Caitlin Desilvey
University of Exeter, Geography, Faculty Member
Preservation of natural and cultural heritage is often said to be something that is done for the future, or on behalf of future generations, but the precise relationship of such practices to the future is rarely reflected upon. Heritage... more
Preservation of natural and cultural heritage is often said to be something that is done for the future, or on behalf of future generations, but the precise relationship of such practices to the future is rarely reflected upon. Heritage Futures draws on research undertaken over four years by an interdisciplinary, international team of 16 researchers and more than 25 partner organisations to explore the role of heritage and heritage-like practices in building future worlds.
Engaging broad themes such as diversity, transformation, profusion and uncertainty, Heritage Futures aims to understand how a range of conservation and preservation practices across a number of countries assemble and resource different kinds of futures, and the possibilities that emerge from such collaborative research for alternative approaches to heritage in the Anthropocene. Case studies include the cryopreservation of endangered DNA in frozen zoos, nuclear waste management, seed biobanking, landscape rewilding, social history collecting, space messaging, endangered language documentation, built and natural heritage management, domestic keeping and discarding practices, and world heritage site management.
Engaging broad themes such as diversity, transformation, profusion and uncertainty, Heritage Futures aims to understand how a range of conservation and preservation practices across a number of countries assemble and resource different kinds of futures, and the possibilities that emerge from such collaborative research for alternative approaches to heritage in the Anthropocene. Case studies include the cryopreservation of endangered DNA in frozen zoos, nuclear waste management, seed biobanking, landscape rewilding, social history collecting, space messaging, endangered language documentation, built and natural heritage management, domestic keeping and discarding practices, and world heritage site management.
Research Interests: Future Studies, Geography, Archaeology, Anthropology, Climate Change, and 15 moreCultural Heritage, Ethnography, Heritage Studies, Diversity, Actor Network Theory, Cultural Heritage Management, Environmental Humanities, Collecting and Collections, Heritage Management, Ethnographic Methods, Biodiversity Conservation, Collaborative Research, History and archaeology, Anthropocene, and Critical Heritage Studies
After Discourse is an interdisciplinary response to the recent trend away from linguistic and textual approaches and towards things and their affects. The new millennium brought about serious changes to the intellectual landscape.... more
After Discourse is an interdisciplinary response to the recent trend away from linguistic and textual approaches and towards things and their affects.
The new millennium brought about serious changes to the intellectual landscape. Favoured approaches associated with the linguistic and the textual turn lost some of their currency, and were followed by a new curiosity and concern for things and their natures. Gathering contributions from archaeology, heritage studies, history, geography, literature and philosophy, After Discourse offers a range of reflections on what things are, how we become affected by them, and the ethical concerns they give rise to. Through a varied constellation of case studies, it explores ways of dealing with matters which fall outside, become othered from, or simply cannot be grasped through perspectives derived solely from language and discourse.
After Discourse provides challenging new perspectives for scholars and students interested in other-than-textual encounters between people and the objects with which we share the world.
The new millennium brought about serious changes to the intellectual landscape. Favoured approaches associated with the linguistic and the textual turn lost some of their currency, and were followed by a new curiosity and concern for things and their natures. Gathering contributions from archaeology, heritage studies, history, geography, literature and philosophy, After Discourse offers a range of reflections on what things are, how we become affected by them, and the ethical concerns they give rise to. Through a varied constellation of case studies, it explores ways of dealing with matters which fall outside, become othered from, or simply cannot be grasped through perspectives derived solely from language and discourse.
After Discourse provides challenging new perspectives for scholars and students interested in other-than-textual encounters between people and the objects with which we share the world.
