Conservation and Heritage As Creative Processes of Future-Making

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-290
Author(s):  
Cornelius Holtorf

AbstractAccording to the logic of the conservation ethics, the heritage sector has the duty to conserve cultural heritage because it has inherent value and constitutes a non-renewable resource that once destroyed cannot be substituted and, therefore, must be preserved for the benefit of future generations. In this article, I argue, however, that the cultural heritage of the past is not a comprehensive legacy that theoretically, at any point, might have been considered complete but, rather, that it can be understood as frequently updated manifestations of changing perceptions of the past over time. The most important question for conservation and heritage management, thus, is not how much heritage of any one period may or may not survive intact into the future but, instead, which heritage, as our legacy to the generations to come, will benefit future societies the most. In particular, I am calling for more research into the possible significance of heritage in addressing some of the social consequences of climate change.

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 668
Author(s):  
Funda Kurak Açıcı ◽  
Zeynep Nilsun Konakoğlu

<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p>Cities have existed throughout the history as a combination and conflict of various cultures. The values of citizens are shaped by cultural accumulation that is created from the past to our times. Cultural elements cover a wide scope of fields from science in life to art. The history of the city helps the recognition of the city’s architecture, music, tradition, habits and culture and creates the identity of the city. All of these elements that form a city constitute the cultural heritage of the city. The best witnesses of cultural heritage are city museums which present cities as they are. City museums are one of archive sources that contain all the information that may be gathered about a city. Museums are significant structures that transfer the past to the future, witness all the times experienced by cities and symbolize cities. This study was form around who the structure and culture of a city is reflected by museums, which are the strongest protectors of the cultural heritage of a city. This is why this study discusses the province of Trabzon which has hosted several civilizations from the past to the present and protected its cultural heritage, as well as its city museums. Information and documents were collected in relation to the city museums in the province of Trabzon, and city museums were discussed with the method of field surveys. The city of Trabzon has been covered in the scope of the study with the city’s museums where it preserves its cultural heritage. The museum contributes to the development and strengthening of the social consciousness as well as the transfer of the city’s values, and the values we make us with great care. The purpose of the study is to reveal the extent to which city museums protect the cultural heritage of the city and transfer it to future generations.</p><p><strong>Öz</strong></p><p>Tarih boyunca kentler pek çok kültürün birleşimi ve çatışmasıyla ile var olmuştur.  Kentlilerin sahip oldukları değerler geçmişten günümüze gelen kültürel birikimlerle şekillenir. Kültürel öğeler, yaşam içinde bilimden sanata pek çok alanı kapsamaktadır. Kentin tarihi, mimarisi, müziği, gelenek ve göreneği kenti ve kentin kültürünün tanınmasına yardımcı olur ve kentin kimliğini oluşturur. Kenti meydana getiren tüm bu öğeler, kentin kültürel mirasını temsil eder. Kültürel mirasın izlerinin en iyi tanıkları, onları olduğu gibi sunan kent müzeleridir. Kent müzeleri kente dair elde edilebilecek tüm bilgileri içinde barındıran kentin en önemli arşiv kaynaklarından biridir. Müzeler, kent için geçmişi geleceğe aktaran, kentin tüm zamanlarına tanıklık eden ve kenti simgeleyen önemli yapılardır. Bir kentin kültürel mirasının en güçlü koruyucuları olan müzelerin, kentin yapısını ve kültürünü nasıl yansıttığı bu çalışmanın ana kurgusunu oluşturmaktadır. Bu nedenle geçmişten günümüze birçok medeniyete ev sahipliği yapmış olan Trabzon kenti, kültürel mirasını koruduğu kent müzeleri ile çalışma kapsamında ele alınmıştır. Kent müzeleri şehrin değerlerinin gelecek kuşaklara aktarılmasının yanı sıra, toplum bilincinin gelişip güçlenmesine de katkıda bulunmaktadır. Trabzon kentindeki tüm müzeler bizi bir çatı altında toplayan; tarihimizi, kültürümüzü, gelenek ve göreneğimizi, kısacası bizi biz yapan değerleri büyük bir titizlikle korumaktadır. Çalışmada, literatür araştırması ile kentin müzeleri ile ilgili bilgiler ve belgeler toplanmış ve yerinde gözlem yoluyla da kent müzeleri irdelenmiştir.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-202
Author(s):  
Jes Wienberg

