Keynote of Areti Galani on emerging values and responsibilities in the futuring of memory practices

Can futuring methodologies open a critical space for heritage and memory work? How can we bring into dialogue imagined participatory memory futures with current practice?  What are the values and responsibilities emerging from ‘inhabiting’ the future in the present? This talk will reflect on empirical work from two heritage futurescaping workshops that were carried out in the context of the EU-funded project CoHERE (Critical Heritages: Performing & representing identities in Europe). The participants in the workshops were asked to ‘inhabit’ and negotiate futures in which memory and heritage work interfaced with challenges emerging from post-truth politics, artificial intelligence agency and profusion of digital/material heritage resources. Drawing on examples of practices and artefact designed by the participants, the presentation discusses how responsibilities of cultural institutions connected to access, truth and authenticity are being re-imagined and the questions they raise for future action. The talk also reflects on the challenges and opportunities of using futuring participatory methodologies in memory and heritage research and practice.