»Fragile Past: Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Crisis Zones« is a lecture series that critically examines the many dimensions of fragility affecting cultural heritage today. We invite scholars to address diverse contexts in which wars and conflicts, climate change, economic instability, and development projects place archaeological remains, cultural landscapes, museums, archives, and objects at risk. Fragility is understood not only as physical vulnerability and material loss, but also as a condition shaped by political pressures, ethical dilemmas, contested memories, and unequal power relations. It encompasses difficult and dissonant heritage, as well as the structural and technical challenges of conservation, documentation, and care within museums and archival collections.
Organised by the Unit »Heritage Science« in dialogue with the initiative »Future Archaeology at the OeAI«, the series foregrounds archaeology as an active agent linking past, present, and future, promoting cross-disciplinary collaboration and engaging with urgent societal questions surrounding heritage, responsibility, and resilience
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