Heritage and reconciliation within a post-colonial society, Cockatoo Island a case study

Abstract

Heritage conservation and management has its own challenges and opportunities. If done correctly, it has the potential to re-establish the thread of continuity with a previous time. Most prominently, heritage conservation and management has the ability to facilitate legislative change, promote reconciliation and social reconstruction in a sustainable manner. It is this research papers intention to re-imagine the conservation and management process at a postcolonial heritage site with a shared history and meaning. Keeping this objective in mind, Cockatoo Island is discussed as a suitable heritage site and case study for the paper. The investigation into the case study will be undertaken by taking inspiration from Roha W. Khalaf’s publication of Cultural Heritage Reconstruction after Armed Conflict: Continuity, Change, and Sustainability. The study will reframe Khalaf’s concepts of cultural continuity, change and sustainability, by investigating its application to the discussed heritage site’s conservation and management processes. The synergies between Khalaf’s conceptual ideas could strengthen the connections between indigenous communities and their heritage sites. Further, these synergies could also facilitate for the social reconciliation of post-colonial communities, especially in the context of shared history and meaning.