Arts Festivals as Cultural Heritage in a Copyright Saturated World

While the concept of cultural heritage is arguably as old as recorded history, ¹ it first became a recognised concept in international law at the time of the Vienna Treaty of 1815, which was imposed by the British victors after the conclusion of the Napoleonic wars. This treaty reflected the rise of a discourse that linked people, territory and cultural objects. ² Such a discourse necessarily prompts questions about whom cultural heritage belongs to and, thus, carries with it debates about how history relates to, or is translated into, present day identity. ³ This invests the concept with a highly contingent political nature, which is reflected in the trajectory of modern international law governing this question. When, after the first and second world wars, the newly remade international legal order turned again to this question, it initially expressed the object of its concern as being ‘cultural property’. ⁴ The return to the use of the expression ‘cultural heritage’ in international law instruments ⁵ and its widespread appearance in cultural and political discourse has not, however, produced any clear definition of this concept. One effect of this is that, while rights in relation to cultural heritage/property are weakly protected in law, the concept of cultural heritage is a rhetorical moving feast that enjoys potency in cultural and political discourse. ⁶