Over the millennia of history, man has created many drawings, inscriptions, buildings, statues, household items. From the moment of gaining consciousness, a person with incredible zeal produces traces of his existence - in order to impress the future generation or pursuing a more practical goal. All these are artifacts, displays of human culture. But not all of this is a cultural heritage.
Cultural heritage - these are man-made past creations (material or spiritual) in which the man of the present sees cultural value and wants to preserve them for the future. Heritage itself is defined as an integral part of culture, acting both as a way of an individual appropriating cultural phenomena and as the very basis of culture. In other words, cultural heritage is a special part of culture, the significance of which has been recognized by generations. It is also recognized now and the zeal of contemporaries should be preserved and transferred to the future.
T. M. Mironova contrasts the concepts of “monument” and “objects of cultural heritage”. In her opinion, the word "monument" itself means some kind of object for storing memory. While the objects of cultural heritage were acquired by us not just for storage, but for an active attitude towards them, awareness of their value for today in the course of modern interpretation.
Two approaches in relation to the cultural heritage of society: protection and preservation
- Cultural heritage protection. The condition and the main requirement for the maintenance of the object is its protection from external influences. The object is elevated to the rank of immunity. Any interaction with the object is prevented, with the exception of the necessary measures. The emotional basis of this attitude is a feeling of longing for the old days or an interest in the rarities and relics of the past. An object is defined as a memory of the past embodied in a specific subject. The more ancient the subject, the more valuable it is considered as a carrier of memory of the past era. This concept has a significant drawback. Such a carefully guarded subject of the past over time turns out to be something alien in an ever-changing environment. It is not filled with new content and soon runs the risk of becoming an empty shell and being on the periphery of public attention and, as a result, in oblivion.
- Preservation of cultural heritage. It arose in the second half of the twentieth century in connection with the increasing complexity of relations with cultural heritage sites. It includes a set of measures not only for the protection, but also for the study, interpretation and use of cultural objects.
Before, some separate objects (structures, monuments) were protected, which were selected by specialists using “obvious criteria”. The transition from exclusively protective measures to the concept of conservation made it possible to include entire complexes and even territories in this process. Object selection criteria have expanded.
The modern approach does not imply a rejection of the protection of cultural heritage, but leads to greater expediency of this process. The results showed that the wise use of historical objects (buildings, territories) is more conducive to the revitalization ("return to life") of cultural heritage monuments than the orientation solely on protection. The attitude to the monument went beyond the mere protection of the material shell of the antiquity. Cultural monuments have become more than just a reminder of the past. First of all, they have become significant as a value in the eyes of contemporaries. They are filled with new meanings.
UNESCO cultural heritage. Cultural heritage preservation activities
1972 year. Adoption of the Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
This convention did not give a definition to the concept of “cultural heritage”, but its categories were listed in it:
- Monuments of cultural heritage - are understood in a broad sense, this includes buildings, sculptures, inscriptions, caves. A monument is a unit of cultural heritage, defined as a specific object with artistic or scientific (historical) value. But at the same time, the isolation of the monuments from one another is overcome, since their interconnection and their connection with the environment are assumed. The totality of monuments forms the objective world of culture.
- Ensembles, which include architectural complexes.
- Attractions: created by man or him, but also with significant participation of nature.
The significance of this convention is as follows:
- implementation of an integrated approach in assessing the relationship of cultural and natural heritage;
- a new group of objects (places of interest) was added to the protected;
- guidelines were given for the inclusion of heritage objects in economic activity and their use for the implementation of practical goals.
1992 year. La Petite Pierre. Revision of the 1972 Convention Implementation Guide. The Convention referred to World Heritage Sites created by both nature and man. But the procedure for their identification and selection was not provided at all. To correct this, international experts formulated and included the concept of “cultural landscape” in the manual, which led to the adjustment of cultural criteria. In order to assign the status of a cultural landscape, a territory, in addition to world-recognized value, must also be representative of the region and illustrate its exclusivity. Thus, a new category of cultural heritage was introduced.
