About the Book
This open access Handbook offers readers a state-of-the-art guide to the public debates and scholarship on religious heritage in contemporary Europe. It contains articles by scholars, policy makers and heritage practitioners, who explore the key challenges facing the organizations, churches, and government bodies concerned with religion and heritage.
Featuring polemics, case studies, and analysis, the volume is united by major themes,
including Jewish, Muslim and Christian heritage, the (post)secular, interreligious heritage, sacred texts, museums, tourism, and contemporary art.
The book explores the shifting significance of Europe's historic churches, synagogues, and mosques, many of which are caught between declining numbers of worshippers, increasing numbers of tourists, and the pressure to find new uses. It also examines the key role religious heritage plays in political discourse, both in the interest of including and excluding religious minorities.
The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.
Table of Contents:
Introductory Essays
1. Religious Heritage Between Scholarship and Practice, Todd Weir and Lieke Wijnia (University of Groningen, the Netherlands)
2. What is Religious – about- Heritage?, Birgit Meyer (Utrecht University, the Netherlands)
3. Heritage Discourse and Religious Change in Contemporary Europe, Todd Weir (University of Groningen, The Netherlands)
PART I
A. Muslim Heritage in a Diverse Context
4. Restoring Muslim Heritage in Europe, Humayun Ansari (Royal Holloway University of London, UK)
5. Present Politics of an Interreligious Past: The Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, Mar Griera (Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain)
6. Muslim Heritage Trails: Making Visible Britain's Muslim Past, Tharik Hussain (Journalist, UK)
B. Jewish Heritage in a Diverse Context
7. European Jewish Heritage Today: An Interview with Emile Schrijver, Jewish Cultural Quarter
8. The Complicated Heritage of the Jewish Country House: Transcending Traditional Heritage Categories, Abigail Green (University of Oxford, UK)
9. Interreligious Tours as Bottom-Up Heritage Practice: The Routes of Dialogue in Barcelona, Julia Martinez-Arino (University of Groningen, the Netherlands) and Victor Sorenssen (European Association for the Promotion of Culture and Jewish Heritage, Luxembourg)
10. The Jewish Heritage of Lincoln Cathedral – a Cathedral Heritage Reinterpreted, Marcus Roberts (Independent Scholar, UK)
C. Negotiating Diversity and Interreligious Heritage
11. Religious Architecture and Interreligious Relations: The Politics of Memory in Bosnia, Amra Hadžimuhamedovic (International University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
12. Synagogues, Churches, Mosques, and Multifaith Spaces: Germany's Dynamic Religious Landscape, Kim de Wildt (University of Bonn, Germany)
13. Counterhegemonic Heritage and Diversity in Berlin's House of One: Designing Abraham's Legacy, Marian Burchardt (Leipzig University, Germany)
14. Repurposing a Church in a Diverse City: Making the The Bolton All Souls Church a Space for All Souls, Peter Aiers (formerly at The Churches Conservation Trust, UK) and Inayat Omarji (Community Activist, UK)
15. Heritage Management by Churches: Developing for Eternity in Sweden, Maria Nystrom (University of Gothenburg, Sweden)
D. Politics of Religious Heritage
16. Peace and Conflict in Kosovo's Orthodox Monasteries: Common or Divisive Heritage?, Lejla Hadžic (Conservation Architect)
17. Religion in Central European History: How Christian has it ever been?, Arpad von Klimo (The Catholic University of America, USA)
18. Mobilizing Religious Heritage in Politics: Inclusivity in a Pluralistic Society, Christoph Baumgartner (Utrecht University, the Netherlands)
19. Religion, Gender and Heritage: Who is Commemorated in the Dutch Cityscape?, Mathilde van Dijk (University of Groningen, the Netherlands)
20. Inclusivity and Religious Heritage in the Dutch St. Martin's Celebration: A Helmet Without a Cross, Welmoed Wagenaar (University of Groningen, the Netherlands)
E. Sacred Texts as Heritage
21. Questioning Scriptural Heritage: Interpreting Abraham, Carol Bakhos (University of California, Los Angeles, USA)
22. Hasidic Heritage in Europe and Israel, Past and Present, Zohar Maor (Bar-Ilan University, Israel)
23. Heritage and Intercultural Education: Teaching the Use of Islamic Foundational Texts for Empowerment and Reconciliation in Israel, Ayman Agbaria (University of Haifa, Israel)
24. The Talmud in Contemporary Culture, Malachi Hacohen (Duke University, USA)
25. Safeguarding Written Heritage: The Scriptural Ecosystem of the Hill Monastic Museum and Library, Andrew Irving (University of Groningen, the Netherlands)
PART II: Heritage between Religion and the Secular
A. Religious Communities and their Heritage in Secularizing Societies
26. Religious Communities and Their Heritage in Secularizing Societies, Becky Clark (former director of churches and cathedrals for the Church of England, UK)
