Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by society.[1]
Cultural heritage includes tangible culture (such as buildings, monuments, landscapes, archive materials, books, works of art, and artifacts), intangible culture (such as folklore, traditions, language, and knowledge), and natural heritage (including culturally significant landscapes, and biodiversity).[2] The term is often used in connection with issues relating to the protection of indigenous intellectual property.[3]
The deliberate act of keeping cultural heritage from the present for the future is known as preservation (American English) or conservation (British English), which cultural and historical ethnic museums and cultural centers promote, though these terms may have more specific or technical meanings in the same contexts in the other dialect. Preserved heritage has become an anchor of the global tourism industry, a major contributor of economic value to local communities.[1]
Legal protection of cultural property comprises a number of international agreements and national laws.
United Nations, UNESCO and Blue Shield International deal with the protection of cultural heritage. This also applies to the integration of United Nations peacekeeping.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
Protection of cultural heritage[edit]
History[edit]
There have been examples of respect for the cultural assets of enemies since ancient times. The roots of today's legal situation for the precise protection of cultural heritage also lie in some of Austria's ruler Maria Theresa (1717 - 1780) decided Regulations and the demands of the Congress of Vienna (1814/15) not to remove works of art from their place of origin in the war.[11] The process continued at the end of the 19th century when, in 1874 (in Brussels), at least a draft international agreement on the laws and customs of war was agreed. 25 years later, in 1899, an international peace conference was held in the Netherlands on the initiative of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, with the aim of revising the declaration (which was never ratified) and adopting a convention. The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 also significantly advanced international law and laid down the principle of the immunity of cultural property. Three decades later, in 1935, the preamble to the Treaty on the Protection of Artistic and Scientific Institutions (Roerich Pact) was formulated. On the initiative of UNESCO, the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict was signed in 1954.[12]
Protection of cultural heritage or protection of cultural goods means all measures to protect cultural property against damage, destruction, theft, embezzlement or other loss. The term "monument protection" is also used for immovable cultural property. This relates in particular to the prevention of robbery digs at archaeological sites, the looting or destruction of cultural sites and the theft of works of art from churches and museums all over the world and basically measures regarding the conservation and general access to our common cultural heritage. Legal protection of cultural heritage comprises a number of international agreements and national laws, and these must also be implemented.[13][14][15][16][17]
There is a close partnership between the UN, United Nations peacekeeping, UNESCO, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Blue Shield International.[9][18]
The protection of the cultural heritage should also preserve the particularly sensitive cultural memory, the growing cultural diversity and the economic basis of a state, a municipality or a region. Whereby there is also a connection between cultural user disruption or cultural heritage and the cause of flight. But only through the fundamental cooperation, including the military units and the planning staff, with the locals can the protection of world heritage sites, archaeological finds, exhibits and archaeological sites from destruction, looting and robbery be implemented sustainably. The founding president of Blue Shield International Karl von Habsburg summed it up with the words: "Without the local community and without the local participants, that would be completely impossible".[9][19][20][21]
Significant was the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage that was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972. As of 2011, there are 936 World Heritage Sites: 725 cultural, 183 natural, and 28 mixed properties, in 153 countries. Each of these sites is considered important to the international community.
The underwater cultural heritage is protected by the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage. This convention is a legal instrument helping states parties to improve the protection of their underwater cultural heritage.[29][30]
In addition, UNESCO has begun designating masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights sitting as part of the United Nations Economic and Social Council with article 15 of its Covenant had sought to instill the principles under which cultural heritage is protected as part of a basic human right.
Key international documents and bodies include:
The U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a report describing some of the United States' cultural property protection efforts.[31]
Much of heritage preservation work is done at the national, regional, or local levels of society. Various national and regional regimes include:
National Heritage Conservation Commission
National Museums Board
Broad philosophical, technical, and political issues and dimensions of cultural heritage include:
Issues in cultural heritage management include:
Cultural heritage digital preservation[edit]
Ancient archaeological artefacts and archaeological sites are naturally prone to damage due to their age and environmental conditions. Also, there have been tragic occurrences of unexpected human-made disasters, such as in the cases of a fire that took place in the 200 years old National Museum of Brazil and the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
Therefore, there is a growing need to digitize cultural heritage in order to preserve them in the face of potential calamities such as climate change, natural disaster, poor policy or inadequate infrastructure. For example, the Library of Congress has started to digitize its collections in a special program called the National Digital Library Program.[34] The Smithsonian has also been actively digitizing its collection with the release of the "Smithsonian X 3D Explorer," allowing anyone to engage with the digitized versions of the museum's millions of artifacts, of which only two percent are on display.[35][36]
3D scanning devices have become a practical reality in the field of heritage preservation. 3D scanners can produce a high-precision digital reference model that not only digitizes condition but also provides a 3D virtual model for replication. The high cost and relative complexity of 3D scanning technologies have made it quite impractical for many heritage institutions in the past, but this is changing, as technology advances and its relative costs are decreasing to reach a level where even mobile based scanning applications can be used to create a virtual museum.
There is still a low level of digital archiving of archaeological data obtained via excavation,[37] even in the UK where the lead digital archive for archaeology, the Archaeology Data Service, was established in the 1990s. Across the globe, countries are at different stages of dealing with digital archaeological archives,[38] all dealing with differences in statutory requirements, legal ownership of archives and infrastructure.[39]
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