1999 year. Amendment of the 1972 Convention Implementation Guide.
The content of the amendments was a detailed definition of the concept of "cultural landscape", as well as a description of its types. They included:
- Man-made landscapes.
- Naturally developing landscapes.
- Associative landscapes.
Cultural landscape criteria:
- the universally recognized outstanding value of the territory;
- authenticity of the area;
- landscape integrity.
year 2001. UNESCO Conference, during which a new concept was formulated. Intangible cultural heritage is a special process in human activity and creativity, contributing to a sense of continuity in various societies and maintaining the identity of their cultures. Then his species were distinguished:
- embodied in the material traditional forms of life and cultural life;
- forms of expression that are not physically represented (the language itself, verbally transmitted traditions, songs and music);
- semantic component of the material cultural heritage, which is the result of its interpretation.
2003 year. Paris. Adoption of the Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. The need for this event was dictated by the incompleteness of the 1972 Convention, namely the lack of even mentioning in the document of spiritual values among the World Heritage Sites.
Obstacles to the preservation of cultural heritage
- Representatives of different sectors of society have opposing views on the appropriateness of preserving a particular heritage of the past. The historian sees a model of Victorian architecture in need of restoration. Entrepreneur sees a dilapidated building, which must be demolished and use the vacated plot of land for the construction of a supermarket.
- The generally accepted criteria for the scientific or artistic value of an object have not been developed, that is, which objects should be attributed to cultural heritage, and which are not.
- With a favorable resolution of the first two questions (that is, they decided to preserve the object and recognized its value), a dilemma arises in choosing ways to preserve the cultural heritage.
The importance of cultural heritage in the formation of historical consciousness
In the changing daily routine, modern man more and more clearly feels the need for involvement in something enduring. To identify oneself with something eternal, primordial means to gain a sense of stability, certainty, and confidence.
Such goals are the cultivation of historical consciousness - a special psychological education that allows individuals to join the social memory of their people and other cultures, as well as process and broadcast historical event-national information. The formation of historical consciousness is possible only in reliance on historical memory. The substrates of historical memory are museums, libraries and archives. N.F. Fedorov calls the museum a "shared memory" opposed to spiritual death.
Priorities for the development of historical consciousness
- The assimilation of the concept of historical time - cultural heritage in various forms makes it possible for an individual to perceive history, feel the epoch through contact with heritage objects and realize the connection of times reflected in them.
- Awareness of the variability of value guidelines - acquaintance with the cultural heritage as a presentation of ethical, aesthetic values of people of the past; showing modifications, broadcasting and displaying these values at different time periods.
- Familiarization with the historical origins of ethnic groups and peoples through a demonstration of authentic samples of folk art and the introduction of elements of interactivity in the form of involving traditional rituals and rituals in living.
The use of cultural heritage in social planning
Cultural heritage are objects of the past that can act as a factor in the development of modern society. This assumption has long been discussed, but practical implementation only began in the second half of the twentieth century. The leading countries here were America, Spain, Australia. An example of this approach can be the Colorado-2000 project. This is a development plan for the state of the same name in America. The development was based on the preservation of the cultural heritage of Colorado. Access to participation in the program was open to all, which as a result made it possible to involve representatives of all sectors of the Colorado society in this process. Experts and non-professionals, government agencies and non-governmental organizations, corporations and small firms - their combined efforts were aimed at implementing the Colorado development program based on the disclosure of its historical uniqueness. These projects allow participants to feel themselves as carriers of the authentic culture of their native lands, to feel the contribution of everyone to the preservation and presentation to the world of the heritage of their land.
The importance of cultural heritage in maintaining the unique diversity of cultures
In the modern world, the communication boundaries between societies are erased, and original national cultures are threatened , which are difficult to compete for attention with mass phenomena.
So there is a need to educate people in pride in the heritage of their people, to involve them in the preservation of regional monuments. At the same time, respect for the identity of other peoples and countries should be formed. All this is designed to counter the globalization of world culture and the loss of the identity of popular cultures.