7th Biennial Conference of the Association of Critical Heritage Studies Custodianship

The 7th biennial conference of the Association of Critical Heritage Studies (ACHS) took place in Galway, Ireland, from June 3-6, 2024, under the theme Custodianship. The organisers and invited speakers demonstrated a diverse understanding, approach and presentation of heritage (for example, instead of a keynote speaker, a stand-up performance and a presentation of stop-motion animations were offered). The panel Heritage Custodianship in Central and Eastern Europe: Between Public Engagement, Historical Narratives and Political Agendas, organised by the Central and Eastern European Chapter, was also attended by Špela Ledinek Lozej and Marjeta Pisk. The former presented four Slovenian-Italian initiatives on cross-border heritage initiatives, while the latter examined the role of informal custodians using the example of ethnological events. The panellists were pleased with the offer to publish extended contributions and an overview of the broader themes of (critical) heritage studies in Central and Eastern Europe in the Explorations in Heritage Studies series, especially as – also thanks to the contributions of the members of the Heritage on the Margins Programme Group in the preparation of the proposal – the 9th edition of the ACHS biennial conference in 2028 will take place in Warsaw. It could provide an opportunity to shed light on the specificities of Central and Eastern European heritage, from historical and specific features to external, internal and disciplinary (de)colonisation.

As part of the accompanying programme, the organisers offered us the opportunity to get to know the local heritage first hand: from a visit to the iconic Kylemore Abbey to a guided tour through the sets of the film Quiet Man (1952), and a walk-through Galway, which some of us concluded with a “music heritage” and a taste of “brewery heritage” in a pub.