Globalisation and Cultural Heritage
 | |
 |
NWO
Cultural Heritage
Cultural heritage may be described as 'the actual use of the past'. In the West, the term 'cultural heritage' covers, primarily, tangible, man-made objects from a distant or recent past. All these objects - whether works of art, handicrafts, buildings, monuments, archaeological sites, books or documents - display important and characteristic aspects of the history of mankind, in particular the history of art, science and technology. They embody former beliefs, knowledge and skills. They secure individuals, groups and nations in time and place. So-called negative cultural heritage, reminiscent of difficult, even traumatic, events and episodes, is protected as well, as part of the history of a nation or a distinctive group.
In the West, a large number of these objects are being studied and exhibited through institutions equipped to protect and preserve them: archives, libraries, museums, listed archaeological and architectonic monuments. Studying the history and development of cultural heritage involves studying the institutions which protect that heritage; because they define cultural heritage to a high degree. In this research proposal, the institutional perspective is as important as the individual heritage objects themselves. By 'institution' we mean the complex made up of policies, practices and organizations.
Starting in the nineteenth century, an active heritage policy has taken shape and expanded. It was the outcome of the Enlightenment project of declaring all possible objects fit for collecting and research, objects from far away countries and civilisations included. Civilisations outside Europe were not so fascinated by the Other as we were and maybe still are. Objects and monuments have been collected in museums and archives, or protected by law. Heritage institutions are seen as powerful instruments of nation-building which not only record the history of the nation, but also sustain its legitimacy.
States with colonial empires outside Europe took home with them interesting and valuable objects found in the colonies, and presented them to the heritage institutions of their homeland. In the colonies they built museums, libraries and archives, and protected important indigenous works of architecture.
Cultural heritage institutions such as museums kept pace with the process of globalisation, thanks to the information they disseminated about faraway countries and peoples. In many cases, historical information about the colonies was more accessible in the capitals of the colonial empires than in the colonies themselves.
In selecting the objects, two different standards were applied, one 'classic' and one 'romantic'. According to the classic standard, objects or monuments were selected that were considered a high point of human activity in the arts, science and technology. The emphasis was on tangible objects of high quality, collected on the basis of the European canon of culture. 'Romantic' cultural heritage, on the other hand, was collected mainly on the basis of identity. Objects, behaviours and performances were selected and recorded, as testimonies to human activity in the realm of religion, social structures, trade, art, and popular culture. Tangible objects were considered as important as intangible proofs of customs and traditions. The romantic collection method was applied primarily to non-European countries.
There was considerable interaction between these two concepts of culture. Quality and identity could be reversed, the quality of the objects confirming the nature of the nation or group that produced them. Tangible and intangible specimens of cultural heritage were stored and protected in the same institutions.
Globalisation contributed to the disappearance of the differences between 'classic' and 'romantic' cultural heritage. The UNESCO Convention of 1972 has introduced the concept of 'World Heritage' to protect both cultural and natural heritage of outstanding universal value for mankind. Though the scope of the World Heritage List is world-wide, the nomination procedure has to be initiated by individual state-parties of UNESCO. In most cases, the choice of the national contribution to the World Heritage List was linked to the most cherished traditions and/or the identity of the country.
With the installation of the UNESCO list of Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Objects in 2001, the romantic view of heritage achieved its ultimate recognition. This new inventory was explicitly established to undo the imbalance between the heritage of the West, consisting largely of tangible objects, and the intangible cultural assets of non-Western countries.
In recent decades the body of cultural heritage has increased at an astonishing pace, as ever more objects and other remnants of the past have been deemed worthy of protection. New kinds of heritage institutions have arisen in the form of theme parks and other organizations featuring replicas or fictitious interpretations of the past. Also the differences between 'nature' and man-made objects have become blurred, since historic parks and polders are now regarded as part of our cultural heritage. No doubt in future the title 'Cultural Landscape' will be bestowed on all kinds of objects, places and environments that are in some way reminiscent of the past. An European convention on Cultural Landscapes has been undersigned.
