The UK is to sign a UNESCO pledge to protect ‘intangible cultural heritage’. Professor Natalie Braber explains what that's important.
At the end of last year, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced that the UK was starting a consultation about signing the 2003 Unesco convention on the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage.
This would bring the UK in line with the 182 other Unesco member states who have already signed the convention. It has been suggested that this is a way to greater international cooperation on the importance of the UK’s intangible heritage and to find ways to monitor and protect cultural practices.
Traditionally, especially in many western cultures, heritage tends to be considered as something tangible – physical things such as artefacts, objects and historic buildings. The Venice charter of 1964 broadened this field from mainly physical heritage to include other kinds of heritage, such as whole environments and sites of interest.
However, Unesco felt that cultural heritage did not go far enough and should also include other aspects. This could be traditions inherited from previous generations that remain relevant and important to communities. This is intangible cultural heritage and it can be found all over the world.. Keep reading on The Conversation.
At the end of last year, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced that the UK was starting a consultation about signing the 2003 Unesco convention on the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage.
This would bring the UK in line with the 182 other Unesco member states who have already signed the convention. It has been suggested that this is a way to greater international cooperation on the importance of the UK’s intangible heritage and to find ways to monitor and protect cultural practices.
Traditionally, especially in many western cultures, heritage tends to be considered as something tangible – physical things such as artefacts, objects and historic buildings. The Venice charter of 1964 broadened this field from mainly physical heritage to include other kinds of heritage, such as whole environments and sites of interest.
However, Unesco felt that cultural heritage did not go far enough and should also include other aspects. This could be traditions inherited from previous generations that remain relevant and important to communities. This is intangible cultural heritage and it can be found all over the world.. Keep reading on The Conversation.