Authorising the unauthorised: liquidity, complexity and the heritage-tourist in the era of social media

Abstract

The borders between heritage institutions and everyday life are increasingly porous. Authorised heritage interpretations, values and attributed significance endowed by the institution when inducted into a networked environment are increasingly subject to a more complex field of relations, values and interpretations. These ideas were explored in the Australian Research Council Linkage project Reconceptualising Heritage Collections (University of Western Sydney and Powerhouse Museum). With a focus on the Powerhouse Museum’s Palestinian collections and on dialogues through wikis and focus groups with five main stakeholder groups in Australia, Israel and Palestine (curators from the Powerhouse Museum, Palestinian Cultural Centre staff, Palestinian nationals, Palestinian Australian people and Israeli curators), we illustrate how the heritage institution can act as an open and dynamical space for the interaction and ongoing translation and negotiation of the heritage object, thereby confronting any artificial conceptions of authorised/unauthorised engagements.