Paper short abstract:

This presentation addresses the relationship between ritual practice, materiality and processes of heritage formation. Point of departure is the capacity of ritual to produce material excess. What processes make that such materials cannot be disposed of and processes of heritage formation set in?

Paper long abstract:

Literally loaded with promises of eternal love in the form of one million padlocks (45 tons), a part of the railings the Pont des Arts Bridge over the Seine broke off, in June 2014. Attaching a lock to the bridge and subsequently tossing the key into the river to seal a pledge of eternal commitment and faithfulness had become an important ritual for romantic couples visiting Paris. After the entire railings were removed, the city authorities decided to store them in a warehouse. We may ask, what stopped the city authorities from disposing the locks straightaway? The Paris padlocks are but one example of present-day public rituals that leave people in charge with huge quantities of ritual material that can neither be disposed of nor easily stored. Even stronger, in many cases this material is regarded as heritage and, accordingly, to be preserved.

This presentation addresses the inextricable relationship between ritual practice, materiality and processes of heritage formation. My point of departure will be an often-overlooked aspect of ritual: the capacity to produce material excess. Yet, to understand why such materials cannot be disposed of, I will bring in an additional focus on the ritual processes that charge - or maybe better sacralise - such material with new, extra or extraordinary values. Comparing various cases of ritual producing material excess ('secular' as well as 'religious'), it is my proposition that the management of excess ritual material will be a matter of growing concern for research institutes, archives, museums and other heritage organisations.