identities and Memory in the Long 19th Century involving