How is cultural heritage defined, and is it inclusive of your culture?
The IFLA
Advisory Committee for Cultural Heritage (CCH) aims to explore the definition and scope of understanding of the term “cultural heritage” as it is used worldwide, and
especially in the global south.
For example, Article 1 of the
1970 UNESCO Convention, and the Annex to the
1995 UNIDROIT Convention, two of the most influential international policies against cultural property trafficking, include the following among their definitions of cultural heritage:
"… (h) rare manuscripts and incunabula, old books, documents and publications of special interest (historical, artistic, scientific, literary, etc.) singly or in collections."
However, documentary heritage is also considered separate from other forms of culture, as documentary heritage falls within UNESCO’s Communications and Information (CI) Sector.
In the
Legal and Practical Measures Against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property Handbook, UNESCO encourages all its Member States to review their national legislation, and to revise and/or strengthen it as necessary. In so doing, it should be noted that the legislation may address cultural property categories ranging from broad to narrow.
The CCH is interested in exploring whether a division in the definition of heritage is reflected in national policy, and whether this affects libraries, with a focus on the global south.
The CCH is seeking information about the
value of advocating for specifically including ’documentary heritage’ in legislation, regulations, policies, tools, strategies and budgets, much of which is usually dedicated to or perceived as applicable only to sites, monuments, and artifacts.
Representatives of the IFLA CCH, we invite you to contribute by completing the following survey.
Thank you!