Objects as identity markers – Ways of mediating the past in a South Sámi and Norse borderland

Museums have several means of communicating with their audiences. The problems discussed here concern how local museums interact with their audience when the past they want to portray is multiple, complex and sometimes disputed. It is based on an analysis of three exhibitions in local museums situated in a region where archaeological findings indicate that the South Sámi have been present since the Late Neolithic and the Bronze Age. It highlights the various ways in which the pluralistic past in the region is being portrayed by asking whether its history appears as neutralized, i.e. transmitted in passive impartial terms, or is exoticized, repressed or mediated through other images. The one common identity marker the three exhibitions share, although portrayed in different ways and with different effects, is the gåetie, a turf hut in common use in the South Sámi region. A tendency to neutralize the multiple and complex past in the South Sámi region takes place, either by operating in a form of ‘timeless past‘ or by referring to a shared ‘far away past‘ as fishers and hunters. By barely mentioning cultural encounters, the South Sámi and the Norse are primarily presented as ethnic groups who have lived isolated and independent of each other.Key words: disputed heritage; identity markers; South Sámi; perceptions of the past; museum exhibition

Travels in imaginary landscapes : An analysis of four cultural historic guidebooks

The market for selling experiences and products influenced by various connotations of the past is continuously increasing. Guidebooks play a role in introducing cultural history to a growing tourist market. A study of four European cultural historic guidebooks draws attention to some of the differences that appear in the way national heritage assets are presented. The analysis reveals that guidebooks are more restricted in representation form and writing genre than initially presumed. By choosing a representation form dominated by a cartographic style of writing, where factual information play a dominant role, the text in the guidebooks leaves the reader in the role of a distanced observer. It is primarily via the illustrations that the heritage assets act as a scene for contemplation, involvement or for adventure. The material is interpreted within a framework that draws attention to the interaction that takes place between the representations of the past and contemporary society.La commercialisation d’expériences et de produits liés au passé est en constante augmentation. Dans ce secteur, les guides ont pour but de présenter l’histoire culturelle à un marché touristique en plein essor. Notre étude, qui porte sur quatre guides culturels historiques, met l’accent sur quelques-unes des différences qui se font jour dans la façon dont les atouts du patrimoine national sont mis en évidence. Notre analyse révèle que les guides se révèlent plus restreints qu’il semblerait a priori, tant au niveau des formes de représentation que du genre littéraire. En optant pour une forme de représentation dominée par un style ou une écriture cartographique, où l’information factuelle joue un rôle prépondérant, le texte des guides confine le lecteur dans le rôle d’un observateur distancié. C’est essentiellement par le biais des illustrations que les atouts patrimoniaux servent de scène pour la contemplation, la participation ou l’aventure. Notre interprétation privilégie l’interaction entre les représentations du passé et la société contemporaine

The Mall Method: Applied in a Study of Inhabitants’ Appreciation of Urban Cultural Heritage Areas

Criticism has been directed at traditional approaches to cultural heritage management, as reflected in legislation and policy, for ignoring elements integral to community perceptions of cultural heritage. Although discussions on the right to define are lively, there has been less focus directed towards the significance which personal affiliations and memory play in the processes of forming people’s conceptions of important cultural heritage assets and valuable places. But how does one achieve insight into the subjective appreciations of heritage environments? The point of this article is to show how new subjective methodological approaches, tested by what is identified in this article as the Mall Method, can reveal subjective narratives and perspectives linked to inhabitants’ everyday life in urban contexts, and to their memories of places. This article searches for subjective meanings of places and landscapes, realized by a stall in a town mall. The method is evaluated in the light of the importance of situated knowledge and subjectivity

Visionscapes: Combining Heritage and Urban Gardening to Enhance Areas Requiring Regeneration

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Urban cemeteries' potential as sites for cultural encounters

Swensen, Grete; Skår, Margrete. Urban cemeteries' potential as sites for cultural encounters. Mortality 2018 Population increase has drawn attention to the need in cities for easily accessible and attractive public spaces that will promote interaction regardless of gender, age, ethnicity and religious belief. This paper focuses on the role urban cemeteries play in a culturally and religiously diverse society. Norway is described as an increasingly secularised society. Immigration and transmigration, on the other hand, have brought a revived interest in religion and interreligious interaction. We explore two questions that relate to the cemetery as a public shared urban space: The first concerns the need for communities of all faiths and none to access burial space that meets their need. The second relates to the appropriateness of using cemetery as amenity space in a multi-cultural context. Diverse qualitative methods have been used; a focus group interview with participants from different religious and life-philosophy communities, interviews with key informants representing various religious communities and with visitors in two cemeteries in Oslo in 2014. The findings imply that there is a commonality that bridges differences: sharing human compassion. These sites have a potential in stimulating intercultural and interreligious encounters. Their special character as open shared urban sites can increase understanding and acceptance of each other’s difference and hereby render strangeness and differences harmless.acceptedVersio

Green urban cemeteries: more than just parks

Inspired of Lefebvre’s and De Certau’s perspectives on social production of space, this study aims to explore cemeteries’ functions in urban life nowadays. Our starting point is that green urban cemeteries have two main functions: their primary purpose is as a burial ground, while their secondary function is as public spaces for reflections, recreation, and cultural encounters. We ask for whom the cemeteries are designed and managed, and in what ways they are actually used. To explore these questions, qualitative data from two cemeteries in Oslo is analyzed. Both visitors and people passing through the sites were interviewed during the summer of 2014 about their intention to be at the cemetery and their views about the place. We point to a series of positive measures rather than forbidden signs that should be instigated to help promoting the great potential green urban cemeteries have for citizens and a future sustainable city.acceptedVersio

Industrial Heritage as a Culturally Sustainable Option in Urban Transformation: The case of Skien and Moss

Industrial heritage represents an opportunity for architects and designers to combine a building’s robust form with creative solutions. A former methanol factory in Skien used as art hall, and a former paper mill in Moss used as a music venue, exemplify the ways in which cultural provisions for a diverse urban population can be accommodated. We examined the kinds of cultural provisions industrial buildings offer and how industrial heritage’s tolerance level is met. The results are discussed in light of the societal responsibility to find long-lasting, sustainable solutions in urban development.publishedVersio

Industrial heritage as a culturally sustainable option in urban transformation: The case of Skien and Moss

Industrial heritage represents an opportunity for architects and designers to combine a building’s robust form with creative solutions. A former methanol factory in Skien used as art hall, and a former paper mill in Moss used as a music venue, exemplify the ways in which cultural provisions for a diverse urban population can be accommodated. We examined the kinds of cultural provisions industrial buildings offer and how industrial heritage’s tolerance level is met. The results are discussed in light of the societal responsibility to find long-lasting, sustainable solutions in urban development.   &nbsp