Including people with learning difficulties in cultural and heritage sites

This paper examines the processes involved in a participatory inclusive research project in Liverpool and Merseyside, UK. The project involved 25 people with learning difficulties – the Heritage Forum – visiting 13 cultural and heritage sites on more than 50 occasions across a 15‐month period. The research provides a much needed resource at a time when there is a lack of provision for, and research into, the intellectual accessibility of cultural and heritage sites in the UK and globally. This paper details the research approach taken by the Heritage Forum, providing a flexible protocol about ways of working with groups and individuals with learning difficulties. It also reports on the Heritage Forum’s general findings about the cultural and heritage sites, providing some initial guidance about how to best include this diverse population.     

Understanding cultural heritage in Turkey: institutional context and organisational Issues

This paper explores Turkey’s cultural heritage system from the perspective of the ‘Heritage Chain’, which sees the heritage sector as an interconnected series of relationships and activities including protection and conservation, archaeological activity, research and museum presentation. By reviewing quantitative data along each step of the chain, we construct a holistic perspective that shows interrelationships between activities and illustrates which parts of the system are underdeveloped. By demonstrating the effects of Turkey’s distinct combination of bureaucratic fragmentation and centralisation on professional practice among conservators, archaeologists and museums, we argue for increased attention to administrative issues within heritage studies.     

Application of veratraldehyde as a temporary consolidant for relics at underwater cultural heritage sites

Because it is often difficult to preserve fragile relics in situ at underwater cultural heritage sites, it is sometimes necessary for relics to be extracted and moved to a controlled environment on land for protection and study. This paper discusses the feasibility of using the volatile organic compound veratraldehyde as a temporary consolidant for underwater fragile relics extraction. The results show that different materials (iron, tile, sand, wood) under water can be bonded together and extracted when using veratraldehyde. The fact that veratraldehyde is difficult to spread on the surface of underwater objects is a problem that can be solved by adding a layer of strong hydrophobic polypropylene (PP) fibres onto the object, serving as a ‘package' for the relics. Under laboratory conditions, we used veratraldehyde and PP fibres to extract broken tiles from underwater sand onto an exhibition stand. The broken tiles, in both condition and distribution, were safely and completely retained as the veratraldehyde was slowly removed by the soaking process. This work fills a gap in knowledge about temporary consolidant materials in underwater archaeology, and provides a new method for extracting underwater fragile cultural relics without damaging them.     

Transformations of cultural heritage in Melanesia: from kastam to kalsa

In this article, I look at the reverberations of the global discourse about heritage at the margins of the global system in the Pacific. To this end, I analyse the development of indigenous concepts of cultural heritage on Baluan Island, in Manus Province, Papua New Guinea. I discuss how over the past 50?years two different heritage concepts have developed on the island, which have been used to reflect upon and direct cultural and social change. Further I show how the genesis and transformation of this local discourse about heritage is driven by local concerns and politics, as well as national and international developments.     

Degraded towns in Poland as cultural heritage

This paper discusses how the concept of cultural heritage is currently used in relation to the so-called degraded towns (i.e. deprived of their urban status) in Poland. It shows the role of heritagisation in the process of restitution of urban status, and addresses the effects of the ongoing revitalisation of degraded towns in order to restore their lost urban glory. I argue that the Polish understanding of urbanity is ambiguous, muddling formality with cultural connotations. I address how such convolution both rewrites history and affects modernity by the imposition of values and foreclosures. I also discuss how alterations to the built environment made in the name of cultural heritage (revitalisation) are often conducted with disregard to identity, authenticity and historical hybridity, and how the introduction of ‘history’ into a modern arena affects the local society. I conclude that considering degraded towns as a special form of cultural heritage is a new construction, where coupling of the disconnected dimensions of the Polish understanding of urbanity becomes even more apparent. I stress that this field is neither sufficiently differentiated nor problematised, and that cultural heritage relating to degraded towns is often taken for granted.     

Protection of underwater cultural heritage in China: new developments

As a crucial part of the Maritime Silk Road, underwater cultural heritage plays a role in promoting development of One Belt and One Road in China due to its historical, archaeological and cultural value. The Chinese government has taken effective and reasonable measures to safeguard underwater cultural heritage, with numerous achievements. This paper addresses recent developments in the preservation of underwater cultural heritage with regard to legislation and policy.     