The aim of the article is to make clear whether and in that case why archaeology is important. Often this is seen as a self-evident fact which needs no motivation. My point of departure is a concrete example, namely, the medieval church of Mårup in Denmark which will soon fall into the sea: Why is it so crucial to save or document this church and many other traces of the past? Isn't the so-called cultural heritage condemned to destruction and oblivion? Rhetorical catchwords, cultural values, justifications and explanations within cultural heritage management, archaeology, history and social anthropology are presented and critically discussed together with indirect motivations borrowed from the literature about the abuse of the past.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-44
Author(s):  
Mats Burström

The cultural heritage is not simply given by history; its content is also a matter for decision in the present. This calls for a dialogue between the heritage management and different groups in society. It is also necessary to formulate a vision of how material remains from the past can enrich the life of the citizen in general. One way to ensure that the cultural heritage touches people is to integrate it into new contexts. The realisation of these points requires a new amiquarian attitude towards the general public.


2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Prandini Assis

Misoprostol is a medicine with a “double” social life recorded in several places, including Brazil. Within formal and authorized health facilities, it is an essential medicine, used for life-saving obstetric procedures. On the streets, or in online informal markets, misoprostol is treated as a dangerous drug used to induce illegal abortions. In the Brazilian case, despite a rich anthropological and public health analysis of the social consequences of misoprostol’s double life, there are no studies on the legal implications. This article offers such descriptive analysis, presenting and examining a comprehensive dataset of how Brazilian courts have treated misoprostol in the past three decades. It consists of an encompassing mapping of the “when, where, how, and who” of misoprostol criminalization in Brazil, pointing to the unjust consequences of the use of criminal law for the purpose of protecting public health.


Author(s):  
Davide Settembre Blundo ◽  
Anna Lucia Maramotti Politi ◽  
Alfonso Pedro Fernández del Hoyo ◽  
Fernando Enrique García Muiña

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the application of a hermeneutic-based approach as innovative way to study the Cultural Heritage management in a mesoeconomic space. Design/methodology/approach The paper builds a theoretical framework based on the analysis of relevant literature in the field of cultural economics, heritage economics and conservation and restoration techniques. Then, after having defined the conceptual hypothesis, a hermeneutical interpretative model is designed for the analysis of the processes of Cultural Heritage management with particular regard to the strategies of stakeholder engagement. Findings The research shows how the mesoeconomic space is that border area where it is possible to solve more easily the conflicts that arise as a result of the different expectations of stakeholders. Hermeneutical analysis, applied in iterative form, allows us to find common connections, points of contact and convergences between the interpretative horizons of the various stakeholders. Practical implications The application of the interpretative model allows the identification of the expectations of stakeholders, improving the knowledge of the tangible and intangible attributes of works of art, in order to design appropriate interventions of restoration, conservation and valorization. Social implications The new model of analysis, based on hermeneutic methodology, is designed to understand and describe the social and economic relations between the different stakeholders involved in the management of Cultural Heritage. Originality/value This paper examines for the first time the Cultural Heritage sector within the mesoeconomic area between the micro and the macroeconomy. In addition to this mesoeconomic analysis and conceptual approach, the authors introduce as methodology the economic hermeneutics that represents an innovative tool in the field of economic and business disciplines.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-309
Author(s):  
Nijolė Piekienė