27. The Role of Religion in Rural Heritage and Memorial Culture, Jacobine Gelderloos (Groningen University, the Netherlands)
28. Religious Archives as Heritage: Catholic Documentation and Heritage Formation in the Netherlands, 1969-2019, Hans Krabbendam (Radboud University, the Netherlands) and Chris Dols (Radboud University, the Netherlands)
29. Conservation Professionals and Religious Heritage, Eva Löfgren and Ola Wetterberg (University of Gothenburg, Germany)
30. Tradition and Innovation in Rural Churches: New Practices on Ancient Grounds, Jolanda Tuma (Protestantse Gemeente Winsum Halfambt, the Netherlands)
B. Postsecular Meaning Making
31. Postsecular Meaning-Making? Why Contestations about Church Heritage Matter in the Study of Society, Ernst v/d Hemel & Irene Stengs (Meertens Institute, Netherlands)
32. The Village Church as Intangible Cultural Heritage: European Ritual Innovation Seen from a Japanese Perspective, Aike Rots (University of Oslo, Norway)
33. Spiritual Tourism: Religion on the Road, Harald Schwillus (Halle-Wittenberg University, Germany)
34. New Monasticism in Old Churches: The Case of Nijkleaster (New Cloister), Hinne Wagenaar (Pastor in Jorwet, Netherlands)
35. Christian Heritage and Intercultural Education: The School Church in Garmerwolde, Inge Basteleur (Groningen Historic Churches Foundation, the Netherlands)
C. Repurposing of Religious Heritage
36. De-churching as Crisis and Opportunity: The Response of the Dutch State, Frank Strolenberg (formerly Netherlands Cultural Heritage Agency, the Netherlands)
37. The Ecclesial Reuse of Catholic Churches: The 2018 guidelines of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Andrea Longhi (Torino Polytechnic, Italy)
38. Religious Heritage across Generational Divides: A Dutch Experiment to Fight Church Fatigue, Sander Ummelen, Stephan Ummelen and Ankie Petersen (De Kerkvernieuwers, the Netherlands)
PART III
A. Contemporary Art and Religious Heritage
39. Art, Heritage and Power, Aaron Rosen (Wesley Theological Seminary, USA)
40. Negotiating Diversity with Heritage: Making the Case for Artistic Engagement, Brenda Bartelink (University of Groningen, the Netherlands) and Gabriela Bustamante (The Hague University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands)
41. Making Art in Medieval Churches: Conversations with Silence in the Monk's Work project, Anjet van Linge (Sculptor, the Netherlands)
B. Religious Heritage in Museums
42. Making Room for Religious Minorities in National Heritage Narratives, Marie Vejrup Nielsen (Aarhus University, Denmark)
43. Conflict and the Musealization of Religious Sites: Mosque and Church in Divided Cyprus, Rabia Harmansah (University of Cologne, Germany)
44. Minority Heritage within a National Framework: The Jewish Museum in Denmark, Hilda Nissimi (Bar-Ilan University, Israel)
45. Venerating Musealized Religious Objects: St. Patrick's Hand between Display Case and Altar, Emma McAlister, (Queen's University Belfast, UK)
46. Teaching in Musealized Religious Spaces: Lessons from an Amsterdam Seminar, Paul Ariese (Reinwardt Academy, Amsterdam University of the Arts, the Netherlands)
Index
About the Author :
Todd H. Weir is Professor of History of Christianity and Director of the Centre for Religion and Heritage at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Lieke Wijnia is Head of Curation and Library at Museum Catharijneconvent in Utrecht, and a fellow with the Centre for Religion and Heritage at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Review :
This rich and nuanced handbook offers academics and heritage practitioners new perspectives on European religious legacies. It will provide intellectual and practical frameworks for exploring the highly heterogeneous religious heritage configurations in Europe. Contributions will feed public, professional and scholarly debates on religion and identity, ritual and materiality, diversity and nationalism, post-secular dynamics, minority empowerment and theoretical challenges to religion-heritage relations.
This exciting, much-needed collection of timely essays opens an expansive window onto creative and thoughtful contemporary approaches to the preservation and use of both material and intangible religious heritage. An impressive range of international perspectives and voices-preservationists, scholars, artists, museum professionals, clergy, and community activists-illuminate the embodied tensions of complex religious places and histories. These thoughtful studies demonstrate how religious sites and artefacts can be catalysts for discovery, reconciliation, and meaning-making in a post-secular world.
Politics underlies so many of these fascinating essays and the editors of this useful collection highlight that a newly diverse society requires a diverse heritage. What's more, the book acknowledges Europe as a fast-secularising society where religion and heritage both call for negotiation of identity. Highly recommended.
