Routledge Decolonizing Conservation: Caring for Maori Meeting Houses outside New Zealand (UCL Institute of Archaeology Critical Cultural Heritage Series)

This book argues for an important shift in cultural heritage conservation, away from a focus on maintaining the physical fabric of material culture toward the impact that conservation work has on people’s lives. In doing so, it challenges the commodification of sacred objects and places by western conservation thought and attempts to decolonize conservation practice. To do so, the authors examine conservation activities at Maori marae―meeting houses―located in the US, Germany, and England and contrasts them with changes in marae conservation in New Zealand. A key case study is the Hinemihi meeting house, transported to England in the 1890s where it was treated as a curiosity by visitors to Clandon Park for over a century, and more recently as a focal point of cultural activity for UK Maori communities. Recent efforts to include various Maori stakeholder communities in the care of this sacred structure is a key example of community based conservation that can be replicated in heritage practice around the world. Review The authors are congratulated on producing an engaging and well-illustrated volume which will simultaneously be of interest to those involved in the care of marae and other aspects of Maori heritage (both within and outside of New Zealand), as well as those of us with an interest in the ways in which an indigenous and post-colonial critique is transforming contemporary heritage practice in the modern world. -Rodney Harrison, Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites From the Back Cover This book challenges the commodification of sacred objects and places by western conservation thought by examining conservation activities at Maori maraeameeting housesalocated in the US, Germany, and England, contrasted with changes in marae conservation in New Zealand. About the Author Dean Sully is Lecture in Conservation at University College London Institute of Archaeology and National Trust Advisor for the Conservation of Archaeological Artefacts. He previously served as conservator at the National Heritage Board Singapore, Museum of London, and the British Museum. Sully is author of over 15 articles on conservation topics.