The new issue of the IHBC’s journal, Context, No.173, explores ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ with content ranging from ‘Multiple perspectives’ on heritage; ‘Modernist Women’ and ‘Troublesome statues’ to LGBTQ+ histories.
…world of conservation may be quite limited; this issue of Context tries to challenge it.…
IHBC writes:
… We try to conserve the buildings and places that we value, and to help people enjoy and understand them. But who are we? What do we value? How can we best communicate about it? ‘We’ may be a rather small and unrepresentative sliver of the population. What we value, and our ability to communicate about it, is likely to reflect who we are. Our familiar world of conservation may be quite limited; this issue of Context tries to challenge it.
It is tempting to portray history as comforting and to present historic buildings as a chance to step back into some sort of golden era, enjoying a pleasant day out for the family with tea and cakes. But that may be fiction, or propaganda. If we are interested in history, we should be prepared for aspects that may have been airbrushed out. These include people of different races who served on historic estates; a slave-based economy that supported the estate owners’ way of life; historic sites with LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and others) histories; women who created notable buildings and places; overlooked opportunities to make historic buildings accessible and attractive to a wide range of people who do not usually visit them; and the fact that people on low incomes, including many living with mental-health problems, are least likely to visit historic sites, but benefit their wellbeing more than others when they do.
…a celebration of what has been achieved…
This issue of Context, whose theme has been conceived by Peter de Figueiredo, points to missed opportunities. But above all it is a celebration of what has been achieved when historic building conservation is opened up to reflect the world as it actually is.
Since 2019, the IHBC equality, diversity and inclusion working group has been asking members to consider the diversity of the built heritage sector, and what members might do to promote opportunities to all communities through the institute’s work.
There is further inspiration to be had from the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain’s equality, diversity and inclusion networks (covering LGBTQIA+, women architectural historians, disability, and race and ethnicity). They will be partnering with the Twentieth Century Society as part of its monthly building-of-the-month feature. Throughout 2022 the society is committed to featuring buildings that tell the stories of under-represented groups across geographies and building types.
It’s a whole new world.
Themed feature articles:
- PETER DE FIGUEIREDO – Multiple perspectives on heritage
- ALICE ULLATHORNE – Equity, diversity and inclusion in the heritage sector
- ALISON ORAM – Pride of Place: queer heritage
- ROB COWAN – Troublesome statues
- ELIZABETH DARLING – (Some of) The women who shaped British modernism
- LAURA DRYSDALE – Heritage and mental health
- HISTORIC ENGLAND INCLUSION TEAM – Diversity in the heritage workspace
- KATY-JAYNE LINTOTT with JOE PLAYER, LUCY WATSON and SARAH-JANE SORRELL – Making Greyfriars accessible
- KATRIONA BYRNE – ‘How do you climb the scaffold in a hijab?’
- MICK McGRATH – New life for Moseley School of Art
Additional articles include:
Regular features include:
- Briefing
- Out of Context
- Periodically
- The writer’s voice
- Notes from the chair
- Director’s cut
- New members
- Vox pop
- New member profile
- Book reviews
- Inter alia
- Products and services
- Specialist suppliers indexv
Reading Context helps IHBC members develop their skills across all of the IHBC’s Areas of Competence, and so is a critical baseline in addressing priorities in Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
Access the online archive and see the issue online
See more IHBC background and guidance on IHBC CPD and on how you might use past, current and future issues of Context
See the formal guidance paper on IHBC CPD (scheduled for update)
See more on the IHBC Competences and Areas of Competence
See more on #IHBC25
