The volume is based on papers presented on a conference organised by the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication of Erasmus University Rotterdam. The subjects in this book range from places as distant from each other as Dar-es-Salaam, Jakarta, Amsterdam, Le Creusot, Trinidad, Brazzaville, Bremerhaven, New York and Prague, and deal with themes such as wayang, Kylie Minogue, airports and heritage, modernist architecture in Africa and the impact of DNA research on the concept of roots.
Cultural heritage, by way of its producers, its products and its audience, presents an image of the world and its inner coherence. Cultural heritage forms an implicit cultural code governing the relationship between parts and the whole, individuals and communities, communities and outsiders, as well as the relationship between communities and the world as a whole. Cultural heritage is the stage on which the global community, smaller communities and individuals play out their similarities and differences, their identities and singularities. The Heritage Theatre is a book about cultural heritage and globalisation.
