When people think about cultural heritage, they often think of historical monuments and buildings, art pieces or archeological sites. But what is a lot less known, is that cultural heritage also encompasses many intangible aspects of a society, such as its language, music and traditions. This cultural heritage, which is woven into a society’s fabric, should be preserved as it is part of what makes that culture unique and special.
What is Cultural Heritage?
Cultural heritage is the lifestyle of a nation or community expressed through a cultural identity, and the legacy passed down from generation to generation. It includes a collection of inherited traits, values and beliefs that is not only important for the present but is a link to the past and can explain what made our ancestors tick. It can be either tangible or intangible, with the former referring to things one can touch physically, such as clothes and monuments, and the latter referring to a society’s mental and social activities, such as festivals, dances, languages and crafts.
Intangible cultural heritage is often difficult to protect because it cannot be confined in time and space, but it is nevertheless very important. It is the way of life a society has learned and developed throughout history, its values, traditions and beliefs, and it is what defines a culture as distinctive and unique. Intangible cultural heritage can be passed down from person to person, such as the music of a particular musical genre or the traditional craftsmanship that goes into making a specific item. It can also be a particular architectural style, as was the case when African-American enslaved people who returned to their homeland in the US built houses that were inspired by the neoclassical architecture of their home country, or even by the European Renaissance.
A culture’s legacy is not something to be taken for granted and should be protected by the government, but it also depends on the local population’s willingness to support it. In some cases, the local population is unable to see the value of their own culture and may view it as “backward” or as a hindrance to accessing modern society and economic wealth.
This lack of support can cause problems, especially when it comes to funding. Heritage preservation is a costly endeavor and it can be very hard to find enough money and skilled personnel to make sure that the cultural heritage of a place is properly protected and restored.
This is why it is so crucial for a culture to be able to fund its heritage preservation efforts. Fortunately, recent advances in technology and research techniques have allowed researchers to quantify the value of cultural heritage by using sophisticated data analytics methods. This allows cultural institutions to better understand how much their cultural heritage contributes to a nation’s sense of pride and identity, as well as the value of those elements that need to be preserved. This knowledge can then be used to help preserve those heritage elements that are at risk of disappearing from our societies.