產業文化資產─寶藏或廢棄物？

Industrial Heritage: Treasure or Trash?

隨著工業世界的擴張，工業重心無可避免地向東方轉移，過往工業文化所遺留下的物質證明，也就是工業遺跡的數量，如雨後春筍般地增加。然而，各國或各社群看待其工業遺產的觀點是迥異的：工業遺產可以是具備內涵價值的資產、身分認同的標記、集體遺產的一部分、再生的資源，或是等待被處理的廢棄物。通常上述情況可能會同時並存，因而衍生出相對應的複雜問題，諸如：如何辨別具有價值的遺產、說服他人相信遺產的價值、以及如何決定遺產的價值。在這樣的狀況下，國際間的比較與分析便可協助解決這些問題。身處後殖民與全球化的世界中，Neil Cossons思考工業遺跡所被賦予的機會，面對全球化帶來的同質性巨浪，這些工業遺產的獨特性與不可取代性該如何被強化，而在其共享的往事表述上佔有一席之地，並非僅是保留了什麼，還有如何保留與被誰保留的問題。

As the industrial world expands and its epicentre moves inexorably east so the industrial heritage–the material evidence of past industrial cultures - expands exponentially. And, each nation or community views its own industrial heritage through distinctively different eyes: an asset of intrinsic worth, a mark of identity, as part of a collective inheritance, a resource for regeneration, an incongruous nuisance to be swept away. Often it can be all of these concurrently, raising complex questions about differentiation, advocacy and determining inherent value. In this, international comparative analysis can be of critical importance. Neil Cossons reflects on the opportunities afforded in a post-colonial, globalised world for the industrial heritage to reinforce individuality in the face of homogenisation, and to take its place as an expression of a shared past–not only in what is preserved but also how and by whom.