1999 - Working Document
I - Heritage at the End of the Century
A new conception of cultural heritage
Throughout history, and in all parts of the world, societies and
their members have looked on cultural heritage as a valuable asset
that affirms the identity of peoples, their character, history and
spiritual strength, and which therefore functions as a source of
pride and a basis of continuing cultural expression.
Alongside the extraordinary value of this asset, its vulnerable
nature has long been recognized: in spite of the resistance of materials
and systems of construction or the techniques used to produce some
of its manifestations, we are all aware that natural phenomena,
the passing of time -and, all too often, the activity of individuals
and societies- cause it to deteriorate.
Due to both the profound significance of cultural heritage, and
its vulnerability, the work of preserving it has occupied a predominant
place among cultural efforts both at national level and that of
international cooperation.
In recent times, awareness of the great importance of the cultural
heritage has not merely been maintained, but has considerably increased.
At the same time there has been a broadening in our understanding
of what types of manifestations are to be regarded as such, to the
degree that it now is possible to talk about a new conception of
cultural heritage. In effect, if traditionally cultural heritage
was understood basically in a sense that restricted it to the artistic
and monumental assets inherited from the past, particularly sculpture
and painting or great works of architecture.
Nowadays there is an ever greater awareness of the importance within
this heritage of such intangible cultural manifestations as oral
traditions, music, festivities and languages. In the same way the
contemporary manifestations of culture -that is to say the recent
or current work of creators in forms of expression both traditional
and innovatory, and not only those consecrated by time- have also
come to form part of this new conception of the cultural heritage.
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Stockholm Action Plan
- Creativity in societies favours creation, wich stems
above all from an individual commitment. This commitment
is essential to building our future heritage. It is important
to preserve and promote the conditions for such creation
- in particular the freedom of the creative artist - within
every community.
Objetive 3: Reinforce policy and practice to safeguard
and en hace the cultural heritage, tangible, and intangible
and immoveable, and to promote cultural industries.
- Renew and reinforce national commitments to applying
UNESCO´s Conventions and Recommendations on the conservation
of the moveable and immoveable heritage, on the safeguarding
of traditional and popular culture, and on the status of
the artist and linked issues.
- Strengthen efficiency in the cultural sector through
training schemes for national specialists and cultural admistrator
and managers, and provide equal oportunities for women in
these fields.
- Renew the traditional definition of heritage, which
today must be understood as all natural and cultural elements,
tangible or intangible, which are inherited or newly created.
Through these elements social groups recognize their identity
and commit themselves to pass it on to future generations
in a better and enriched form.
- Acknowledge the emergence of new categories in the
area of cultural heritage, such as the cultural landscape,
the industrial heritage and cultural tourism.
- Strengthen the study, inventory, registration and cataloguing
of heritag, including oral traditions, so as to permit the
desingn of adequate and effetive intruments for the implementation
of traditional as well as scientific conservation polices.
- Encourage through all possible legal and diplomatic
means the return and/or restitution of cultural property
to its countries of origin.
- Include and ensure the protection of buildings, sites,
ensembles and landscapes of cultural value in urban and
regional development plans, programmes and policies.
- Directly involve citizens and local communities in
heritage conservations programmes and establish a list of
best prasctices for heritage policies.
- Ensure that tourism is resoectful of cultures and of
the environment and that the income it generates is also
used for equitably preserving heritage resources and for
strengthening cultural development.
Objective 4: Promote cultural and linguistic diversity
in and for the information society.
- Promote Knowledge of the cultural and natural
heritage by the virtual means provided by the new technologies.
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Challenges for the coming century
This more open-ended conception of cultural heritage implies modifying
our approach to its preservation and dissemination, and involves
a new emphasis on encouraging its regeneration and growth as an
inheritance of the past and the present which will be passed on
to future generations.
An adequate realization of each of these efforts depends more and
more on the use we make of recent scientific and technological developments.
Present scientific knowledge and the most up-to-date media and tools
-which, in combination with the traditional ones, in many cases
complement them and extend their potential- are opening unimagined
perspectives for the work of research, conservation, recording and
dissemination of the cultural heritage.
