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Paper short abstract

Reimagining heritage in deindustrialised contexts embraces change and multivocality. Industrial ruins challenge preservation norms. We see ruination as dynamic, relational and ethical and can foster sustainable, community led, process-oriented heritage where human and the more-than-human interplay.

Paper long abstract

A reimagining of heritage that accommodates loss, change, ruins and multivocality; moving beyond rigid categories of value in deindustrialised contexts, can make a shift that invites to deeper reflection on memory, materiality and the fluid boundaries between past, present and future. We hope to provoke a broader re-thinking of heritage – embracing transformation, inclusivity, acknowledging both human and more-than-human forces in shaping cultural memory.

We examine the complexities of preserving industrial heritage/ruins through a case study – a collection of large-scale industrial objects at the Norwegian Industrial Workers Museum, Norway. Originally functional tools, now challenge traditional museum practices due to scale, materiality and ambiguous cultural/heritage status. The case study reveals how preservation strategies adapt to changing attitudes; from industrial remains to heritage; from potential sculpture park to museum exhibits in flux. These objects, once discarded, occupy a liminal space between scrap and heritage, reflecting shifting societal values.

Industrial objects are not designed for longevity or aesthetic display, making interpretation and preservation difficult. Unlike curated artefacts, they demand frameworks that acknowledge functional origins and material transformation over time. DeSilvey’s concept of curated decay challenge preservation paradigms centred on permanence and authenticity and embraces temporality and material change; legitimising objects natural transformation, giving an ethical form of preservation. Ruination is not loss, rather a dynamic, relational process between human and more-than-human. Anthropological perspectives can give new meanings and pathways for sustainable, community-responsive heritage practices; advocating for experimental, process-oriented methods, recognising heritage as performative processes, as interactions between materials, environments and local community.