Over 150 people attended the Ironbridge Annual Lecture which took place in Enginuity, Coalbrookdale on 31st October. The annual lecture is organised by the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust and the Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage (IIICH), and was particularly special this year because it formed part of IGMT’s the 50th anniversary celebrations.
Loyd Grossman is Chairman of the Heritage Alliance, which represents over 100 non-governmental and voluntary organisations working in the heritage sector. During the lecture, entitled ‘Heritage in the Post Truth World’, Grossman explored the challenges and opportunities that are presented by globalisation, sustainable tourism, digital expressions of mass opinion, and the growing prevalence of fake news, highlighting how these trends can significantly shape how we define and care for our heritage. He went on to discuss how the heritage sector can meet and respond to these challenges with authenticity, explaining that in a globalised world, heritage can present the antidote to placelessness: “It tells us where we are, who we are, and what we can be.”
If you missed the lecture, you can watch the full version above.
You can also read about Loyd Grossman’s visit to the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage site in the Shropshire Star.