At the level of preserving this heritage, a fundamental aspect
is the work of recording, the obligatory starting point for an organized
implementation of the other tasks, based on a complete knowledge
of the field of work, the priorities and resources. To the work
yet to be done of registering such tangible assets as archeological
sites, works of art and historical evidence, we should add those
relating to the intangible culture susceptible to being recorded
and catalogued in written and audiovisual form: recordings of music
and oral narratives, videos of festivities, dictionaries of languages…
Beyond this work of registration, the preservation of the intangible
heritage has its starting point in its conception as a living patrimony
that, unlike the tangible heritage, is conserved in its true dimension
only when it is being drawn on, interpreted or recreated by the
communities that originated it. This being so, to contribute to
the preservation of the intangible heritage means in large measure
fostering the conditions that allow those individuals, groups and
nations that conserve it to continue to develop culturally in accordance
with their traditions.
On the other hand, the role of this patrimony -in both its tangible
and intangible aspects- is of the greatest importance as a pole
of attraction for visitors both from home and abroad. Cultural heritage,
especially when associated with places of natural attraction, is
one of the principal motors of tourist development, basically as
a form of dissemination and live encounter with cultural values.
Such encounters contribute to social development, while representing
at the same time a very substantial source of income which can be
channeled into projects of research, study, exploration, reclamation,
preservation and dissemination of the cultural heritage, whether
conserved in its place of origin or kept in museums. The appropriate
linking of these spheres implies guaranteeing respect, on the part
of all agents involved, both for the heritage itself and the communities
that are closest to it in the cultural aspects.
It is of great importance that a basic condition not only of tourist
development but also of other forms, such as urban, economic and
industrial development, should be carried out with full respect
for, and protection of, this patrimony. Something that should not
be lost from view is the need for the responsibility of governments
in the preservation of cultural heritage to be founded on the commitment
of each individual and group to value and protect it. This commitment
must take root gradually, in the same way as a similar commitment
has taken root regarding the environment. To achieve this it is
of fundamental importance to develop educational programs that awaken
this awareness from the basic levels of schooling onward.
The benefits of a more diversified participation in the preservation
of cultural heritage may be recognized in the labor of civil associations,
trusts, foundations, and other cultural agents from outside the
sphere of government. The increasing presence of such groups has
facilitated the carrying out projects of reclamation or rehabilitation,
conservation and dissemination, of our heritage that it would not
otherwise have been possible to realize. The capacity of these agents
to appeal to the willingness and efforts of individuals, to mediate
and put projects into action, often in collaboration and with the
advice of public institutions, means that their strengthening and
multiplication is a fundamental aim.
For this multiplication of actors to take place, a deep-rooted
and broad-based public awareness is essential. Such awareness is
the necessary basis, among other things, for an adequate legal framework
of preservation of the cultural heritage. A legal framework, essential
though it may be, can never compensate for a lack of public awareness
in favor of culture and its conservation. Laws in keeping with contemporary
reality and its challenges are, of course, necessary. The international
context and the situation of each nation mark conditions for the
preservation of our heritage at world and national levels that demand
the generation of consensus and its translation into legislation
favoring the most effective mechanisms for preserving cultural heritage
and access to it by the greatest possible number of people.
Subjects for discussion
- What are the priorities for achieving the new scientific and
technological developments to the best and most complete use in
research, conservation, recording and dissemination of the cultural
heritage?
- What particular challenges arise from the tasks of preserving
the intangible heritage, considering evolution as an essential
aspect of this patrimony as a living asset?
- In what ways can one contribute on both national and international
levels to the preservation and dissemination of the intangible
heritage without imposing a counterproductive interference on
the cultural processes of the peoples and nation states that conserve
it?
- What information is provided by previous experience in instilling
a clearer and broader awareness of the importance of the cultural
heritage, principally among children and youth in our countries?
- What criteria and means should one have in mind when considering
and preserving the forms of contemporary creation as a patrimony
of the present and the future?
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