GP essay question guide
Who should decide what a society preserves?
Preservation is a choice about identity and power. Ask who owns an object or story, who can challenge the decision, and whether preservation keeps culture alive or freezes it.
Unpack this question first: 'Who' asks you to weigh several deciders: the state, experts, communities and owners. 'Preserves' covers buildings, objects, practices and memories, so set a test for what deserves keeping. Lesson: Abstract and values questions
Use this question in writing - Sign in, check the question, then write your response.
Topics: Arts and Humanities, Society and Culture, Politics and Governance
Three argument directions
Use public institutions
Institutions can provide expertise, continuity, funding, and public access.
Qualification: Official selection can exclude minority memory or difficult history.
Respect communities and owners
Source communities should shape the treatment and return of their cultural property.
Qualification: Communities are not always unified, and legal ownership can remain disputed.
Use technology carefully
Digital access can reconnect collections and audiences across borders.
Qualification: A digital copy does not settle ownership or replace physical access and context.
A model paragraph
Our own paragraph for this question. Copy its moves, not its words.
The state should lead decisions about what a society preserves, but communities tied to a place or object should have a real say, not just a hearing. Governments have the money, legal powers and experts that preservation needs, and a heritage building cannot be saved by goodwill once a developer owns the land. Yet officials tend to keep what fits the national story. The Benin Bronzes, taken by British soldiers in 1897, show why source communities matter. Museums in Germany and the Netherlands have agreed to return objects to Nigeria because they now accept that the people whose ancestors made them have the stronger claim. The best answer splits the decision: experts judge what can be saved, while the people whose memory it holds help decide what is worth saving.
How it is built
- Stand: shared decision, with the state leading.
- Reason and case: state capacity; the Benin Bronzes returns.
- Judgement: experts on 'can', communities on 'should'.
Six examples to compare
Our SG Heritage Plan 2.0 Broadens Heritage Participation
Our SG Heritage Plan 2.0 sets a five-year direction for safeguarding, celebrating, and making Singapore's heritage more accessible.
Possible essay use
governments shape which parts of the past a nation remembers, so a heritage plan both widens access to history and decides what counts as heritage
Limitation
An official plan can widen participation but state selection and funding still shape which memories receive attention.
Case or source date: 2023-05-01
Singapore Breaks Ground on the Founders' Memorial
Singapore held the groundbreaking for a memorial intended to present the values and choices of its founding generation through exhibitions and public space.
Possible essay use
Singapore held the groundbreaking for a memorial intended to present the values and choices of its founding generation through exhibitions and public space.
Limitation
A national memorial can educate and unify but risks simplifying contested history or privileging official narratives.
Case or source date: 2024-06-05
Netherlands Returns 119 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria
The Netherlands transferred ownership of 119 Benin Bronzes in the Dutch State Collection to Nigeria in 2025.
Possible essay use
The Netherlands transferred ownership of 119 Benin Bronzes in the Dutch State Collection to Nigeria in 2025.
Limitation
A major return addresses one collection but does not settle provenance, legal ownership, access, and conservation disputes elsewhere.
Case or source date: 2025-06-21
Source: Government of the Netherlands
UNESCO Expands Its Intangible Heritage Lists
UNESCO's 2024 committee session added community practices and expressions to its intangible cultural heritage lists.
Possible essay use
UNESCO's 2024 committee session added community practices and expressions to its intangible cultural heritage lists.
Limitation
Listing can raise visibility but may commercialise, freeze, or unevenly represent living practices unless communities retain agency.
Case or source date: 2024-12-05
Source: UNESCO
UNESCO Builds a Virtual Museum of Stolen Cultural Objects
UNESCO created a virtual museum intended to make stolen cultural objects visible and support awareness of illicit trafficking and restitution.
Possible essay use
UNESCO created a virtual museum intended to make stolen cultural objects visible and support awareness of illicit trafficking and restitution.
Limitation
A virtual representation can educate and document but cannot restore physical ownership, context, or community control.
Case or source date: 2025-09-29
Source: UNESCO
Traditional Arts: Heritage or History?
Traditional arts face modern pressures. Are they vital for cultural identity or just nostalgic items in our globalised world?
Possible essay use
From 1991 Kelantan's PAS-led state government restricted traditional performing arts, including wayang kulit, as un-Islamic.
Limitation
This is one region and one organisation; how many young people now perform wayang kulit is not well measured, so claims of a full revival go beyond the evidence.
Case or source date: 2002-01-01
Source: Roads and Kingdoms