Industrial Heritage in Action: Beyond Museification and Regeneration

This paper proposes a reflection on the contemporary phenomenon of industrial heritage re-uses. It will do so by coupling a review of the extant debate on industrial heritage with a comparative appreciation of several micro-cases of industrial heritage re-use located in Italy. This will allow for a reconstruction of the main discourses and practices in and around industrial heritage sites, and it will be conducive to a reflection on which specific notions of ‘culture’ are mobilized in these discourses and concrete experiences. In particular, the paper will show the link between industrial heritage preservation discourses and museification practices and between strategic discourses and regeneration practices. On top of this, it will illustrate a case of site-specific artistic practice that activates a dialogue with industrial heritage, beyond museification or local regeneration intents. The paper will then discuss the meaning of culture in these discourses and practices, the implications of the dominant discourses and practices, together with the need to consider the manifold ways in which culture can relate to industrial heritage.