Cultural Heritage

Cultural Heritage

Cultural Heritage comprises of two words: culture and heritage. Culture is the distinctive lifestyle, value systems and world views of a group of people that include traditions, beliefs and practices of a community.

Culture is the fundamental marker of identity which binds the community together as a group.  Heritage or Virsa , it is known in Urdu, is the legacy of the past generations in the form of values, norms and mores, living styles, which include both tangible and intangible aspects.

 

Types of Cultural Heritage

Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations.

Heritage is categorized as Tangible and Intangible Heritage.

 

What is Tangible Cultural Heritage?

Tangible cultural heritage includes buildings and historic places, monuments, artifacts, etc., which are considered worthy of preservation for the future. These include objects significant to the archaeology, architecture, science or technology of a specific culture.

 

Significance of Tangible Cultural Heritage

Objects are important to the study of human history because they provide a concrete basis for ideas, and can validate them. Their preservation demonstrates recognition of the necessity of the past and of the things that tell its story.

Preserved objects also validate memories, and the actuality of the object, as opposed to its reproduction or any surrogate, draws people in and gives them a literal way of touching the past. The tangible heritage is exposed to many risks and perils caused by time, climate human and natural environment. The places, artifacts and monuments are exposed to dangers like: plundering by the antique collectors, by the hands of tourists, mishandling of such antiques by the untrained staff, and by the light required for displaying them.

As the objects and monuments of the antiquities are vulnerable to many risks, it is the duty of people to take care of their cultural heritage because it conveys diverse messages and values (historical, artistic, aesthetic, political, religious, social, spiritual, scientific, natural, etc.) that contribute to give a meaning to people’s life.  Archaeological sites tell us how men lived in the past: they carry an historical message. Mosques, shrines, churches and temples are considered not only for their religious significance, but also for their artistic and architectural merit. Heritage can communicate more than one message or value. These depend on the socio-economic context in which the concept of heritage evolves and can vary in the course of time.

The heritage is an important source of understanding the diversity of people of an area or community. Knowing cultures and heritage of each other improves understanding and tolerance among communities for each other and helps remove misconception and unfounded fears. Hence the study and knowledge about each other help to live in peace with ones neighbors and develop mutual trust among people and communities.

According to the UNESCO’s Convention concerning the protection of the world cultural and natural heritage:

Article 1: definition of cultural and natural heritage

Monuments: architectural works, works of monumental sculpture and painting.

Elements or structures of an archaeological nature, inscriptions, cave dwellings and combination of features, which are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science.

Groups of Buildings: groups of separate or connected buildings which, because of their architecture, their homogeneity or their place in the landscape, are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art or science.

Sites: works of man or the combined works of nature and man, and areas including archaeological sites, which are of outstanding universal value from the historical, aesthetical, ethnological or anthropological point of views. Similarly, heritage is a way of understanding cultural diversity and recognizing the links that exist between people. Hence the conservation and safeguarding of heritage is important as each culture has both, given something to and taken something from any other culture.

In today’s world, Tangible Cultural Heritage (TCH) is a source of economic development. Cultural heritage has always been among the main attractions for travelers since antiquity. Heritage tourism has increased immensely and has become an important economic resource for many countries. If it is well managed, it provides jobs, attracts foreign currency, improves local infrastructures and promotes mutual understanding diversity and social cohesion.

On the other hand, an unplanned mass tourism can be risky for the heritage and have a detrimental impact on local population by destroying its original form and context. Why Safeguarding Tangible Cultural Heritage (TCH) There is a risk inherent in all the cultural artifacts of a constant state of chemical transformation, so that what is considered to be preserved is actually changing – it is never as it once was. Similarly changing is the value each generation may place on the past and on the artifacts that link it to the past.

TCH is unique and irreplaceable. The deterioration or the disappearance of a cultural property and the messages it conveys, is a loss for the humanity as a whole. A masterpiece cannot be replaced once it has been destroyed.

Pakistan lay claims to tangible and intangible heritage, which is thousands of year old. An ignorance to cultural heritage by the rising generation is increasingly become the single most reason for its irreparable loss. C2D believes that heritage education is the way forward to safeguard the cultural heritage.

Culture Heritage needs protection and care for sustainable management. It is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations.

Cultural heritage includes tangible culture (such as buildings, monuments, landscapes, books, works of art, and artifacts), intangible culture (such as folklore, traditions, language, and knowledge), and natural heritage (including culturally significant landscapes, and biodiversity).

C2D engages in a number of projects and activities to pursue the documentation of folk and cultural heritage as well as its integration through education.