Preserving Cultural Heritage Is a Safeguard for Creativity
Growing up as a Sri Lankan American immigrant, I remember my first visit to a museum in the United States. It was more than a building filled with objects—it was a portal. For me, it bridged the unfamiliar with the familiar, transforming the abstract idea of a new home into something tangible.
Museums became spaces were where my creativity first began to bloom. They showed me that every artifact was more than a relic of the past—it was fuel for imagining the future.
That connection came rushing back recently during an evacuation from Florida. When Hurricanes Milton and Helene swept through the region, my family and I packed what we could and fled, unsure of what we would return to. Amid the chaos of preparing for the storms, I thought about the irreplaceable things we’d leave behind—family photos, keepsakes, pieces of art I’d collected over the years.
But it wasn’t just personal belongings I worried about. My thoughts turned to the cultural spaces that have shaped so much of my life and career. Would the museums and galleries survive? What would be lost to the rising waters and fierce winds?
Creativity thrives on connections to the past, and these spaces hold the stories, textures, and symbols that invigorate our work. When these connections are severed, we lose more than history—we lose inspiration, identity, and the ability to imagine a future rooted in shared humanity.
This isn’t a hypothetical concern. Across the globe, climate change is threatening the spaces and artifacts that define our history and fuel our creativity. In Venice, rising seas flood historic galleries and churches. Wildfires in Greece and California have reduced centuries-old landmarks to ash. Flooding endangers the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove in Nigeria, a site of profound spiritual and cultural significance. Every loss is a fracture in the chain of creativity that connects us across generations.
The economic and creative risks of climate change
In 2023, global tourism contributed $9.5 trillion to GDP, much of it linked to visits to cultural sites. Yet climate-related damage is undermining this economic lifeline. Communities that rely on tourism face enormous challenges, from job losses to reduced local spending and lower tax revenues. For these places, preserving cultural heritage isn’t just a matter of pride—it’s a matter of survival.