Transporting readers from derelict homesteads to imperiled harbors, postindustrial ruins to Cold War test sites, Curated Decay presents an unparalleled provocation to conventional thinking on the conservation of cultural heritage. Caitlin... more
Transporting readers from derelict homesteads to imperiled harbors, postindustrial ruins to Cold War test sites, Curated Decay presents an unparalleled provocation to conventional thinking on the conservation of cultural heritage. Caitlin DeSilvey proposes rethinking the care of certain vulnerable sites in terms of ecology and entropy, and explains how we must adopt an ethical stance that allows us to collaborate with—rather than defend against—natural processes. Curated Decay chronicles DeSilvey’s travels to places where experiments in curated ruination and creative collapse are under way, or under consideration. It uses case studies from the United States, Europe, and elsewhere to explore how objects and structures produce meaning not only in their preservation and persistence, but also in their decay and disintegration. Through accessible and engaging discussion of specific places and their stories, it traces how cultural memory is generated in encounters with ephemeral artifacts and architectures. An interdisciplinary reframing of the concept of the ruin that combines historical and philosophical depth with attentive storytelling, Curated Decay represents the first attempt to apply new theories of materiality and ecology to the concerns of critical heritage studies. Chapter 1 fulltext available here: https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10871/37065
Research Interests: Cultural Geography, Cultural Heritage, Heritage Studies, Cultural Heritage Conservation, Heritage Conservation, and 10 moreCultural Heritage Management, Urban Ruins, Architectural Heritage, Science for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, Ruins, New Materialism, Urban Decay, Decay, Modern Ruins, and Art History and Aesthetics of Ruins
Research Interests:
This review considers how rapid environmental change, generated through both inhuman natural forces and human-induced impacts, affects landscape futures and decision-making processes. To do this, we start by defining ‘futures’, and, more... more
This review considers how rapid environmental change, generated through both inhuman natural forces and human-induced impacts, affects landscape futures and decision-making processes. To do this, we start by defining ‘futures’, and, more specifically, the different kinds of futures at stake in changing landscapes. We discuss how rapid environmental change not only puts immediate pressure on identifying alternative futures for landscapes, but also threatens to unsettle patterns of attachment to the landscape. We then explore different ways of managing tensions and consider strategies that have been used for breaking down binary divisions that may stymie informed and integrated decision-making. We conclude by adapting a five-point framework that incorporates uncertainty and environmental change when making decisions about landscape futures.
The articles from Context are published on a searchable on-line archive six months after publication: http://ihbc.org.uk/page55/context_archive/index.html
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Heritage relies, to a large extent, on notions of endangerment and consequential attempts to arrest or reverse processes of loss and change. The papers in this special issue engage critically with this underlying orientation, exploring... more
Heritage relies, to a large extent, on notions of endangerment and
consequential attempts to arrest or reverse processes of loss and
change. The papers in this special issue engage critically with this
underlying orientation, exploring the social and cultural work which is
produced through efforts to avert loss. In doing so, the papers also
point towards alternative ways of valuing objects, places and practices
which are not solely determined by notions of endangerment and risk.
We suggest three general themes which connect critical investigation
of these issues across the varied natural and cultural heritage contexts
through which these papers work – the inevitability of loss; the politics
of loss; and the potential in loss. These themes have significant
implications not only for the future of natural and cultural heritage
preservation, conservation and management but also in mapping out
future research directions for critical heritage studies.
consequential attempts to arrest or reverse processes of loss and
change. The papers in this special issue engage critically with this
underlying orientation, exploring the social and cultural work which is
produced through efforts to avert loss. In doing so, the papers also
point towards alternative ways of valuing objects, places and practices
which are not solely determined by notions of endangerment and risk.
We suggest three general themes which connect critical investigation
of these issues across the varied natural and cultural heritage contexts
through which these papers work – the inevitability of loss; the politics
of loss; and the potential in loss. These themes have significant
implications not only for the future of natural and cultural heritage
preservation, conservation and management but also in mapping out
future research directions for critical heritage studies.