Enhancing the mobility of collections and access to cultural heritage: immunity of cultural objects from seizure in Poland

This paper analyses, from the perspective of cultural policy considerations, the legal regime established by the recent Polish law on the immunity from seizure of cultural property on loan (2015). It deals with current trends of international museum exchange and explains the benefits and risks involved in cross-border loans of cultural material. This analysis is carried out by focusing on the actual practice and experiences of Polish museums, national and international regulations in force, and human rights considerations. The authors attempt to situate the Polish model for the protection of foreign cultural property on loan within the broader comparative context of the domestic legislation on museum exchange adopted in selected national jurisdictions. The article also offers a more general cultural policy discussion in the context of international museum exchanges of cultural material. Laws and policies facilitating such exchanges are weighed against other rights and interests encompassed in the protection of cultural heritage and the realisation of all human rights, including cultural rights.     

A centralized decentralization: outsourcing in the Turkish cultural heritage sector

Recently Turkey has experimented with reforming its highly centralized cultural heritage sector by outsourcing commercial activities at museums and archeological sites. We examine three outsourcing contracts executed in 2009–2010 and their implications for understanding New Public Management in Turkey’s cultural sector. The initial project at the Istanbul Archaeological Museum was soon superseded by a ‘monopoly’ model that outsourced gift shop and ticket collection services at over 50 museums and sites to single companies. All three projects have significantly increased visitor numbers and revenues for the revolving fund that controls commercial operations within the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Yet unlike countries such as Italy, where outsourcing has led to decentralization, increased private sector involvement in Turkey has increased the control of the central government. This ‘centralized decentralization’ is a distinctly Turkish approach that allows for modernization without disturbing a highly centralized administrative tradition.     

Going for the win‐win: including the public in underwater cultural heritage management through citizen science in Australia and New Zealand

UCH managers are increasingly aware of the limitations of excluding public participation in heritage management both in terms of their own limited resources and need for wide public political support. This article assesses a pilot project in South Australia to train citizen scientists to record and monitor underwater cultural heritage sites. The results reinforced the need to ensure the data collected is robust and meaningful, and that citizen scientists know their contribution is valid; the need to help citizen scientists interpret data and foster peer‐to‐peer learning, and highlighted the importance of open source data for site conditions.     

Legal protection of cultural heritage in China: a challenge to keep history alive

This article provides an in-depth examination of the current Chinese legal regime for cultural heritage protection from two perspectives, i.e. from that of legislation and law enforcement and highlights the deficiencies thereof. The article argues that China has to improve and reform its domestic law to rectify the blatant shortcomings of the existing statutes and to implement the international instruments that it has concluded or acceded to; Moreover, China should reform its administrative system of cultural heritage protection to overcome the obstacles to efficient law enforcement whose success, in turn, depends on the comprehensive reform promised by the Communist Party of China.     

Strands of indigenism in the Bolivian Andes: competing juridical claims for the ownership and management of indigenous heritage sites in an emerging context of legal pluralism

Within the broader debate to (re)define public archaeology, Grima's (2016) paper calls for an archaeology embedded in public archaeology, thereby focusing on this avenue of expansion instead of its own development as a singular discipline. Not fully rejecting this idea, this short paper aims to situate the debate a step beyond, towards a slightly different approach. Employing a historiographical perspective, it is argued that complementary visions about public archaeology help to enrich the discipline.     

From the ground up: cultural heritage practices as tools for empowerment in the Homeless Heritage project

Abstract

The Homeless Heritage project took place across two English cities (Bristol and York) between 2010 and 2014. The project sought to use a range of participatory heritage practices to engage contemporary homeless people in documenting their perspectives on each city. Drawing on data gathered over three and a half years this paper reflects on how collaborative cultural heritage practices can be useful in recording diverse stakeholder perspectives which can become catalysts for social change. It is further argued that two interactive exhibitions that resulted from the Homeless Heritage project contributed to the democratisation of knowledge, aiding negotiation of the complicated politics of contemporary homelessness in valuable ways.     

