"Decolonising conservation, one heritage place at a time", is a public lecture presented by Dr Dean Sully (University College London) at the University of Pretoria on 3 July 2017.
This lecture examined the representation of past colonial encounters that become fixed within contemporary heritage objects and places. The heritage conservation project to care for Hinemihi, the Maori wharenui (meeting house) located at (CIandon Park, UK, is a site of contestation between the variously configured worlds of Hinemihi's peoples and the authority to determine what are proper heritage practices.
The application of decolonising methodologies (Maori Kaupapa) in this conservation project at the Imperial 'centre', represents the sell-conscious perturbation of authorised heritage practice by privileging the realities of the indigenous worlds of colonial 'peripheries' in determinations of what is proper.
A heritage response to this includes a shift towards peoples-based conservation approaches that utilise participatory processes to enhance the connection between a community and its heritage in ways that are determined by those people. This seeks to empower heritage communities to make their own decisions about the care of their heritage.