Research Interests:
Heritage relies, to a large extent, on notions of endangerment and consequential attempts to arrest or reverse processes of loss and change. The papers in this special issue engage critically with this underlying orientation, exploring... more
Heritage relies, to a large extent, on notions of endangerment and consequential attempts to arrest or reverse processes of loss and change. The papers in this special issue engage critically with this underlying orientation, exploring the social and cultural work which is produced through efforts to avert loss. In doing so, the papers also point towards alternative ways of valuing objects, places and practices which are not solely determined by notions of endangerment and risk. We suggest three general themes which connect critical investigation of these issues across the varied natural and cultural heritage contexts through which these papers work – the inevitability of loss; the politics of loss; and the potential in loss. These themes have significant implications not only for the future of natural and cultural heritage preservation, conservation and management but also in mapping out future research directions for critical heritage studies.
Research Interests: Geography, Archaeology, Anthropology, Climate Change, Cultural Heritage, and 15 moreHeritage Studies, Public History, Social and Cultural Anthropology, History of Science, Cultural Heritage Conservation, Heritage Conservation, Biodiversity, Cultural Heritage Management, Loss and Trauma, Futures Studies and Foresight, Anthropocene studies, Heritage, Biodiversity Conservation, Anthropocene, and History of Philosophy
This paper explores the use of film as a method to explore themes of change and loss which emerged during the recording of archaeological features at Orford Ness, UK. Owned by the National Trust, Orford Ness is an exposed shingle spit off... more
This paper explores the use of film as a method to explore themes of change and loss which emerged during the recording of archaeological features at Orford Ness, UK. Owned by the National Trust, Orford Ness is an exposed shingle spit off the Suffolk coast recognised for its natural and cultural heritage. The research discussed in this paper engaged with a community archaeology project which has been recording features on the shingle spit as they are altered and erased by erosion and other coastal
processes. The authors experimented with film as a method to investigate the work being undertaken by practitioners and volunteers in this dynamic landscape. We conclude that, within interdisciplinary heritage
research, experimenting with film as a method facilitates the representation of embodied practices and exposes processes of meaning-making. We frame our discussion about the active production of meaning through
an analysis of the way that film engaged with qualities articulated in the National Trust’s Spirit of Place statement for the site
processes. The authors experimented with film as a method to investigate the work being undertaken by practitioners and volunteers in this dynamic landscape. We conclude that, within interdisciplinary heritage
research, experimenting with film as a method facilitates the representation of embodied practices and exposes processes of meaning-making. We frame our discussion about the active production of meaning through
an analysis of the way that film engaged with qualities articulated in the National Trust’s Spirit of Place statement for the site
Research Interests:
This paper builds on work about rewilding and human-animal relations by focusing inquiry on Portugal's Coa Valley, where a concentration of prehistoric rock art animal figures shares a landscape with a rewilding pilot which seeks to... more
This paper builds on work about rewilding and human-animal relations by focusing inquiry on Portugal's Coa Valley, where a concentration of prehistoric rock art animal figures shares a landscape with a rewilding pilot which seeks to re-establish a population of wild horses. In response to recent geographical debates, the paper offers a sustained, situated analysis of the temporalities of rewilding and related claims to nonhuman autonomy. In the Coa Valley, ancient images of animal others are enrolled in efforts to return "wild" horses to the landscape, but conceptions of wildness and domesticity, and autonomy and temporality, remain fluid and unfixed-even as they are implicated in the production of bounded spaces and invoked in present-day management imperatives. To conclude, we argue for an appreciation of degrees of animal autonomy in rewilding contexts, moving beyond the binaries that often seem to be the focus of rewilding debates. Understanding of these degrees of autonomy, we argue, must be grounded in histories of landscape co-habitation and co-production, and consider the intersection of past cultural tradition and conceptions of desired future natures.
