" TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE. THE OBLIGATION AND DESIRE TO REMEMBER "

Dinu Bumbaru

For many, the 1999-2002 triennial work theme will appear to be some sort of politically correct diversion from more traditional topics like preservation or management of historic monuments or sites. One may see in it a reference to the rich cultural heritage of African or indigenous cultures where monumental heritage may not be as common a reference as in the said Western World.

Yet, our African colleagues help us to appreciate how much this theme is indeed common and relevant to all societies. Built heritage and sites in which we invest so much effort to preserve are after all, the vessels for cultural values, an intangible heritage.

When we use scientific or technological resources to serve the goals of conservation and proper management of cultural heritage, we do so to preserve the meaning, the embedded memory and the authentic information that this heritage carries. This is also the case of the use of heritage, our previous triennial theme. Even the Nara Document on Authenticity (1994) invites us to consider use, this intangible element, as a base of the heritage value. There are many intangible dimensions to our work. Here are some examples that we could explore further as we move towards the World Rendez-vous of Zimbabwe 2002 :

1. The sacred

Spirituality and sacredness is by definition intangible, and has been, for centuries, the source of our appreciation of time and memory. Religion has produced rituals, traditions, objects, buildings or places that we designate, in our own time as " cultural heritage ". A substantial part of the registers of cultural properties around the World, whether on some form of national register or on the World Heritage List, is made up of religious sites, construction or artwork. But what role does the understanding of this spirituality play in our intervention in sacred places, monumental or not? Can we remain exclusively technical, or look only at the state of the masonry or the style of one building? These questions also apply when we evaluate structures like large organs or theatres which were designed and built to show the presentation of intangible properties such as sacred music or plays.

2. The trades

Traditional trades and crafts that produced most of our physical heritage and are so necessary to us as architects, engineers and conservators in our work are becoming increasingly problematic. Our world is getting more and more dominated by short-lived information and the maintenance and transmission of traditional knowhow is threatened as the artisans are passing away without passing on their knowledge. Some countries have tried to address this issue and reduce the rate of erosion of this knowledge. Concepts like that of " National Living Treasures ", in Japan, or " Art and Heritage Trades " strengthen the idea that ingenuity and talent are enriched as they pass from generation to generation and, although they are not " cultural properties " per se, they are nevertheless part of our heritage and deserve to be preserved as they are essential to the preservation of immoveable heritage.

3. Memory

The Quebec Declaration on Heritage draws its inspiration from the ICOMOS Charters, in particular the Stockholm Declaration adopted in 1998 after the initiative of our Polish colleagues, and from the interdisciplinary collaborative model of the Blue Shield. It affirms the " right to memory " and the " duty to respect people, objects and places that carry it ". After all, what makes heritage special among other so-called cultural products or properties is its link to the history to which it bears witness in today’s world. However, the link History-Heritage is not uniform. First Nations of Canada, Australia or Africa don’t have the same relationship to memory and heritage as do these countries’ large cosmopolitan cities. How do we integrate the works of historians, conservators and interpreters? How do we approach commemorative or metaphoric use of heritage and memory in contemporary art or politics? Who will own the cultural memory of the world after corporate groups purchase archives en masse to turn them into marketable items for the Internet? These are all concrete issues with direct implications for our conservation work.

Fierce battles are taking place around the planet to maintain cultural diversity in the face of market rules and economic trends as well as extreme ideologies and their tendency towards a single, world-wide culture or, in the worst case, the use of cultural genocide. As well, information management and related technologies are playing an increasingly stronger role in conservation practice. Internet helps, on the one hand, to disseminate and build knowledge on heritage (as the Venice Charter asks us to to) but, at the same time, it contributes to the dematerialisation of heritage and make it more ephemeral. Our world is going through deep transformations that will affect particularly intangible cultural heritage everywhere.

ICOMOS could draw from the triennial theme a series of topics on which it can develop its actions and reinforce its relevance in the mid-term. Could we imagine a Permanent International Programme on religious or sacred heritage, on traditional trades or on commemoration? Could we widen our definitions and methods so that they reflect (as we already did with heritage landscapes, for example) the diversity of significance and needs of a place or a building? Could we adapt our professional tools and scientific methods such as inventories, documentation, work specifications, management or maintenance programmes, so that they express the diversity of conservation needs, whether tangible or intangible?

On November 17-18, 2000, ICOMOS Canada will hold its Annual Conference in Montreal "Matter and Memory" on the triennial theme, exploring some of these issues. In 1989, we examined the theme of sacred heritage, which lead us to establish an ongoing specialised committee where experiences like that of Living Stones, a Montreal-based initiative to group Catholics, Protestants and Jews on conservation concerns, or the Quebec Religious Heritage Foundation. In 2000, we will look at the place of the intangible in cultural landscapes, in cities and routes that link them, in interpretation and in contemporary art with its particular use of memory and heritage. That way, we hope to be able to contribute and have the pleasure to share at the great Rendez-Vous of ICOMOS. En route to Zimbabwe 2002!

Dinu Bumbaru
Secretary General
Executive Committee Member (1993-2002)