ICHEUROPE · Intangible cultural heritage policies in Europe: what “participation” of which “communities”?

Intangible cultural heritage policies in Europe: what 'participation' of which 'communities'?

'Participation' and 'communities' are key concepts of the 2003 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) convention for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Yet these terms are not defined in the convention, and the various state parties interpret them differently according to their cultural, political and institutional frameworks. This research focused on the implementation of convention-driven policies in two countries, namely France and Italy, which were chosen on the grounds of their representativeness of a classic European approach to heritage protection, and investigated comparatively the impact of the participatory heritage paradigm on national institutions. The first and most challenging task for state parties to the UNESCO convention for the safeguarding of ICH is the drawing up of inventories of ICH present in their territories. Participant observation of inventory-making projects in both France (the Inventaire du patrimoine culturel immaterial de la France) and Italy (the Registro delle eredità immateriali della Lombardia) was thus instrumental in pursuing the main objectives of the research, which were to understand how the French and Italian heritage regimes interpret the concepts of 'participation' and 'communities' in the implementation ICH safeguarding policies. Participant observation of non-governmental organisations (NGOs)' ongoing attempts to establish a network of heritage organisations in Italy was furthermore instrumental for analysing the role claimed by civil society in the implementation of ICH safeguarding policies. The research showed that the heritage paradigm underlying the notion of ICH has proven to be a challenging innovation for national institutions, since it calls into question the legitimacy of the actors involved and the criteria upon which heritage status is established. The adoption of the heritage policy perspective advocated in the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the safeguarding of the ICH entails a revision of national legal frameworks and a consequent adjustment of national institutional structure and practice. This shift is particularly difficult to embrace for time-honoured heritage institutions founded on established scientific and technical approaches and skills, as is the case in Italy and France. In these contexts, ICH policies are heavily influenced by the dominant tangible heritage policy model and are therefore associated with scientific (i.e. anthropological) research and professional skills in heritage treatment. 'Communities' are often represented by local administrations or civil society associations and 'participation' is understood in the classic ethnographic perspective as the delivery of information to the professional fieldworker. In an era of global governance, national interpretations of international standards in heritage protection are thus deeply shaped by existing local institutional and scientific approaches to heritage, designed in specifically national historical, social and political contexts. Project data were collected during several short research trips to various sites in Italy and France. These field studies included meetings at national or regional heritage institutions, as well as events within the UNESCO intergovernmental arena, such as sessions of the Committee for the safeguarding of the ICH, expert meetings and capacity-building activities. This multiscale investigation permitted me to observe the tension between, on the one hand, international standards and, on the other, national institutional practices or academic approaches to the identification and documentation of cultural heritage. The research has thus contributed to an understanding of how an international convention can influence national heritage regulations and how, conversely, the latter resists the introduction of outside models. This research has been used by my institutional interlocutors in France and Italy and referred to by policy makers, since it offers both parties a more detailed understanding of the participatory norm introduced by UNESCO and its implications for the implementation of heritage programmes. In addition, it has provided my UNESCO interlocutors with a better understanding of two local institutional fields corresponding to the globally established domain of ICH: patrimoine ethnologique in France and beni etnoantropologici in Italy. During my Marie Curie fellowship I have established an active research network encompassing many institutions and research groups (i.e. the Max Planck Institut für ethnologische Forschung in Halle, the Georg-August-Universität in Göttingen, the Université de Neuchâtel and the International Research Centre for ICH in the Asia-Pacific region) with a common interest in UNESCO heritage policies. I also participated in scientific committee and have contributed to the organisation of international research workshops and panels at international conferences. The cooperation and dialogue I have established with heritage professionals and stakeholders outside academic institutions has allowed for a cross-fertilisation of theoretical and practical approaches, thus promoting a fruitful collaboration between research and action in the heritage field.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз