What is fake heritage and what can we learn from it? That was the question which John Darlington, Executive Director of the World Monuments Fund Britain, posed in a highly engaging presentation to a packed OUHN Zoom audience on 1st December at our Winter Event. Based on his new book, Fake Heritage, John took us on a world tour of some extraordinary examples of 'fake' heritage - including the Venus of the Turnips, Thames Town in China, and Stonehenge in Washington, USA. Our audience quizzed John extensively after the talk - posing questions about the motivation for copyist heritage, whether all heritage is to some extent fake, and whether some fake heritage eventually gains authentic status.
