Every year on 18 April, ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) celebrates the International Day for Monuments and Sites, popularly called World Heritage Day. This year the theme is ‘Heritage for Generations’. World Heritage Day is all about raising awareness of the importance of protecting and preserving various sites around the world that have achieved world heritage status.
Cultural heritage often brings to mind artifacts (paintings, drawings, prints, mosaics, sculptures), historical monuments and buildings, as well as archaeological sites. But cultural heritage is not just a set of cultural objects or traditions from the past, the concept of cultural heritage is wider, it has gradually grown to include all evidence of human creativity and expression: photographs, documents, books and manuscripts, and instruments. Today, towns, underwater heritage, and the natural environment are also considered part of cultural heritage since communities identify themselves with the natural landscape.
We often hear about the importance of cultural heritage. But what is cultural heritage?
“Heritage” is something that is inherited, passed down from previous generations. In the case of “cultural heritage”, the heritage doesn’t consist of money or property, but of culture, values and traditions. Cultural heritage implies a shared bond, our belonging to a community. It represents our history and our identity; our bond to the past, to our present, and the future.
Sadly, cultural heritage and the natural heritage are increasingly threatened with destruction by traditional causes of decay and by changing social and economic conditions.
All people make their contribution to the culture of the world. That’s why it’s important to respect and safeguard all cultural heritages, through national laws and international treaties. Illicit trafficking of artifacts and cultural objects, pillaging of archaeological sites, and destruction of historical buildings and monuments cause irreparable damage to the cultural heritage of a country.
- The reader is based in the UAE
