University of Gothenburg

We collaborate with the Re:Heritage project at the University of Gothenburg as a partner project which explores issues which resonate with our own. Re:heritage is a research project which focuses on the circulation of material culture on the second hand market from a heritage perspective. Today things are marketed as having a heritage value in a range of contexts, from flea markets, second hand- and retro shops to exclusive boutiques or internet-based barter. Research within heritage studies has primarily focused on public institutions, local organisations and social movements, arenas which are often associated with ‘legitimate’ and recognised forms of heritage. Instead, Re:heritage focuses on small-scale entrepreneurs and shops, as well as private individuals, in order to analyse a broader and alternative heritage field. The project asks questions such as: How are things that are moving on the market evaluated and valorised? What are the implications of circulation, and how does it affect relationships between people and things? In what ways are objects imagined as having a before and an after, and how can this affect ideas and practices of ownership?

http://globalstudies.gu.se/english/research/research-groups/global-heritage-studies/re-heritage