Introduction

In 1972, the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural, Natural Heritage (World Heritage Convention) (WHC) embodied a particular understanding and conceptualisation of the nature of both cultural and natural heritage. It has since had an extensive and defining impact on the development of national and international cultural heritage polices and practices, and it continues to frame international debate about the nature, consequences and value of cultural and natural heritage. In particular, the WHC has stressed the concept of ‘the shared heritage’ of humanity through its central focus on the concept of the ‘universal value’ of heritage. However, the WHC has been criticised for legitimising a particular Western – if not Western European – perception of heritage in terms of both policy and practice (Byrne 1991; Pocock 1997; Cleere 2001; Sullivan 2004, among others). The World Heritage List has been shown to be not only Eurocentric in composition, but also dominated by monumentally grand and aesthetic sites and places (Arizpe 2000: 36; Cleere 2001; Yoshida 2004: 109). The 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention; ICHC) has been characterised by some as a counterpoint to the WHC, an attempt to acknowledge and privilege non-Western manifestations and practices of heritage. Certainly, debates about the utility of the Convention have continually reinforced its relevance to Asian, African and South American countries and Indigenous heritage practices. Whatever the innovations and/or limitations of the ICHC it marks a significant intervention into international debate about the nature and value of cultural heritage. This volume examines that intervention, drawing on the unique insights

of several authors intimately involved with the negotiations over the Convention. The first part of the book traces the history of the Convention and identifies the debates and concepts that influenced its development and drafting. The second part of the volume reviews the utility of the ICHC against a range of issues, concerns and practices, while exploring the diversity of the ways intangible heritage may be understood and expressed. Those directly involved in the negotiations and drafting of the ICHC, and/or those who have policy and practical experiences in assessing and managing

intangible heritage, have contributed several chapters to the first two sections of the book. Part 1 provides a detailed and up-to-date account of the historical policy processes, and provides a useful historical and contemporary guide to understanding the aims and philosophies underpinning the ICHC. The third section takes the philosophical debate beyond the boundaries set by the ICHC and explores the concept of ‘intangible heritage’ more broadly. Chapters in this section consider the implications the debate on intangible heritage has for a broader more critically engaged definition of ‘heritage’. The ICHC was adopted by UNESCO’s General Conference in October

2003 and entered into force on 20th April 2006. The guidelines for its implementation are under negotiation at the time of writing. Certainly, the consequences of this Convention are yet to be fully realised or determined. Thus, Part 1 of this volume offers a number of chapters that document the history of the Convention and outline some of the key concepts and philosophies underlying it and against which its future implementation can be assessed and reviewed. Aikawa-Faure’s contribution provides an overview of the lengthy process of negotiation and insight into the complexity of the negotiations and renegotiations that took place. In doing so, she reveals the degree of conceptual tensions that arose between State Parties in its drafting. Both Skounti and Hafstein also identify and explore some of these tensions. Skounti discusses the tensions that exist between local and global conceptualisations of heritage, and between the idea of heritage as ‘fixed’, immutable and focused on ‘the past’, with that of a mutable heritage centred very much on the present. Hafstein explores the tensions and debates that arose over the idea of a heritage ‘list’ – revealing the range of philosophies underpinning varying conceptualisations of heritage, and the differing aspirations for the new Convention. Blake identifies and discusses the attempt of the new Convention to engage with cultural communities, and outlines the implications this has for both the politics of cultural rights of communities and the development and nature of the ICHC. Collectively, what these chapters draw attention to, is the extent of the conceptual shift over the idea of ‘heritage’ that is prompted by the existence of the new Convention. The jury, we believe, is still out on the degree to which this shift has actually occurred within international debates and practices, but the Convention certainly seems to signal that how heritage is defined and understood not only as a category, but as a concept and set of practices, needs to be not only broadened but redefined. The Convention has most frequently met with guarded enthusiasm within

the literature and professional practice, with many supporting the need for such a Convention, but wary about its logistical, political and cultural consequences. The logistical issues have included concerns over human rights abuses (Kurin 2004; Brown 2005; Logan 2007), the need for new language and terminology (van Zanten 2004), how to measure and define the value of intangible heritage (Blake 2001; Brown 2005), and how to safeguard and

manage a heritage that is mutable and part of ‘living culture’ without fossilising, freezing or trivializing it (Nas 2002; Amselle 2004; Arizpe 2004; van Zanten 2004: 41), among other issues. These practical and logistical concerns stem from the dominant perception of ‘heritage’ that underpins many of UNESCO’s practices and previous Conventions. As one of us (LS) has previously argued, this idea of heritage draws heavily from the history of Western European architectural and archaeological conservation and preservation debates. A Western Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD) that defines heritage as material (tangible), monumental, grand, ‘good’, aesthetic and of universal value dominates, if not underwrites, much of UNESCO’s heritage policy (Smith 2006). The AHD not only defines what heritage ‘is’, but also how it needs to be assessed and managed. The dominance of the West, and in particular Western Europe, within UNESCO policy is well documented (Byrne 1991; Cleere 2001; Matsuura 2001; Yoshida 2004) and the ICHC has been defined as part of the response to address that imbalance (Aikawa 2004; Bedjaoui 2004; Schmitt 2008). The ICHC challenges the AHD – the underpinning foundations of UNESCO’s concept of heritage – at both a practical and philosophical level. Some of these practical issues are highlighted in Seeger’s chapter in Part 1 of this volume. Seeger examines his own experiences as Secretary General of an NGO involved in the evaluation process of intangible heritage under the Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, 1998, the programme that preceded and helped lead to the development of the ICHC (see Aikawa-Faure, Blake and Skounti, this volume). The practical, policy and conceptual issues Seeger highlights illustrates the depth of challenge the ICHC offers to the Western AHD. That there is a challenge is revealed in the discomfort some Western

countries have with the new Convention. As Aikawa-Faure notes in her contribution, there were tensions between some Western countries who did not see the relevance or necessity of the Convention (see also Smith and Waterton this volume), while concerns were also expressed by those countries with Indigenous populations. As Kurin (2004: 66) points out, while there were no votes against the Convention, a number of countries, notably Australia, Canada, the UK, Switzerland and the USA, abstained from voting. In the face of the dominance of the AHD, it is necessary to consider

whether the Convention will really change anything. Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (2004: 57) makes the point that in creating yet another list separate from the World Heritage List the new Convention will potentially create an equally exclusive and excluding list (see also Brown 2005). The ICHC will develop two new lists: ‘the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding’ and ‘the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’. The existing list of 90 examples of intangible heritage that were proclaimed under the Masterpieces programme will be incorporated into these lists. As both Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (2004) and Hafstein

(this volume) point out, the very act of creating a list is not only an act of exclusion, it is also a performance of meaning making. In this process ‘heritage’ is ‘identified’ and ‘assessed’ against predefined ‘criteria’. This process inevitably recreates or over-writes new meanings and values onto the heritage in question. Whether we are dealing with tangible or intangible heritage, the primary values and meaning of that heritage become framed and understood through its position on a list and its status against a set of criteria. As Kirshenblatt-Gimblett states:

World Heritage is first and foremost a list. Everything on the list, whatever its previous context, is now placed in a relationship with other masterpieces. The list is a context for everything on it.