Culturage Heritage
Uploaded by yasdev on Jun 16, 2012
What is cultural heritage?
Many in society are unaware that they are custodians of cultural heritage. This fact has been recognized in the aftermath of some of the devastating fires which have occurred around the country in recent years. In visiting affected fire ravished areas cultural heritage preservation specialists were surprised at the lack of knowledge of heritage items by residents. Many of the questions asked of these specialists alerted them to the fact that one of the first tasks in tackling cultural heritage preservation was the need to make communities aware of what heritage they had in their possession. Only once individuals become aware of these items can preservation be explained. The following explanation is aimed at achieving this objective.
Cultural heritage includes:
· Human created artworks and artefacts
· Artworks or artefacts which have a personal emotional significance
· Inherited and retained artworks and artefacts
· Artworks and artefacts which have social, spiritual or historical significance.
· Artworks and artefacts which give meaning to one’s existence.
Artworks and artefacts include:
· Works of art on paper
· Paintings on fabrics (eg canvas), on board or any other flat substrate
· Sculptures and hand moulded artistic objects
· Photographs
· Needlework and textiles
· Personal letters and documents
· Official documents and certificates
· Tools, household utensils and objects
· Sportswear and memorabilia
Why is cultural heritage important?
The answer to this question needs to be viewed in two parts. Cultural heritage can be items of a historical nature or items of present day creation. Present day creations become tomorrow’s historical heritage. Historical and present day items each contribute in some way to a nation’s cultural identity. The importance of each is explained in separate sections - refer to "Realted Articles' on the right.
Although not widely appreciated, a nation’s cultural heritage plays a significant role in maintaining multiethnic relations. The relationship between any community and its history should not be underestimated and heritage is a major link between the intangible and the tangible. A country which is composed of many diverse nationalities and cultures, such as Australia, has a range of social forces at play. Without developing an understanding of the complexities of cultural differences, intolerance prevails and cultural tensions are heightened as demonstrated in recent Australian history eg the Cronulla beach riots. As heritage plays a significant role in the value systems of each ethnic society, an understanding of differing cultural heritages has the potential to bring together many ethnic groups to create a single national culture.
The benefits of heritage to the health of individuals in a society are...