Putting the Illegal into heritage practice

Abstract

This article considers the concept of Illegal that is used to challenge the disciplinary constraints of authorised heritage practice. The Illegal provides a conceptual device to consider the ontological reality of the heritage world and the necessary illusion of the heritage profession. Alongside, the critical challenges to the Authorised Heritage Discourse presented by Indigenous Worlds, guerrilla restoration, People Centred Approaches, Experimental Preservation, and creative heritage practice, the tactical activism of Illegal practice is offered as an insurgent tool for transforming heritage worlds. Two recent Illegal projects, the ‘Illegal Town Plan’ and the Illegal Museum of Beyond’s ‘Objects of the Misanthropocene’ exhibition project, present speculative insouciance as a method for putting the Illegal into heritage practice.