Introduction
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In this era of abandonment of historical religious traditions, the convents, monasteries and abbeys scattered across our rural and urban landscapes are in danger of becoming escheated properties. The communities who built them, lived in them and have thus far ensured their survival now lack the means to bear the burden of their heritage value, imposed by civil society’s affection for these imposing buildings, and their gardens, so coveted by developers. What is to be done with this rich, weighty legacy?
Faced with a “heritage big bang,” requiring funds that governments are unable to provide, the Conseil du patrimoine religieux du Québec, the Canada Research Chair on Urban Heritage (UQAM), Concordia University and the Institut du patrimoine (UQAM) have joined forces with several partners to organize the international conference Religious Houses: A Legacy. The event will be held in Montréal from October 7 to 9, 2009, and in Québec City on October 10 and 11, 2009.
The purpose of this international conference is to identify and understand innovative heritage possibilities for the future of convents, monasteries, and—more generally—religious houses in Québec, the rest of Canada, and Western society. By comparing cases and putting them in theoretical, historical, and geographical perspective, we hope to make a contribution to what these urban and rural architectural groupings become. We thus aim to examine specific ways of implementing the proposals and studies conducted in Québec and to share these experiences in order to identify and explore, but mostly, to help solve some of the problems raised in Western societies.
To this end, the conference will attempt to bring together researchers, professionals and decision-makers from North America and Europe, who have shown particular ability to assess or implement new and original solutions, or who, through historical or epistemological reflections on the problems arising in the secularization, conversion, or governance of former religious houses, are able to contribute to a discussion of the financial, legal, urban planning or memorial implications of changes in the vocation of religious houses and their redevelopment.