CANCELLED Pudding Seminar: Marie-Alix Bilgischer, on the role of animals within heritage discourse

UNFORTUNATELY THIS SEMINAR HAS HAD TO BE CANCELLED DUE TO UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCES.

My research examines the role of animals within heritage discourse by analysing zoos as spaces where boundaries between nature and culture are negotiated. 

This topic sits at the crossroads of conservation ethics, the colonial legacies embedded in museum practice, and current debates on animal consciousness and the legal frameworks surrounding animal treatment. Zoos have traditionally been seen as sites of conservation and display of “living collections,” much like museums. In my research, I explore how these institutions tend to frame animals as objects of human heritage, often curated without regard for their own histories or agency.

This presentation will focus on my fieldwork at Pairi Daiza Zoo in Belgium, where I studied the lemur community to explore how animals are institutionally framed and perceived by visitors. Drawing on diaspora theory, post-humanist thought, and cultural landscape theory, I propose thinking of zoos as cultural landscapes—human-constructed environments that display fragments of natural heritage, namely animals extracted from their ecological contexts.  This approach allows me to suggest a shift in perspective: from viewing animals as passive elements of heritage to recognising them as diasporic beings and stakeholders in heritage through their embodied connection to natural heritage.

All staff, students, and senior members are very warmly invited to attend the Pudding Seminars. Talks usually last between 20-25 minutes, followed by time for questions, comments and discussion before we finish at 1.50pm, to allow people to get to 2pm appointments. Please note that coffee and cake will be available from 1 o'clock with the seminar starting promptly at 1.15pm. Details of all our seminars can be found at: https://www.newn.cam.ac.uk/research/pudding-seminars/forthcoming-pudding-seminars/