Book contents
- Caring for Cultural Heritage
- The Law in Context Series
- Caring for Cultural Heritage
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Caring for Cultural Heritage
- 3 Nested Practices of Care for Cultural Heritage
- 4 Translating How and Why Communities Care about Cultural Heritage
- 5 Creating Communities of Care
- 6 Quotidian Care
- 7 Navigating Harm to Cultural Heritage
- 8 The Rhetoric of Saving for the Nation
- 9 Challenging the Status quo
- 10 Conclusion
- Index
8 - The Rhetoric of Saving for the Nation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 November 2023
- Caring for Cultural Heritage
- The Law in Context Series
- Caring for Cultural Heritage
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Caring for Cultural Heritage
- 3 Nested Practices of Care for Cultural Heritage
- 4 Translating How and Why Communities Care about Cultural Heritage
- 5 Creating Communities of Care
- 6 Quotidian Care
- 7 Navigating Harm to Cultural Heritage
- 8 The Rhetoric of Saving for the Nation
- 9 Challenging the Status quo
- 10 Conclusion
- Index
Summary
This chapter explores the potential loss of cultural heritage objects to overseas purchasers and the apparent loss of public access to these objects. This is in the context of deferring the granting of licences for the export of ‘national treasures’ to permit time for public institutions to raise money to purchase the objects and prevent them from being exported abroad. The way in which the concept of ‘nation’ is constructed is analysed as well as how far other nations which may also have a connection with the object are considered. Does the ‘nation’ have a voice or is reliance placed on the expert advisor and the panel of independent experts who advice the Secretary of State at the exclusion of the views of communities or ‘the public’? The chapter explores what exactly the cultural heritage object is being saved from; frequently the trope of the American collector or the ‘Los Angeles museum’ is deployed when seeking to keep objects within the UK’s borders. The chapter considers how far such a system, which focuses primarily on the national community of care, represents appropriate care of cultural heritage.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Caring for Cultural HeritageAn Integrated Approach to Legal and Ethical Initiatives in the United Kingdom, pp. 276 - 305Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023