Reimagining How Millennials and Gen-Z Explore Heritage

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Millennials are generally an open-minded, technological, innovative, and creative generation. However, for the millennials and gen-z, it is undeniable that the impact of economic, political and health crises experienced in the past few years has led to much loss: the loss of employment and loss of wellness. And above these losses, many fear that millennials and gen-z have also lost the attachment towards traditional heritage and pride in the preservation of history. The concern is that young citizens are left with no option but to transform their lives and focus on sustaining and adapting to the current living conditions, thus being disengaged with the preservation of cultural heritage.

Millennials and gen-z – although they are different age groups, for this piece, we will be using the terms interchangeably. It is considered that the members of the same age cohorts have similar behavior, opinions and way of making decisions. The reason is that they are born in the same period and besides the years they have shared their life events through time. They existed in a certain period in cultural history –shared important social and cultural events which acted on their behavior, thereby sharing views and worldviews. As a result, millennials tend to have the same disposition and attitude towards heritage celebrations.

Contrary to the popular conversation, the question is not whether millennials view traditional heritage as obsolete, but rather the possibility of revising traditional norms to fit the modern age. Research has proven that millennials are interested in engaging with history and culture, just in a different manner. Be it music, food, fashion, arts and crafts or even hanging at our local spots. According to Millennial Research Report, Millennials relate to the cause but are not necessarily active in the preservation of history.

When it comes to heritage, we need to determine ways to position historic preservation in a way that speaks to Millennials and motivates them to engage. We need to take a look at some of the behavioral, social, and psychological characteristics.

Is it possible to revise traditional norms to fit the modern age?

The millennial era is not a threat, but instead, it opens a big path for the millennial generation to explore heritage: creative talents of design, performing arts, production, and authorship, combined with media production, distribution technique, and new interactive technology.

Authenticity

Authentic Experiences matter: as we approach Heritage Day, what does this mean? Many think that experiences: museums, food, clothing, and gatherings need to be complex to engage young people. More than anything else, millennials desire authenticity. They want to learn, but all the better if it’s for a social purpose and has the relatability factor. As previously mentioned, millennials relate to the cause. Yes, being regarded as cool by peers, posting and hashtags are important, as long as a compelling story is engagingly told, all are equally interesting in the eyes of the millennial.

Manipulating artifacts, the millennial way

The usage of the target market and insight to craft and transform user experience is nothing new. It’s important for users to be able to ask what’s important that will make the experience relatable to the millennial. For instance, when it comes to the Xhosa traditional gear known as umbhaco – we see a lot of designers creating umbhaco but adding modern twists such as lace, and feathers to give it the modern “edge”. At the core, it is still umbhaco with just a modern flare to it.

Technology

Millennials – immersed in the digital era and living in a past faced world, technology is probably the best way to connect to young people. Heritage brands should adopt a layered approach to their digital strategy – making use of available technology to enhance rather than mask the heritage essence of artifacts. Doing so will ensure heritage artifacts can attract new audiences (millennials, gen-z) without alienating existing ones (older generation such as baby boomers).

Innovation

Millennials are perceptive of global issues, and with their skills in utilizing technology, they can lead innovation in the creative industry based on cultural heritage and in the attempt to build “postmodern” cultural heritage.

Conclusion

Perhaps the concept of preservation of heritage should not be a ‘protectionist’ one but rather it should be seen as an integrated concept for the revitalization and development of culture – which is where millennials and gen-z come in. How can we celebrate heritage in a way that speaks to the older generation but does not alienate the young people of today?