The policy of non-discrimination and the protection of minority cultural heritage in Albania

ABSTRACT

This paper looks at the effectiveness of the policy of non-discrimination towards minorities in the preservation of minority cultural heritage, constructing a case study within Albania. After defining the key terms used, this paper examines the legal framework of non-discrimination towards minorities in its historical development and looks into the state of preservation of minority cultural heritage on the ground throughout the 2010s combining extensive field-work with interviews with key representatives of ethnic minorities in Albania. The poor state of preservation of minority cultural heritage is mostly attributed to under-financing and the insufficient policy of non-discrimination. As I demonstrate, in the case of minorities with a kin-state in the region, most notably Greece, as well as the heritage claimed by neighbouring states, primarily Turkey, the policy of non-discrimination and the practice of under-financing paves the way for external involvement in the protection of cultural heritage, in pursuit of international political agendas. The paper concludes that more needs to be done for the protection of minority cultural heritage in Albania.     

Policies to promote employment and preserve cultural heritage in the handicraft sector

For many countries around the world, the handicraft sector has served as a means of maintaining and promoting cultural and artistic traditions. It has also been an important source of employment and income. However, the contributions of this sector to total employment and income are not well understood. In this paper, we present data on employment in the handicraft sector in a number of countries in the developing world. We find evidence that this sector employs over 10% of the labor force in many countries, and that further documentation of this employment is needed in order to design policies to maximize opportunities in this sector. We also identify policies that governments can undertake to preserve the cultural heritage embodied in handicrafts and to promote the export of these products. The importance of these policy recommendations is highlighted with the case of Peru, which has faced considerable import competition in the handicraft sector in recent years.     

Creating twenty-first century Korean bodies: public movement education practice,cultural policy and therapeutic ethos

This article focuses on the public movement education practices of a group of middle-class, Korean dance instructors at the Korea Laban Movement Institute (KLMI), a recently established civil institution in Seoul, South Korea. The KLMI classes promote self-directed and well-rounded Korean bodies through student-centered and egalitarian movement instruction. In recent years, these classes received public funds from the culture and arts foundations supported by the state’s cultural policies, as well as attention from Korean public media. This research introduces the public movement education practices that have aligned well with the state’s early twenty-first century cultural policies by making culture and arts education more accessible to the average Korean. In addition, the study shows the broader impact of KLMI’s public movement education practices, which have merged into the political and social landscapes of contemporary South Korea.     

全景技术在文化遗产传播领域的应用前景展望

全景摄影的虚拟现实技术在奥运、世博传播工作中得到了成功应用,该技术的发展为文化遗产的虚拟展示开辟了新的平台。结合数字奥运、掌上世博项目实例,详细叙述了工作流程和成果,对全景技术的应用价值有了逐步的估量,进而对该技术在文化遗产传播领域尤其是"数字博物馆"项目的应用进行了可行性分析,并对潜在问题提出了新的思路。     

Postcolonial cultural governance: a study of heritage management in post-1997 Hong Kong

This paper seeks to unpack the politics of heritage preservation in post-1997 Hong Kong. Referring to international frameworks on heritage preservation, it seeks to position Hong Kong’s cultural resource management on par with international discourses for the advancement of heritage governance. Debates surrounding heritage are indeed a part of the wider picture of Hong Kong’s cultural and identity politics and the Hong Kong-China relationship. By examining various contested cases of heritage conservation, and by linking those debates back to the government’s responses within the context of cultural governance, we suggest that heritage management has become a hot stove for cultural politics in post-colonial Hong Kong with deep repercussions in the political, social and economic spheres. The paper examines the rising social debates concerning the removal and conservation of built heritage, and the various government attempts to address these debates. It argues that the current heritage governance mechanism has failed to meet social needs and provide an articulated heritage policy. We propose that a coherent organisational structure is required to better accommodate diverse and contradictory views and discourses surrounding heritage and cultural governance and to tackle the various cultural challenges in postcolonial Hong Kong.     

Competition and conflict in the Upper Belize River Valley: Insights from the ancient Maya minor center of Callar Creek,Belize

Political relationships typically entail competition and conflict. Within the ancient Maya world, the Upper Belize River Valley (UBRV) offers one example of an arena of intense political contestation, and recent investigations at the minor center of Callar Creek offer insights into this complex and occasionally antagonistic political landscape. During the Late and Terminal Classic periods (a.d. 600–900), for example, those living at the Callar Creek center appear to have affiliated themselves with the larger center of Buenavista, but not to have developed political ties with those in surrounding hinterland communities. Indeed, Callar Creek provides an example in which the political fortunes of a minor center and its surrounding hinterlands followed divergent paths. Furthermore, a termination event suggests that part of the Callar Creek center was purposefully destroyed by adversaries in the Terminal Classic period, and that discordant relationships in the UBRV at times turned violent.