Cultural heritage is a complex concept that encompasses both tangible and intangible aspects of culture and history. It refers to cultural objects, landscapes, and historical sites as well as to daily practices and memories. It can also include a wide range of other activities such as education, tourism, scholarly research, government policies, preservation, and even festivals. Often, these manifestations of cultural heritage are tied to individual and group identity, which can bring people together or cause them to divide.
In order to protect heritage, the interests of both private and public parties need to be balanced. For example, when a work of art or an archaeological site is privately owned but can be enjoyed by the whole community, it can be considered part of that community’s patrimony and thus protected. The same holds true for buildings and other structures – they can be protected even though they are privately owned, provided that they can be enjoyed by the entire population. These types of issues are reflected in the way that cultural property is protected worldwide, and they are an important aspect of any discussion of protecting cultural heritage.
UNESCO has been at the forefront of this issue by attempting to find a compromise that suits all actors and fairly defines the Outstanding Universal Value of heritage items. The organization has done a remarkable job of this, and their efforts have been recognized by the fact that 179 countries have ratified the international Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
One of the most difficult parts of the process of defining heritage is the idea that it is a continuum of human history, rather than a collection of separate objects or practices. This has been a particular problem for tangible cultural heritage.
This is why, despite the fact that modern technology can easily create replicas of any object, there remains a sense of the intangible, and even incomparable, in a piece of cultural heritage. The enduring power of these objects is that they provide a connection to the past and to our ancestors, which is intangible but not less real.
As globalization and connectivity increase, there is growing interest in learning about other cultures and experiencing their traditions and lands. This phenomenon, sometimes referred to as “heritage tourism,” has helped fund the preservation of monuments and other tangible and intangible cultural heritage. However, it is a challenge to preserve this heritage without disrupting the communities that continue to live with it, and in the same time help others experience it and understand it. This is a critical aspect of sustainable heritage, and it is something that we need to think about as we discuss how to protect cultural heritage for the future.