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
Professor Richard Mackay AM is a dynamic leader and strategic thinker in the cultural sector, with more than four decades of experience in public and private sector cultural heritage management, including impactful contributions as independent expert, Board Member and Chair. He is the founder and ‘Director of Possibilities’ at Mackay Strategic.
Richard was appointed to the Australian Heritage Council as one of two ‘Historic Members’ in July 2024. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies program at Deakin University and was previously a long-term Adjunct Professor in the Archaeology program at La Trobe University. Richard has served as an ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) expert advisor to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee since 2015. He was the Convenor of the ICOMOS global General Assembly hosted in Sydney in 2023. Richard was a founding Partner of GML Heritage Pty Ltd, and is a former Commissioner of the NSW Independent Planning Commission and current Reporter under the Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act. Richard is also a former Chair of the Australian World Heritage Advisory Committee, the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area Advisory Committee and Jenolan Caves Reserve Trust. He was responsible for the ‘Heritage’ theme of the 2011 and 2016 ‘State of the Environment’ reports to the Australian Parliament. Richard is also a former member of the Australia ICOMOS Burra Charter Working Party, a former Non-executive Director of the National Trust in NSW, a former Member of the Heritage Council of NSW and was the inaugural Chair of the NSW State Heritage Register Committee.
Richard has pioneered public archaeology and community participation programs, fostered cultural tourism and sustainable livelihoods, advised senior levels of government, provided expert testimony in multiple jurisdictions and published widely on archaeology, conservation, heritage management and impact assessment.
Richard was the inaugural winner of the Australian Heritage Council ‘Sharon Sullivan Award’ for his contribution to Australia’s national heritage. He is an Honorary Member of ICOMOS. In 2003 Richard was appointed a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia for services to archaeology and cultural heritage.
Dr Julien Cooper is an Egyptologist, Nubiologist and archaeologist, with a focus on the archaeology of the Eastern Desert (Atbai) and the history of its nomadic peoples. He is the director of the 'Atbai Survey Project', a fieldwork program surveying the vast deserts between the Nile and the Red Sea. These surveys aim to shed new light on the varied heritage of this desert, from neolithic rock art to ancient Egyptian trade routes and medieval goldmines. Julien is recently a recipient of an ARC Future Fellowship "Rescuing Pharaoh’s Gold Mines: Archaeological conservation in Eastern Sudan".
Julien completed his PhD in Egyptology at Macquarie University (2016), thereafter holding postdoctoral fellowships at Oxford (ERC Fellow) and Yale universities, as well as an Assistant Professor position at United International College-Bejing Normal University (Zhuhai) from 2020-2022.
Dr Charlotte Feakins teaches heritage studies and historical and contemporary archaeology at the University of Sydney. Charlotte is a heritage practitioner, researcher, and lecturer with a background in historical archaeology. Since 2011, she has worked in a wide range of roles across research and industry including leading Community Heritage services at GML Heritage and conducting research to support the nationally significant Growing Tourism in Kakadu Australian Government initiative. Charlotte’s research is in the fields of critical heritage studies and historical and contemporary archaeology. She is particularly interested in topics of trauma-informed heritage; trauma and archaeology; emotion and affect; narrative and identity; community heritage; social values; social and climate justice; anti-colonialism; heritage interpretation; heritage tourism; and methodological innovation. Charlotte is a Partner Investigator (PI) on the ARC-Linkage project, Everyday Heritage. She is also a Special Adviser for GML Heritage.
Charlotte is an Honorary Researcher at the ANU. In 2021, she co-founded the First Nations Speaker Series and currently co-develops the series in partnership with the ANU, Museums of History NSW, GML Heritage and the University of Sydney. Charlotte was appointed Australian Co-Chair of the Relationships Theme for the ICOMOS GA 2023.
Header image: Wikimedia. Image by David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada - Sudan National Museum