Research Interests:
Heritage Futures is a four-year collaborative international research programme (2015–2019) funded by a UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) ‘Care for the Future’ Theme Large Grant, and supported additionally by its host... more
Heritage Futures is a four-year collaborative international research programme (2015–2019) funded by a UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) ‘Care for the Future’ Theme Large Grant, and supported additionally by its host universities and partner organisations. The research programme involves ambitious interdisciplinary research to explore the potential for innovation and creative exchange across a broad range of heritage and related fields, in partnership with a number of academic and non-academic institutions and interest groups. It is distinctive in its comparative approach which aims to bring heritage conservation practices of various forms into closer dialogue with the management of other material and virtual legacies such as nuclear waste management. It is also distinctive in its exploration of different forms of heritage as future-making practices. This brief paper provides an introduction to the research programme and its aims and methods.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This paper describes a research project that aimed to translate complex spatial and scientific data about coastal change into accessible digital formats for general audiences. The project used fine-scale remote sensing techniques... more
This paper describes a research project that aimed to translate complex spatial and scientific data about coastal change into accessible digital formats for general audiences. The project used fine-scale remote sensing techniques including airborne and terrestrial laser scanning to produce spatially accurate and realistic 3D digital visualisations of projected sea level rise at Cotehele Quay, a site on the River Tamar in Cornwall owned and managed by the National Trust. Area residents and stakeholders were involved in a series of focus groups which provided guidance on the integration of the spatial models into a short film. The paper focuses on how the participatory, iterative process adopted in the project shaped the content and design of the film. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this process enhanced the viability of the film as a communication tool for use in wider engagement activities.
Scholarly interest in ruins and derelict spaces has intensified over the last decade. We assess a broad selection of the resulting literature and identify several key themes. We focus on how ruins may be used to critically examine... more
Scholarly interest in ruins and derelict spaces has intensified over the last decade. We assess a broad selection of the resulting literature and identify several key themes. We focus on how ruins may be used to critically examine capitalist and state manifestations of power; we consider the way in which ruins may challenge dominant ways of relating to the past; and we look at how ruins may complicate strategies for practically and ontologically ordering space. We speculate about the motivations for this surge of current academic interest, draw out resonances with current trends in geographical thinking, and suggest directions for future research.
In climate change discourse the concept of anticipatory adaptation has emerged to refer to proactive strategies for preparing communities for future change. This paper makes a proposal for what might be called anticipatory history. At... more
In climate change discourse the concept of anticipatory adaptation has emerged to refer to proactive strategies for preparing communities for future change. This paper makes a proposal for what might be called anticipatory history. At designated heritage sites prevailing narratives tend to project long-term conservation indefinitely forward into the future. These narrative formulations fall short when confronted with the impending transformation, or even disappearance, of landscapes and artefacts of cultural heritage – a process that is likely to become increasingly common with the acceleration of environmental change in coastal and other contexts. Might it be possible to experiment with other ways of storying landscape, framing histories around movement rather than stasis, and drawing connections between past dynamism and future process? At the core of this paper is an experimental narration of the history of a Cornish harbour. The narrative presents a reverse chronology of moments gleaned from diverse sources ranging over three centuries, looking to a fractured landscape past to find resources for encountering a future unmaking.
The degradation of cultural artefacts is usually understood in a purely negative vein: the erosion of physical integrity is associated with a parallel loss of cultural information. This article asks if it is possible to adopt an... more
The degradation of cultural artefacts is usually understood in a purely negative vein: the erosion of physical integrity is associated with a parallel loss of cultural information. This article asks if it is possible to adopt an interpretive approach in which entropic processes of decomposition and decay, though implicated in the destruction of cultural memory traces on one register, contribute to the recovery of memory on another register. The article
tracks the entanglement of cultural and natural histories through the residual material culture of a derelict homestead in Montana. In conclusion, the article suggests that deposits of degraded material, though inappropriate for recovery in conventional conservation strategies, may be understood through the application of a collaborative interpretive ethic, allowing other-than-human agencies to participate in the telling of stories about particular places.
tracks the entanglement of cultural and natural histories through the residual material culture of a derelict homestead in Montana. In conclusion, the article suggests that deposits of degraded material, though inappropriate for recovery in conventional conservation strategies, may be understood through the application of a collaborative interpretive ethic, allowing other-than-human agencies to participate in the telling of stories about particular places.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The historical development of Scottish allotment gardens has invested these urban agricultural landscapes with an ambiguous diversity that persists today in both plot-level practice and in political representations. This paper examines... more
The historical development of Scottish allotment gardens has invested these urban agricultural landscapes with an ambiguous diversity that persists today in both plot-level practice and in political representations. This paper examines how the ambiguity that pervades allotment practice ...
