Understanding, respect, and collaboration in cultural heritage preservation: a conservator's developing perspective

ABSTRACT

Attitudes appear to be changing in the museum world about the preservation of cultural objects and of the cultures to which these objects are connected. The intangible nature of cultural objects is being addressed and is seen as equal in importance to, or in some cases greater, than an object's tangible nature. This significant trend in cultural heritage preservation is increasingly evident in professional conferences, publications, and discussions, and is beginning to have an impact on preservation methodologies. It is affecting the way preservation professionals approach their work and manage collections. Understanding, respect, and collaboration are more important than ever in carrying out work. Understanding all aspects of the nature of the significance of objects, respecting an object's intangible as well as tangible nature, and collaborating in a meaningful way with the cultural groups to which the items are connected are playing an increasingly prominent role.

In this article I shall address a few of the insights I have gained regarding cultural heritage preservation. I will talk about cultural considerations in the care of objects, particularly those of indigenous people, and the questions these considerations raise for all of us who are charged with the protection of cultural heritage. Because I shall be discussing cultures different from mine, I will use the voices of people from those various cultures as much as possible. My examples will be mostly American Indian, but I shall refer in more general terms to other cultures as well. Of course the specific practices of different cultures vary, but the considerations and issues these practices raise are similar. I would like to acknowledge at the outset the American Indian people who provided gracious and patient guidance to me and whose wisdom is reflected in many of the words quoted.

PUBLIC DISCOURSE

At its general conference in October 2003 the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted its Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The International Council of Museums (ICOM) chose the theme of Museums and Intangible Heritage for its twentieth conference in 2004, basing it on UNESCO's definition of intangible heritage as "the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills ... that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage" (UNESCO, 2003, p. 2). At the ICOM meeting O. Young Lee, Adviser, Joong Ang Daily, Former Minister of Culture, government of Korea, and Honorary Professor, Ewha Womans University, Republic of Korea, stated that for museum professionals "the discourse is shifting from tangible to intangible cultural assets" (Lee, 2004, p. 5). Today most museums deal with the tangible and, as Lee (2004) noted, "people are now so used to the exhibitions put on by museums that they are more interested in the objects contained in the display cabinets than in the minds of the people who created the objects" (p. 5). At the same conference, Director Richard Kurin, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage at the Smithsonian Institution, USA Supervisor, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, explained:

   The primary difference in dealing with intangible cultural heritage
   [versus tangible] is that the "thing" or "object" is the social
   practice or tradition--not a material object, recording, written
   transcription, photograph or videotape. It is the singing of songs
   in the community, the spiritual beliefs of a people, the knowledge
   of navigating by the stars and weaving meaningful patterns into
   cloth. (Kurin, 2004, p. 7)

Lee (2004) voiced concern that many countries in the world "do not even have the concept of intangible culture. They do not have any policies regarding intangible cultural assets, and as a result many intangible cultural assets are, at this precise moment, being abandoned and disappearing before our very eyes" (p. 6).

In June 2006, the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) devoted the general session of its annual meeting to the topic of "using artifacts," which for many cultures is necessary in order to preserve the intangible nature of the objects, and asked the question "is conservation compromised?" Professor Amareswar Galla, of the Australian National University and the University of Queensland, gave the keynote address. He explored shifting the paradigm of preservation so that both tangible and intangible heritage come together, along with cultural diversity and sustainable development, to form an integrated heritage management model (Galla, 2006, p. 1).

PERSONAL BACKGROUND

Although I have traveled to various parts of the world and been introduced to different cultures, the concept of the tangible versus intangible in preservation first became a serious issue for me in the care of American Indian objects. As a conservator and consultant, I occasionally had been asked to provide assistance in the care of these. The methods and techniques I suggested were always based on standard museum practice. But often, it seemed, my suggestions did not meet the cultural needs of the objects and were impractical given the situation in which they existed. I was glad that tribal methods of care were still practiced.