“Culture has no need for houses”

The article analyzes the processes of incorporation, questioning, and transformation of the heritage paradigm in the postcolonial context of French-speaking New Caledonia. It traces the evolution of cultural policies over the past four decades in the archipelago. First, it explores the period of the “Kanak awakening” before delving into the creation of a structured institutional apparatus dedicated to the preservation of “Kanak heritage.” It highlights the relative failure of these state-led heritage policies while also emphasizing the proliferation of a “heritage buzz” that has emerged outside of institutional frameworks, through original expressions. These contemporary practices of attachment, led by a new generation of cultural activists, contribute to challenging the colonial notion of “heritage.”