Cultural heritage refers to tangible artifacts as well as intangible attributes of a group or society inherited from the past. These include monuments, towns and archaeological sites.
The purposeful actions of nonstate armed groups, militias or despotic governments in attacking tangible cultural heritage constitute social and cultural genocide. Greater rigor in the estimation of the benefits of such heritage can help in focusing attention on them and making their conservation more urgent.
What is cultural heritage?
Cultural heritage is an important part of our shared humanity. It is a window into our past and a source of inspiration, creativity, and identity. It can be expressed through objects, traditions, places and even people.
Traditionally, cultural heritage has been thought of as physical artifacts such as historic buildings and monuments, artwork, and archaeological sites that have been given special status because they hold specific cultural values. The concept of cultural heritage is broader than these material artifacts, however, and includes intangible expressions of culture such as dance, music, language, and folklore.
It is essential that these intangible aspects of culture be preserved and passed down to future generations. This can be difficult, though. It requires a community-based approach that relies on a culture’s own stewardship rather than professional determinations of significance. In addition, it requires a system that supports the documentation of these intangible expressions of culture, such as digitising and archiving them for easy access. This is where Transkribus comes in, with the mission to provide all the tools needed for the preservation of cultural heritage through digitisation and transcription.
What is tangible heritage?
Many aspects of cultural heritage can be considered tangible, including buildings, monuments and historic places. It also encompasses art and archaeological artefacts that can be touched. It also includes documents and data that have been digitized for preservation.
Tangible heritage provides the physical infrastructure for a community’s identity, functioning as the backdrop against which people can celebrate, mourn, and organize. In addition, it supports social cohesion and psychological resilience by giving individuals a sense of belonging to their community’s history.
It can also function as a powerful economic driver for sustainable development, as tourism centered around preserved cultural sites tends to be more value-driven and less resource-intensive than generic mass tourism. In the context of climate change, however, where rising sea levels threaten coastal world heritage sites and shifting weather patterns erode ancient structures, a new paradigm for conservation is required. A more dynamic philosophy that accepts change as an integral part of heritage would be an important step in this direction.
What is intangible heritage?
Intangible heritage is non-physical and can include cultural elements like dance, music, oral traditions, folklore, spirituality and worldviews. It can also encompass traditional knowledge, skills and techniques that have been passed down through generations.
For example, flamenco dance in Spain intertwines musicality and storytelling techniques to create a rich heritage of passion and emotion. Similarly, griot performance in West Africa and Vedic chanting in India are examples of intangible cultural heritage that evoke a sense of community and belonging.
UNESCO works to safeguard intangible heritage worldwide. However, it’s important to note that what an official entity (like a government or museum) considers to be intangible heritage may change over time depending on political, economic, religious and social factors, or even by individual experience and privilege/marginalization. This is why it’s important to work closely with communities to ensure their culture is preserved and shared for future generations. FPCC supports the preservation of intangible heritage through our language and arts programs as well as our FirstVoices initiative.
What are the threats to cultural heritage?
Cultural heritage can be threatened in many ways, including from natural or human-made disasters. It can also be lost or damaged due to war, urban development, mining, and resource extraction. Insufficient funding and recognition are also significant threats.
The 1954 Hague Convention obligates states to protect movable cultural property during armed conflict, and it focuses on the fact that damage to any culture is damaging to all cultures. It also establishes that a work of art can be considered part of the cultural heritage of all peoples, even if it is privately owned.
Vernacular architecture is another category of heritage, referring to modest elements that embody the building traditions and popular culture of a place over time, creating a built cultural landscape. It can be threatened by large development projects, such as new town buildings that are often designed to Western standards and disregard local construction techniques. Or by the abandonment of villages and towns as populations move out to cities.