ABSTRACT
The construction of cultural identity is core business for the worlds of heritage, museum and contemporary arts practice. This chapter explores some aspects of its global reach in the countryside, and the effects on the sense of locality and personal identity of some of the explicit attempts to bring in ideas from other countries, cultures and realms of belief. For people living in the countryside it is almost possible to perpetuate the illusion that the politics of race, immigration, the problems of refugees and asylum seekers are all remote global issues which do not concern the peaceful backwaters. The 'global village' is an idea about openness, sharing, enterprise and caring, and the modern condition of the countryside needs to be globally aware. Both the World Land Trust and the Green Light Trust are organisations which have offered opportunities for cultural exchange across rural environments and have enabled much volunteer involvement.
