Mattias Legnér

Heritage under attack: motives for targeting cultural property during armed conflict

Abstract Although attacks on cultural property have caused international outcry, our understanding of this phenomenon is still limited. In particular, little research has been directed towards exploring the motivations for such attacks. Therefore, we ask: What are the motives for attacking sites, buildings or objects representing cultural heritage? By combining insights from peace and conflict research with findings from heritage studies we present a typology of motivations for attacking cultural property. We identify four, not mutually exclusive, broad groups of motives: (i) attacks related to conflict goals, in which cultural property is targeted because it is connected to the issue the warring parties are fighting over (ii), military-strategic attacks, in which the main motivation is to win tactical advantages in the conflict (iii), signalling attacks, in which cultural property is targeted as a low-risk target that signals the commitment of the aggressor, and (iv) economic incentives where cultural property provides funding for warring parties. Our typology offers a theoretical structure for research about why, when, and by whom, cultural property is targeted. This is not only likely to provide academic benefits, but also to contribute to the development of more effective tools for the protection of cultural property during armed conflict.

The relationship between heating energy and cumulative damage to painted wood in historic churches

Existing research on climate-induced damage needs to be verified by actual observations in authentic environments. This article suggests a complementary method to relate the historic and present indoor climate to damage on painted wooden objects in historic churches. Energy consumption, as revealed by archival sources, is used as a substitute for climate records, on the assumption that higher temperature and therefore lower relative humidity will occur more frequently in churches with greater expenses for fuel. The quantified energy consumption is related to damage of wood and the painted layers of pulpits in 16 churches. There is a slight correlation between damage to the paint on the pulpits and energy released in the churches. However larger populations are needed for this type of enquiry to be further developed and extended.

A Legacy of Energy Saving: The Discussion on Heritage Values in the First Programme on Energy Efficiency in Buildings in Sweden, c. 1974–1984

ABSTRACT The paper analyses the ‘energy savings plan for existing buildings’ (EBB) introduced in Sweden after the first oil crisis of 1973, and how effects of policies on the built heritage were perceived and communicated to a wider public. A conflict between conservation aims and energy efficiency was constructed for the first time in Sweden. The programme was a huge investment made by the government to reduce the import of oil. At first, little consideration was taken to the fact that heritage values might be at risk when giving property owners financial incentives to retrofit their houses. Soon increasing knowledge about the existing building stock showed that older houses were not necessarily energy inefficient. An information campaign launched by protagonists of building conservation encouraged property owners to direct measures to the interiors of buildings, thus saving the exterior character of not just single buildings but also complete neighbourhoods. Towards the end of EBB, the field of conservation had become a more articulated voice when it came to influencing measures aiming at increased energy efficiency. Finally, the paper discusses how values constituted in the 1970s affect policy and practice today.

Post-conflict reconstruction and the heritage process

ABSTRACT Despite that large investments have been made by the European Union in restoring and preserving heritage damaged after the Kosovo War 1998–99, there have been no previous attempts to gain more in-depth knowledge about the implementation and success of the interventions. Organisations involved in funding and facilitating architectural interventions in post-conflict zones may have differing aims and agendas that influence selection and methods, and ultimately the results. This paper aims to shed light on a pioneering project carried out on damaged kullas, massive masonry towers connected to farmsteads, in Kosovo 2001–02. Kullas were systematically attacked and burned during the conflict. The methodology is based on interviews with involved people and on documentation that is publically available, since it is crucial to uncover the aims and agendas of involved actors if one wishes to understand how and why decisions were made. In the end, what was deemed most important in the process was not the reconstruction in itself, but rather the development of craftsmens skills and the need to create a dialogue on the values of Kosovo heritage. The paper shows how the reconstruction of built heritage can facilitate processes of dialogue in conflict areas.

Conservation versus thermal comfort – conflicting interests? : The issue of church heating, Sweden c. 1918- 1975

The paper examines the views of government authorities on heating in historic churches in Sweden from 1918 to 1975, when a government office called Kulturhistoriska Byran oversaw restorations and o ...