Cultural heritage consists of the material expressions of a community’s culture. It can be embodied in the form of historical archaeological sites and buildings, museum collections, artworks, and historic cities, as well as the traditions and everyday lifeways that embody a society’s identity. Cultural heritage is also present in the landscape: natural features and flora, and the built environment including buildings, monuments and archaeological sites. It is considered to have outstanding universal value from the historical, architectural, commemorative, aesthetic, ethnological and anthropological point of view, and it belongs to all humanity.
Intangible cultural heritage, which encompasses the social and spiritual aspects of a community’s culture, is also a vital aspect of heritage. It can be represented in the form of folklore and traditions, as well as in performing arts, mainly dance, and oral history. The preservation of cultural heritage is the responsibility of both the government and the private sector, and it requires a combination of policies and actions at different levels.
The term ‘cultural heritage’ is often used to describe both tangible and intangible heritage, although the distinction between them can be blurred. Unlike the ephemeral nature of the natural environment, cultural heritage is not easily visible or accessible to the public. Moreover, the meaning of a cultural object may vary over time and between different people. It can change because of political transitions, changes in values and beliefs, war and conflict, or the emergence of new trends.
What is the role of museums in the protection of cultural heritage?
Museums are responsible for the preservation of cultural heritage, a task that is becoming increasingly complex. This is due to the fact that the threefold mission of museums, namely leisure, education and research, has been transformed by digital transformation. These developments not only affect the presentation of collections in exhibitions, but also how these collections are accessed and used by the public. It also involves a shift towards new forms of knowledge production and dissemination, such as the creation of databases.
A good example of this is the Semantic Web, which is a set of tools that allow objects and collections to be described and indexed so that they can be found more easily on the Internet.
Consequently, museums are increasingly required to adopt and use these technologies.
The conservation of cultural heritage is a complex process, and it involves the cooperation of many different partners, from governments and museums to universities, local communities, NGOs and other stakeholders. It is also an international issue, since the protection of cultural heritage crosses borders and is a shared responsibility. Some of the main issues in this area are the lack of a shared definition of cultural heritage, the deterioration and loss of tangible and intangible heritage through climate change, urbanization, conflict and war, and the neglect and vandalism of cultural heritage objects. However, there are a number of initiatives and programmes that aim to protect cultural heritage in Europe. These include the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, which aims to promote a better understanding and appreciation of Europe’s cultural heritage.