Why is cultural heritage important

The answer to this question needs to be viewed in two parts. Cultural heritage can be items of a historical nature or items of present day creation. Present day creations become tomorrow’s historical heritage. Historical and present day items each contribute in some way to a nation’s cultural identity. The importance of each is explained in separate sections – refer to “Realted Articles’ on the right.

Although not widely appreciated, a nation’s cultural heritage plays a significant role in maintaining multiethnic relations. The relationship between any community and its history should not be underestimated and heritage is a major link between the intangible and the tangible. A country which is composed of many diverse nationalities and cultures, such as Australia, has a range of social forces at play. Without developing an understanding of the complexities of cultural differences, intolerance prevails and cultural tensions are heightened as demonstrated in recent Australian history eg the Cronulla beach riots. As heritage plays a significant role in the value systems of each ethnic society, an understanding of differing cultural heritages has the potential to bring together many ethnic groups to create a single national culture.

The benefits of heritage to the health of individuals in a society are being increasingly recognised. Little research has been done in this area but health professionals are putting forward suggestions that placing more funding into preserving cultural heritage may assist in reducing a nation’s health costs due to the stability brought about through the link between the past and the present.

Although each person experiences cultural heritage in different ways, it is an undeniable fact that most people have a desire to have an associationwith their past. The video clip below gives one example of one persons association with their past. Many, many others have similar associations with their personal history.