The Curonian Spit (Lithuania) and Vega Archipelago (Norway) are objects on the UNESCO World Heritage List because of their special kind of landscapes that have been formed not without human intervention. Landscapes created by nature itself or with human help are exceptional works which, as determined by the legal acts in regulation of these processes, have to be referred to as objects of cultural heritage. The cultural heritage must be protected, exhibited and viewed as objects of science and cognition. Lithuania and Norway have different conditions formed for identification, conservation and protection of these works, but both countries have recognized that protection of cultural heritage, passing it on for future generations is the duty of the state. Prospects of heritage management and development, and exchange of experience should be the top priorities for action in Lithuania. Kuršių nerija (Lietuva) ir Vega salynas (Norvegija) į Pasaulio paveldo vietovių sąrašą įrašytos dėl savo išskirtinių kraštovaizdžių, kurie suformuoti ne be žmogaus įsikišimo. Tai, ką sukūrė gamta, žmogus ar gamta kartu su žmogumi, yra išskirtiniai kūriniai, kuriuos, kaip nustato šiuos procesus reglamentuojantys teisės aktai, nurodoma vadinti kultūros paveldo objektais. Kultūros paveldą būtina saugoti, eksponuoti, vertinti kaip mokslo ir pažinimo objektus. Lietuvoje ir Norvegijoje susiklosčiusios skirtingos sąlygos šių kūrinių identifikavimo, išsaugojimo ar globos srityse, tačiau abiejose šalyse pripažįstama, kad kultūros paveldo apsauga, perdavimas ateinančioms kartoms yra tos valstybės pareiga. Paveldo tvarkybos ir vystymo perspektyvos, keičiantis patirtimi, turi būti Lietuvos prioritetinė veiklos sritis.


2006 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 143-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Barber

The selective pressures and processes of cultural heritage management effectively disinherit some interest groups. Where this occurs in the context of postcolonial or nationalist conflict, the material archaeological record may be referenced to support or reject particular views. The disciplinary assumptions behind the archaeological evidence so produced are not usually contested in judicial contexts. A review of archaeology’s theoretical foundations suggests that this naivety itself may be problematic. A descriptive culture history approach dominated archaeology over the first half of the twentieth century with a strong political appeal to nationalist politics. Subsequently archaeology became concerned with processual explanation and the scientific identification of universal laws of culture, consistent with postwar technological optimism and conformity. A postprocessual archaeology movement from the 1970s has promoted relativism and challenged the singular authority of scientific explanation. Archaeologists caught within this debate disagree over the use of the archaeological record in situations of political conflict. Furthermore, the use of archaeology in the sectarian debate over the Ayodhya birthplace of Rama suggests that the material record of the past can become highly politicized and seemingly irresolvable. Archaeological research is also subject to other blatant and subtle political pressures throughout the world, affecting the nature and interpretation of the record. A system that privileges archaeological information values may be irrelevant also to communities who value and manage their ancestral heritage for customary purposes. Collectively this review of theory and applied knowledge suggests that it is unrealistic to expect that archaeology can authoritatively resolve strident claims and debates about the past. Instead, an important contemporary contribution of archaeology may be its potential to document cultural and historical contradictions and inclusions for the consideration of contemporary groups in conflict.


Author(s):  
Elizabeth Bloxam ◽  
Ian Shaw

This chapter discusses a range of current debates into the ways in which Egyptologists are engaging with the problems and demands of moving towards greater collaborations across the social sciences if it is to remain a relevant discipline in its own right. Viewpoints from contributing authors are synthesized into a discussion of recent developments in the field from fresh research across both the archaeological and textual arms of the discipline. The volume considers the extent to which scholars need to be revising and re-thinking their research questions and moving towards greater collaborations within the discipline, and crucially outside of it. Moving the discipline forward is also about including voices outside of western discourses and into volumes such as this. The contributions from Chinese and Egyptian scholars therefore bring a fresh perspective to some current problems in Egyptological research particularly in cultural heritage management, museum curation, and investigating archaeological landscapes.


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