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:
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·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 being increasingly recognised. Little research has been done in this area but health professionals are putting forward suggestions that placing more funding into preserving cultural heritage may assist in reducing a nation’s health costs due to the stability brought about through the link between the past and the present.
Although each person experiences cultural heritage in different ways, it is an undeniable fact that most people have a desire to have an associationwith their past. The video clip below gives one example of one persons association with their past. Many, many others have similar associations with their personal history.
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Preserving the Nation’s Cultural Heritage
With most of the nation’s cultural heritage in private ownership, the responsibility of preserving this heritage rests, not with governments, but with society. The importance of cultural heritage has been adequately explained in previous sections and a definition of cultural heritage has also been given. The purpose of this section is to inform holders of cultural heritage how to provide adequate attention to the items in their possession in order to increase the quantity of heritage which is passed onto future generations.
Once an individual has acknowledged the value of an artwork or artefact he/she should make a conscious decision to preserve the item. There is no shortage of information on how items should be preserved. The main problem is where to find the information. The following is intended to make it easier for custodians of cultural heritage to preserve their ‘treasures.’
Seeking preservation assistance
Before embarking on seeking external help to preserve cultural heritage, custodians should be aware that there are a number of actions they can take to preserve their valued possessions Just as medicine has many self help strategies for individuals to maintain their own health, so are there strategies that custodians of cultural heritage can apply to preserve the items in their possession (if there is any doubt contact a professional such as a conservator or a preventative conservation framer before taking any unnecessary risks).
The first thing for individuals to understand is there are a number of environmental factors which can cause artworks and artefacts to deteriorate. These include:
Being aware of the risks
Inherent faults
The physical structure of papers, fabrics and materials used to create the items as well as chemicals in the materials.
Humidity
Humidity has the potential to damage many artworks and objects. Works of art on paper are particularly susceptible to the dangers of humidity.
Air Pollution
Air pollution remains one of the ever-present hazards of the air which surrounds us. Toxic fumes and gases combined with airborne soot and dust causes atmospheric pollution which poses a real threat to the longevity of cultural heritage.
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Insects
Insects will devour materials of cellular structure eg paper, create nests on or in heritage items, lay eggs or deposit their droppings in or on items of value
Light
Light can cause permanent damage to prints, photographs, drawings and paintings. Although light rays can be harmful the most destructive rays are the invisible UV rays. Heat and light accelerate fading and discolouration of artworks and materials, but the amount of destruction depends on the intensity and duration of exposure to these elements.
Natural disasters
Floods and fire are the most common of natural disasters to damage cultural heritage in Australia.
Human handling
Handling of cultural heritage causes more damage than all of the above!
Through awareness of the risks listed above owners of artworks and artefacts can take appropriate action to minimise the risks to their possessions. By controlling many of the above risks and by making regular “health checks”, owners of cultural heritage have taken positive, constructive and responsible actions to preserve their items of value.
However, there are many occasions when owners of artworks and artefacts will require the services of preservation specialists. The specialists required will fill one of the following roles:
• Restoration – The objective of restoration is to return work of art to its assumed original appearance.
• Conservation – The objective of conservation is to stabilize work of art and minimize further damage
• Preventative care – The objective of preventative care is to improve the environment surrounding the work of art and ensuring that the materials in contact with the art are of archival quality. The attachment of the works of art must be done in a manner which leaves the treatment fully reversible.
• Preservation – The objective of preservation is to maintain the physical integrity of cultural property and prolonging its existence.
Restoration, conservation and preventative care
Restoration and conservation work take place in the laboratories and are carried out by qualified conservators. Preventative care and preservation are carried out by conservators as well as a range of other qualified practioners, including preventative conservation framers who have the knowledge and skills to prepare items for display.
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Private owners of cultural heritage generally wish to have their items on permanent display which expose the items to many of the dangers listed above. Items on display in museums and galleries are done so in environments where many risks are well controlled. Unfortunately items on display in private homes or rural collections houses do not have the same environmental controls that can be found in the nation’s major collections houses. Consequently owners of the items to be displayed do need to visit a specialist for advice and in most situations the preventative conservation framer should be the first ‘port of call.’ If required the framer will refer the item to be displayed to a conservator for initial treatment before the item is placed in a frame.