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.

History is not so much about learning of mistakes from the past to avoid repeating them but, more importantly, about the character of those who survived the mistakes of the past or the character of those who had to make difficult decisions for a better future.  It is the strength of character of those who managed hardships which set bench marks to which future generations could aspire.  It is a case of, “If they managed against the odds, so can we.”  The strength of character of the nation’s earliest inhabitants, or of those who fought at Gallipoli, the trenches in Europe, and the forests of Papua New Guinea, or those early immigrants (and some not so early) to Australia, etc are well documented and provide strength to present day Australians who are coping with droughts, or the uncertainty of environmental sustainability and global warming, etc.

Where then does historical cultural heritage play its part and why is it important?  Heritage is the tangible link between the past and the present.  While history is the story of the past, heritage brings history into the present and makes it authentic.   In searching further, WikiAnswers gives an answer to “Why is historical heritage important?”

• The spirit and direction of the Nation are founded upon and reflected in its historic heritage.
• The historical and cultural foundations of the Nation should be preserved as a living part of our community life and development in order to give a sense of orientation to the American people.
• Historic properties significant to the Nation’s heritage are being lost or substantially altered, often inadvertently, with increasing frequency.

The preservation of this irreplaceable heritage is in the public interest so that its vital legacy of cultural, educational, aesthetic, inspirational, economic, and energy benefits will be maintained and enriched for future generations of People.”
Loosely defined, heritage is what we inherit, and more specifically what we retain.  The heritage value of an item is also known as its cultural significance – its social or spiritual value for past, present or future generations.  Personal heritage such as family heirlooms including photographs, personal letters, documents, artworks, textiles, and artefacts give meaning to one’s existence.  The past is all around us and everyone has a history.  Everyone has grown up with heritage although its significance may not have been appreciated.   Heritage cannot be defined by its age, and its value cannot be determined in numerical terms.  How one interprets heritage value is based on one’s cultural roots. This leads to interpretation of heritage as being determined by an individual’s value system which, in turn, creates and sustains an individual’s personal identity and an individual’s identity as a member of a cultural group.  Heritage contributes to a spiritual significance that allows for a sense of identity and self evaluation.
Heritage links one with the past and the past becomes relevant and personal.  Heritage connects the physical to the invisible – the tangible to the intangible.  Tangible items can be seen and touched.  Intangible elements include cognitive processes and value systems which determine one’s identity.  In an age where technology has brought about numerous beneficial changes in society it has also created confusion and anxiety as individuals attempt to keep abreast with the information explosion. “This becomes the classic case of people learning more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing.”(Page 27 Interpretation for the 21st Century).  Heritage has a calming effect on individuals.  As it gives the past relevance and the present meaning, it has the capacity to be a stabilizing factor between confusion and order. Heritage greatly enriches a community in which one lives and works and it helps individuals to distinguish one from another – “but for the discovery of the delicate entity that makes You You and Me Me.” (Page 13 Interpreting our Heritage).
Just as individuals need the past for a sense of who they are, communities need the past for a sense of community identity which leads to community responsibility, and both individuals and communities need the past for a sense of their benefits and freedoms and, most importantly, life and survival. “To think, feel or act as though the past is done with, is equivalent to believing that a railway station through which our train has just passed, only existed for as our train was in it. – Edward Hyams” (page 69 Interpretation for the 21st Century).  In a transient and rapidly changing world, interest in who we are and where we’ve come from is increasingly important.   Our past and our heritage are therefore significant factors that help, not only, define who we are but guide our future through the inspiration of new ideas and in providing solutions to today’s challenges.

How things are kept and cared for demonstrates their significance not just as objects but in terms of how much value an individual or a community places on them. What an individual preserves is a statement of the respect he or she places on it. This respect reflects the individual’s values for the past, the present and the future and gives meaning to time and space.  Preservation of heritage has a significant role to social well-being and has the potential to develop a single harmonious culture in a multiethnic society.  The significance of heritage is underestimated in today’s society and in a world of rapid change where consumerism has become rampant, heritage values tend be overshadowed by a greed for new products.  Without intervention much heritage will be discarded to make way for the new world.  The loss of heritage has the potential to destroy cultural pillars of stability and lead to greater mental and physical disease in society.  Technology is making the modern world shrink, bringing cultures closer together.  In a harmonious single national culture, ethnic societies living side by side are required to respect differences and understand similarities.  Preservation of diverse and multiethnic heritage has the potential to develop a single cultural heritage through acceptance of, respect for and understanding of others’ heritage.
Samuel Jones at a panel discussion (Conservation in Crisis -The International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works [ICC]) made comment on a statement which appeared in a recent publication of the British Medical Journal, “My contention is that diverting 0.5% of the healthcare budget to the arts would improve the health of people in Britain.” Dr Richard Smith, editor of the British Medical Journal (Quoted in CLMG, Museums of the Mind: mental health, Emotional Well-being … and Museums). Preservation specialists need to identify the benefits which arise from peoples’ relationship with cultural heritage and use this information to alert society to their value.

Federal and state governments have a responsibility to fund a nation’s major collecting institutions but they do not have the resources to fund the many smaller regional galleries, museums, etc and governments definitely cannot be expected to support preservation of cultural heritage in the private domain..  This responsibility rests with society.  Major collections houses set the goals and the standards for collections.  Society has the responsibility to ensure that the rest of a nation’s cultural heritage is preserved.  This is a very important responsibility as more cultural heritage exists in private ownership than in the major and smaller national collections houses.  Practically every item held in the major collections houses was in private ownership at one stage in history and many items in private ownership today will be quested to the public domain – provided society plays its part in preserving these items.  It is not a national government which should be making decisions regarding cultural heritage in the private domain but people in their own homes.  Cultural heritage preservation professionals should be working at placing power in people’s hands to be involved in preserving the nation’s heritage.  Involving society is a powerful vehicle through which people achieve positive social benefits.  Empowered people are well positioned to influence the direction of future collecting strategies.
The duty of ACHP Professionals is to develop strategies which lead to greater awareness of cultural heritage and develop strategies which will lead to preservation of this heritage.  Public interest must be raised as the starting point from which cultural preservationists can develop awareness of the value and importance of caring for the material world. Responsibility to the public realm is as much about discovering more about objects as it is about looking after them. Making heritage more personal and meaningful will lead to greater recognition of the relationship between the private and the public realms.  By raising community interest in heritage preservation, the community becomes part of achieving the cultural professional’s objectives.  This requires innovative thinking and good communication skills on the part of the specialists.

The public should be engaged in the practice of preservation in ways that help them express and live their values.  Involving the public in preservation not only provides new ways to connect people with the public realm, but it also provides an environment in which people can come to terms with the many values of a multiethnic society.  Research has revealed that over 90% of Australians (The Allen Consulting Group Research 2005) see heritage as forming a vital part of the country’s identity.   The opportunity should not be lost to harness this untapped reserve of people power!  Appreciation of heritage leads to its protection and protection leads to a spiritual connection between past and present, where society is able to come to terms with the complexities of an ever evolving world.  An awareness campaign is more than saving heritage, it is reminding society that hardships are not new and that they can be overcome.  While society endures stress of future uncertainties, heritage awareness and what it symbolises has the potential to make these stresses more manageable – the new awakening!