Research Interests:
Geographers have begun to investigate the link between creative production and cultural memory-work, exploring how art interventions frame and facilitate engagements with the past in place. This paper builds on this emerging area of... more
Geographers have begun to investigate the link between creative production and cultural memory-work, exploring how art interventions frame and facilitate engagements with the
past in place. This paper builds on this emerging area of enquiry to examine the transformation of an industrial river landscape in Western Montana, and the production of a sound artwork which attempted to respond to the landscape’s unmaking with an
interactive installation at a local museum. An interest in how cultural remembrance is practised and performed in relation to processes of material disarticulation guides the analysis. In conclusion, the paper proposes that a form of kinetic memory characterises engagement with ephemeral sites and the cultural productions they catalyse. The researcher’s involvement in the installation process opens up an adjacent discussion about geographical research conducted on, and through, contemporary art practice.
past in place. This paper builds on this emerging area of enquiry to examine the transformation of an industrial river landscape in Western Montana, and the production of a sound artwork which attempted to respond to the landscape’s unmaking with an
interactive installation at a local museum. An interest in how cultural remembrance is practised and performed in relation to processes of material disarticulation guides the analysis. In conclusion, the paper proposes that a form of kinetic memory characterises engagement with ephemeral sites and the cultural productions they catalyse. The researcher’s involvement in the installation process opens up an adjacent discussion about geographical research conducted on, and through, contemporary art practice.
Research Interests:
This is the final version. The whole book is available on open access from Open Humanities Press via the link in this record.
Research Interests:
This chapter examines the processes of material growth and transformation implicated in the working of stone. We begin in motion, with the movement of a saw through stone, and the movement of water over both. The chapter works through one... more
This chapter examines the processes of material growth and transformation implicated in the working of stone. We begin in motion, with the movement of a saw through stone, and the movement of water over both. The chapter works through one of the authors’ – David’s – lived experience as a sculptor, sawman, mason and researcher at Trenoweth dimension granite quarry, near Penryn, Cornwall. Through extracts based on David’s fieldnotes from 2010–11 we follow the flow of material through the quarry’s spatial and temporal contexts, with a particular focus on how sludge’s movement weaves together embodied geographical knowledge and durational geological processe
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Contingency and Repair
Research Interests:
This chapter narrates a series of intervals and events in the geobiography of a pair of granite bookends. The granite under study here formed several hundred million years ago, its relatively large crystal structure suggesting a process... more
This chapter narrates a series of intervals and events in the geobiography of a pair of granite bookends. The granite under study here formed several hundred million years ago, its relatively large crystal structure suggesting a process of slow cooling within the emplacement of the molten batholith. The chapter begins with a description of the formation and extraction of the bookends' granite and uses this history to discuss geographical perspectives on the underlying instability and dynamism of ostensibly inert matter. It then follows the stone as it is incorporated in a built structure and explores the investment of labor required to maintain its durability as a cultural form. As the bookends take on a role in the unfolding story as discrete objects, they become available for study in different ways. Most obviously, they enter into more intimate, and intricate, systems of production, consumption, and use.
Research Interests:
‘Liminal Matter’ was created by artist Lizzie Cannon as a platform for art making, research and dialogue within the context of maritime heritage, ecology and conservation. The project aimed to address questions around human and non-human... more
‘Liminal Matter’ was created by artist Lizzie Cannon as a platform for art making, research and dialogue within the context of maritime heritage, ecology and conservation. The project aimed to address questions around human and non-human agency, temporal and spatial flows of matter and meaning, and an ontological fluidity that allows for an understanding of materiality as a reciprocal and generative relationship between humans and environment.