Notion Of Cultural Heritage Research Articles

The Kyrgyz Republic: Concept, Strategies, and Practices for the Preservation of the National Cultural Heritage

This study deals with the concept of «cultural heritage» in the Kyrgyz Republic, including both material culture and traditional ideology. We describe their codification, and strategies for their preservation and popularization. We draw on a large database, which includes findings of original fieldwork. We outline the elaboration of the concept of cultural heritage and its content, presenting a systematic description of institutional aspect and meaning, and we analyze the practices of its implementation. The historical and cultural heritage is viewed as a multifactorial space. The realities of modern Kyrgyzstan suggest that the nation implements integration strategies in foreign policy. While using the notions of cultural heritage and traditional values, the republic strengthens its ties with other members of the CIS, raising the level of its integration into the Central Asian community and maintaining its status as part of the world civilization. Cultural heritage is a key resource of social change and the economic stabilization of local communities. Its preservation at the level of everyday culture, academic, and educational practices, museums, festivals, etc. is a condition of national consolidation.

Architecture of the Avant-Apocalypse: Preservation beyond Preservation of the Species

Abstract In an age in which human presence on Earth has become precarious, architects have begun to contemplate their discipline on two parallel timelines: that of human history on the one hand and that of geologica or evolutionary history on the other. Anxieties about the potential disappearance of the human species call into question accepted notions of cultural heritage. The author focuses on the emergence of nonhuman intelligences in architectural discourse by looking at two examples of new materials and their aesthetic qualities—the idea of “self-assembly” in concrete science and an invention involving “guided growth.” She speculates on how including nonhuman agents in a discussion of architecture changes the way we conceive of cultural and civilizational continuity.

Conceptualisation of heritage diplomacy in scholarship

ABSTRACT Heritage diplomacy is a recent concept and a new area of interest in the expanding scope of diplomacy. The concept is explored with various epistemological foci and theoretical frameworks in Western scholarship. It is often used to describe joint international projects or government initiatives abroad for preserving tangible cultural heritage. Several recent studies link heritage diplomacy to attempts to develop reciprocal relations between countries, regions, and/or communities through cultural heritage based on dialogue. This article contributes to interdisciplinary scholarship on heritage diplomacy by clarifying the concept, including its inherent notions of cultural heritage and approaches to power. Our critical close reading of 57 sampled scholarly publications reveals how heritage diplomacy is commonly approached from a conservationist point of view, emphasising the preservation of tangible cultural heritage through knowledge exchange, material aid, and funding. Scholarship lacks studies focusing on the uses of intangible cultural heritage for heritage diplomacy. The study reveals heritage diplomacy scholars’ shared interest in power asymmetry and struggle: the concept can be used to recognise and deconstruct power hierarchies between heritage communities. We do this by understanding cultural heritage as a contact zone of people-to-people connectivity, reciprocal cooperation, mutual trust, and dialogue.

O projeto MAMNBA: contexto político institucional, desdobramentos conceituais e técnicos

RESUMO O artigo aborda o projeto Mapeamento de Sítios e Monumentos Religiosos Negros da Bahia (MAMNBA) como um indicador importante de dois movimentos convergentes que tomam corpo a partir nos anos 1980 no Brasil: o da emergência do “patrimônio nacional” como um campo de luta política apropriado por movimento sociais negros de afirmação de direitos culturais e de quebra do monopólio luso-brasileiro nas representações da história do país; e o da ampliação da antiga noção de patrimônio histórico e artístico, com sua paulatina substituição pela noção de patrimônio cultural. Aborda, ainda, o modo como a Constituição Federal de 1988 recepcionou esses movimentos e como suas diretrizes relativas ao patrimônio afro-brasileiro foram absorvidas na política de preservação do patrimônio cultural, especialmente no âmbito federal. Tomando esta esfera do poder público como foco, o artigo trata também dos desdobramentos conceituais, metodológicos e práticos que a proteção e salvaguarda desse patrimônio produziu no âmbito do Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (Iphan), a partir do tombamento de diversos terreiros de candomblé na Bahia e em outros estados do país. Por fim, o artigo aborda os conflitos e contradições que emergiram a partir da gestão e do dia a dia da preservação desses bens culturais, entre as concepções da área técnica do Iphan sobre a sua conservação e a visão das comunidades de culto sobre o que é o seu patrimônio cultural e como este deve ser preservado nesses sítios.

