History Now 2025: Cultural Heritage in Danger

The intentional and unintentional destruction, damage or loss of human cultural history through armed conflict, natural disaster, human intervention or deliberate attempts to erase cultural identity has been with us as long as history has been recorded; but cases in recent years have shocked the international community and those of us committed to understanding the past.

This discussion will feature contemporary case studies of cultural heritage destruction from abroad and locally, including recent damage to the National Museum of Sudan. However it is not just conflict scenarios, the conversation will cover case studies of damage due to earthquake and natural damage and wilful damage. We will also consider how sites of historical trauma become themselves historical sites and then how they become reflected in contemporary perspectives.

With presentations by Dr Julien Cooper (Macquarie University), Professor Richard Mackay (Australia ICOMOS and Deakin University) and Dr Charlotte Feakins (University of Sydney), this wide-ranging talk will take us around the world and examine a range of issues around the fight to preserve the past, international obligations to protect historic sites and traditions and what we may be able to contribute from Australia.

This presentation is part of the History Council of New South Wales’s 2025 History Now series.