Globalisation and Cultural Heritage
 | |
 |
NWO
Globalisation and Cultural Heritage
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, organizations for the preservation of heritage were founded as part of national cultural policy, not only in countries colonized by the West, but also in independent states outside Europe. In this sense, heritage institutions are early examples of cultural export on a global scale. Decolonisation after the Second World War produced a new generation of heritage organizations. Museums and other cultural heritage institutions became 'must have' public facilities, underlining the independence of nation states, sustaining the elevated status of the country to the world outside, and preserving unity within on the basis of a shared culture.
The export of heritage concepts, heritage formats, and heritage knowledge from the West to other countries is still going on, not only in traditional, well-tried ways, but also in other formats, like theme parks and other heritage look-a-likes.
Similarly, in non-Western countries various other ways of protecting and presenting cultural heritage have developed over the last few decades. Institutions such as cultural centres and community centres have no counterparts in Western countries. Often they cater to some aspects of the Western treatment of cultural heritage (acquiring, preserving, restoring, investigating, presenting), but not all of them. In many cases they focus primarily on current cultural and social issues, and make use of cultural heritage in the process.
An interesting example is the 'Joseph Plan' in Ghana, to be initiated in 2007. It will commemorate the founding of the state of Ghana 50 years ago, and the abolition of British slave trade 200 years ago. In 2007 the African diaspora will be invited to return to Africa, to help with the reconstruction of this continent. During the visit to Ghana, remnants of the slave trade period, including fortifications, slave routes, the slave river, museums and oral history will be restored and made available to the public. The Joseph Plan aims to bring about a national healing between the descendants of the slaves and the descendants of the enslavers, contributing to an new sense of shared intellectual heritage.
The current interest in cultural heritage is also the result of the growing demand on the part of international tourism for places with a cultural heritage that can be experienced as part of leisure activities. All over the world, countries are beginning to realize the economic benefits of tourism, and searching for possibilities to expand tourism. Investing in cultural heritage, by restoring it and/or making it more accessible, can be very profitable.
Today, the interest in cultural heritage is global. Indeed, it is no longer correct to speak of a single audience, since cultural heritage visitors have different backgrounds and different expectations. Some tourists, like the descendants of the Ghanaian slaves, are looking for their 'roots'. Migration and diaspora caused many people to leave their countries, but their descendants often return as tourists. Other tourists visit cultural heritage that does not relate to their own past and identity. They are genuine interested in cultures of other civilizations, the 'Otherness' being part of the attraction.
The growing exchange of information between individual heritage institutions, and between those institutions and the public, is part of a global process that makes use of interconnected information networks. In the future the relevance of heritage institutions may have more to do with their role as collectors of knowledge rather than objects.
Existing global institutional and personal heritage networks - often a prolongation of affiliations, which existed before decolonisation - have received a new impulse through the exchange of all kinds of digital information. The reduced investment in terms of time and money facilitates visits from experts, helping institutions which are not so well endowed to develop new and better ways of dealing with their collections or the monuments entrusted to them.
