What is cultural heritage
Many in society are unaware that they are custodians of cultural heritage. This fact has been recognized in the aftermath of some of the devastating fires which have occurred around the country in recent years. In visiting affected fire ravished areas cultural heritage preservation specialists were surprised at the lack of knowledge of heritage items by residents. Many of the questions asked of these specialists alerted them to the fact that one of the first tasks in tackling cultural heritage preservation was the need to make communities aware of what heritage they had in their possession. Only once individuals become aware of these items can preservation be explained. The following explanation is aimed at achieving this objective. Read more
What is cultural heritage and why should it be preserved
The term cultural heritage can be viewed as two components – one being original visual art and the other being historical heritage. Original visual art is comprised mainly of works of art on paper, paintings on canvas or board, photographs, needle art, and objects. Historical heritage can generally be described as items of emotional significance that are passed on from one generation to the next. This broad definition will be elaborated on later in this paper.
Cultural signs, symbols and artefacts are the means by which people make sense of the world and of each other. Interpretations of culture provide the fundamental connections, values, beliefs and ideas that give a society its identity. Society’s values are developed in and determined by culture, both in the form of the tangible (eg artefacts) and the intangible (eg social rules). Visible culture is the symbolic representation of a society’s beliefs and attitudes. They are the visual stimuli through which interpretation occurs and they reflect and reinforce the beliefs of society.Past ideas, inventions and creations are the building blocks for future creations. Each generation builds a future on what exists, on both the invisible (values) and the visible (art and artefacts).
To understand the importance of historical heritage we should first look at the question, why is history important? The answers will be many and varied with numerous conflicting views. An article in National Geographic (May 2009) reads, “History is wonderful but nebulous. It is hard to fathom. It is still harder to see.” However, to connect history and heritage as this paper intends to do, William Lund’s (1886 – 1971, a church historian Salt Lake City) definition will suffice - “We study the past to understand the present; we understand the present to guide the future.” History does more than provide an understanding of the present – history is the spiritual link between the past and present and in world where one’s existence is constantly under pressure, the spiritual link between past and present offers some form of stability and security. Effectively it is the foundation upon which one’s existence is built and which offers some understanding of the present. Read more
Why it is Important to Preserve Art and Cultural Historical Heritage
Cultural heritage preservation is developing in a changing world and preservation professionals need to adapt to changes. There is a lesson to be learnt from changes in the field of medicine. The medical field at one time was governed by the decisions of doctors. Today many in the medical field contribute to the health of members of a community. The contribution of allied health professionals to a modern health system is widely acknowledged. Take for example a patient who suffers a stroke, the doctor, the nurse, the physiotherapist, the occupational therapist, the social worker, the pharmacist, the speech pathologist etc, etc all have a role in helping the patient to recover. Why should the field of cultural heritage preservation be any different? Allied cultural heritage preservation professionals (ACHP Professionals) which include conservators, preventative conservation framers, archivists, librarians, curators, and other relevant custodians of heritage, all have an important part to play in preserving the nation’s cultural heritage. Medicine has many self-help programs to enable individuals to preserve their health. ACHP Professionals should be looking at similar strategies to motivate individual society members to, first identify the cultural heritage in their possession and secondly, to preserve these items of value. Custodians of historical heritage should be provided with the necessary information to do both.
Sadly, while society is increasingly informed of improved health standards, much of society knows very little about developments which have taken place in preserving heritage or even why there is a need to be preserving our heritage.
Although the following words were written in the UK, they are no less relevant in Australia!
“Some would say that the profession of conservation lacks sufficient influence due to its small size relative to other fields of endeavour. Others would say that we are insular and have not made sufficient effort to reach out to other stakeholders in heritage in order to inform them of the value of what we do. Still others would say that we have been unwilling to involve others in our decision making and hence they lack both the understanding and investment that leads to support.” (Conservation in Crisis, The International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works [ICC]).
It is not only conservators that may be guilty of being too insular, but all allied heritage preservation professionals could feel some guilt. Sure, conservators need to look at how to market their value to the wider community, but so do preventative conservation framers, archivists, curators, and all others who are committed to preserving cultural heritage. Read more