Cultural heritage refers to physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a culture that are transmitted intergenerationally. These are usually monuments, buildings, and works of art.
While international conventions, like the UNESCO World Heritage Convention and national laws work to protect cultural heritage sites, the intrinsic value of these objects has been difficult to quantify.
Definition
Cultural heritage represents the values, traditions and practices of a society. It is an integral part of a community’s identity and shapes regional development efforts through the preservation of unique traditions and languages that distinguish a region from others. It also attracts tourism and encourages sustainable development initiatives.
Cultural Heritage includes tangible and intangible elements, such as monuments, towns and archaeological sites, works of art, and traditional crafts. It is the result of a selection process, with every society constantly engaged in choosing what it wants to preserve for future generations.
UNESCO plays an important role in cultural heritage preservation, through the designation of World Heritage Sites that highlight areas of outstanding universal value. This recognition raises global awareness and promotes collaboration among nations in preservation efforts.
Purpose
Cultural heritage unites communities of diverse backgrounds and languages by promoting a common identity. This is achieved by sharing common values and experiences – be they art (paintings, drawings, prints and mosaics), architecture, monuments and sites or oral traditions.
The preservation of tangible heritage fosters local pride, which can drive community development initiatives. It also attracts tourism, thereby stimulating the local economy.
UNESCO’s World Heritage List designates sites of exceptional universal value, which enhances the global visibility of conservation efforts and raises awareness of cultural diversity. However, preserving heritage is a challenging endeavor. Benign neglect, devastating accidents and natural disasters (think earthquakes in Haiti and Italy or fires that ravaged Notre Dame or the National Museum of Brazil) can damage or destroy cultural treasures.
Aesthetics
Cultural aesthetics are the ways in which a community expresses its values and beliefs through artistic expression. This is a powerful way to promote cultural identity and foster a sense of belonging among members of a community. Culturally specific aesthetics also reflect continuity and change, as the styles and symbols of different cultures evolve over time.
The emergence of new artistic forms can be a result of a fusion of influences. For example, a painting inspired by Japanese prints may influence the work of an artist who has been influenced by African masks or neoclassical architecture.
This study uses structural equation modeling to test the impact paths of heritage tourism aesthetics driving tourist involvement and mental experience in a world cultural heritage, SanKong Scenic Area in China. The results show that heritage tourism aesthetics has a positive impact on tourists’ mental experience and cognitive identity, but it does not directly affect their cultural identity. However, mental experience mediates the effect of heritage tourism aesthetics on tourist’s cognitive identity.
Values
Increasingly, cultural heritage is seen not only as a source of physical evidence for the exploration of the past but also as a bearer of place-based narratives that energize communities in their current lives. This new understanding of heritage values has broad ramifications, tying conservation to issues such as social justice, healing, reconciliation, and economic development.
Organizations engaging with heritage must evaluate how a site or tradition holds historical significance for its community and ensure that they recognize and respect that significance in their management decisions. They must also take into account how cultural significance relates to environmental sustainability, recognizing the potential for traditional practices to inform contemporary sustainability solutions. In addition, organizations must understand how the societal significance of heritage can shift over time.
Preservation
Cultural heritage preservation encompasses a wide range of activities, including ensuring that physical evidence remains intact, safeguarding cultural identity and encouraging community participation. It also includes educating the public about the importance of cultural heritage, which can help to foster a sense of shared identity and respect within a city.
A key challenge is balancing the interests of private and public ownership. For example, the ancient Romans recognized that certain works of art could be considered part of the patrimony of the entire community, even if they were privately owned.
Another issue is that of sustainability. Legal and administrative frameworks based on the custodianship model tend to discourage private funding, which can have negative impacts on the size of benefits generated by heritage. International cooperation is essential to address these challenges.