Bridging Manila’s Chinatown and Intramuros: The Belt and Road Initiative and Its Consequences for Historic Districts

The notion of cultural heritage as both medium and outcome of sustainable development draws attention to how issues of heritage preservation and those of infrastructure and economic development are entwined. In this paper, we will analyze the challenges and opportunities that a proposed bridge project under China’s Belt and Road Initiative is presenting to the historic districts of Binondo, the Philippines’ main Chinatown, and Intramuros, the heart of the country’s Spanish colonial heritage. In this analysis of the nexus of cultural heritage and physical infrastructure, we will focus on the interplay among the material dimension, social competences, and institutions that frame cultural heritage preservation and promotion practices in these two districts. This emphasis will highlight the role of the Philippine state— which, at varying times and circumstances and as a central actor, can be distant, weak, strong, cunning, or inconsistent. Invariably, the revitalization of historic districts requires actors to socially navigate through diverse constellations of interest and to bring together the modalities of heritage preservation, and infrastructure and economic development as being two sides that support one another.

What ‘Intangible’ May Encompass in The Egyptian Cultural Heritage Context? Legal Provisions, Sustainable Measures and Future Directions

Over the past decades, the notion of cultural heritage has been extended to incorporate the non-tangible forms that manifest the living entity of heritage at its both types natural and cultural. Egypt is rich with unique repositories of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) that reflect our diversity and cultural identities such as traditions, lifestyles, social practices, and oral heritage. Nevertheless, most of the national efforts tended to focus only on the promotion and preservation of the tangible heritage. This places the fate of the Egyptian intangible heritage at risk, as there are certain elements of the intangible assets that have disappeared. We need to adopt a set of management and legal measures for identifying, preserving and nurturing the ICH of Egypt with emphasis on integrating the community in the safeguarding process. Hence, the aim of this paper is to examine the recognition and potentials of the Egyptian ICH as a contributor for sustainable development. The paper reviews the existing efforts and legislative provisions of the protection of the ICH within the heritage discourse of Egypt in an attempt to explore to what extent the legal system support a future for the ICH of Egypt.

CULTURAL HERITAGE AND IMAGES OF THE CITY: TRANSFORMATION OF SAWAHLUNTO IN INDONESIA

In order to be acknowledged as a World Heritage Centre by UNESCO in 2016, the city government transformed Sawahlunto, which used to be an old mining city, into what the government claimed as a culturally touristic mining city. The city had basically been declared as a dead city; however, the government has strategically increased its economics through tourism. This article focuses on the meaning-making process in the construction of the city image(s) basing the process in the discussion of the politics of collective memory and cultural heritage. Data, mainly findings from observations, interviews and textual analysis, were collected from two tourism sites namely Goedang Ransoem Museum and Lubang Tambang Mbah Soero. The aim of the research is to interpret how the people in Sawahlunto make sense of the image construction of the city or even contest it as the government conveyed particular meaning in redefining the city‟s identity. Abidin Kusno‟s conceptualization of collective memory in architecture is mainly used to analyze the architectural elements of the two tourism sites. Furthermore, the analysis also refers to Hobsbawn and Thompson‟s notion of cultural heritage and Leif Edvinson‟s images of the city. Research findings reveal that the city government constructs a dominant meaning of what they convey as cultural heritage by utilizing local laws and the authority from other regions which have more experiences in transforming their city into a city of cultural heritage. On the other hand, the people in Sawahlunto have their own understanding of what their city means for them in relation to their own cultural heritage. All in all, the complexity of the meaning-makitng process in the city‟s transformation between the government and the people could be read as a battleground of contesting discourses.

Loss, Compensation and Authenticity in Architectural Conservation

Loss and compensation have been central issues in the conservation of art and architecture at least since the sixteenth century as described by Vasari.1 In modern conservation practice, the term ‘compensation’ is now used to include all aspects of intervention designed to address visual and structural reintegration resulting from material loss.2 They are inextricably tied to conservation's primary objective, the protection of cultural resources from damage and depletion. Their consideration reveals much about past and present notions of cultural heritage including its meaning and significance across time, and the interventions that have been employed for its preservation and presentation. Discussions of material loss and its remedy, compensation, ultimately confront the larger questions concerning all artistic and historic works: authenticity, artistic intent, and value.For the student and experienced professional alike, issues of material loss and degradation and the oft-stated requirement of structural and visual reintegration can be among the most difficult problems encountered in conservation regardless of whether the work is a painting, sculpture, tapestry, or building. In considering such fundamental issues as loss and compensation, we bring conservation as a discipline, increasingly defined and separated by its specializations, back together to consider its essential and unifying issues and tenets.3