This volume addresses the problem of how Caribbean nations deal with the challenges of protecting their cultural heritages or patrimonies within the context of pressing economic development concerns.
Practical Considerations for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage examines theoretical issues relating to intangible cultural heritage policy and practice, whilst also proposing practical ways to facilitate the safeguarding of such heritage. Providing guidelines for best practice that take into account the constraints of the UNESCO-ICH paradigm, Stefano examines the principles and practices of two alternative and largely non-UNESCO frameworks for sustaining living cultural traditions: the philosophy of ecomuseology, and the discipline of public folklore in the context of the U.S. Arguing that they offer more collaborative, equitable, and effective ways forward for safeguarding ICH, Stefano demonstrates how they can address the limitations of the UNESCO-ICH paradigm. Importantly, the book offers a personal perspective, grounded in the author’s public sector work, which allows the ICH discourse to move beyond critical analysis and explore realistic, alternative ways in which ICH can be collaboratively and equitably safeguarded. Practical Considerations for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage proposes guidelines for professionals, researchers, and communities that foster safeguarding approaches that are as unique and nuanced as ICH expressions themselves. The interdisciplinary nature of the book will ensure that it is useful to those interested in community-led ICH safeguarding, as well as the impacts of UNESCO’s 2003 Convention, in diverse geographic, political, economic, and sociocultural contexts.
Water is vital for life, and its availability has been a concern for mankind throughout the ages. Its presence has always been ascertained in a variety of ways and the development of human society everywhere is connected with various forms of water management. Man also needed to manage water to find protection from its dangers and the need for that is increasing. In the coming decades, the impact of climate change is expected to intensify floods and droughts, affect groundwater resources, raise sea levels, increase pollution and enhance the frequency and magnitude of disasters. Societies around the world are challenged to adapt to these threats to ensure water security, economic prosperity and environmental and cultural sustainability. This book deals with the heritage of water management and the use that was made of water, as well as the impact of water management on heritage. An example of the former may be an ancient irrigation system in the Filipines or in the Middle East that still functions today, while the latter may reflect the importance of maintaining groundwater levels for the preservation of organic remains on archaeological sites or of wooden piles underneath standing buildings. In either case the papers in this book reflect the dynamic nature of water, and hence the equally dynamic relation between water management and heritage. This publication follows up on a Heritage and Water conference in Amsterdam, the first of its kind. Its main purpose is to credibly present the importance and value of heritage and historical experience for water and sustainable development, and vice versa, present the importance of water management for the protection of heritage. It presents evolving insights and concepts about Water and about Heritage from a variety of disciplines, policy and public perspectives illustrated with cases studies and aims to connect decision makers with experts such as engineers, archaeologists, historians, geographers, ecologist and landscape architects
This volume provides an important entrée into the current thinking and rethinking on Caribbean heritage. Included are several topics that represent the rich plurality of the Caribbean experience, such as symbolism, popular culture, literature, linguistics, pedagogy, philanthropy, natural history, land tenure, townscapes, archaeology and museology. Given its multidisciplinary approach, Caribbean Heritage will have considerable appeal to a wide range of scholars such as folklorists, environmentalists, heritage professionals, linguists, librarians, cultural studies experts, historians, archaeologists, museologists, and students involved in heritage studies in the region and beyond. Co-published with the Reed Foundation, Inc.
Encyclopedia of Caribbean Archaeology offers a comprehensive overview of the available archaeological research conducted in the region. Beginning with the earliest native migrations and moving through contemporary issues of heritage management, the contributors tackle the usual questions of colonization, adaptation, and evolution while embracing newer research techniques, such as geoinformatics, archaeometry, paleodemography, DNA analysis, and seafaring simulations. Entries are cross-referenced so that readers can efficiently access data on a variety of related topics. The introduction includes a survey of the various archaeological periods in the Caribbean, as well as a discussion of the region’s geography, climate, topography, and oceanography. It also offers an easy-to-read review of the historical archaeology, providing a better understanding of the cultural contexts of the Caribbean that resulted from the convergence of European, Native American, African, and then Asian settlers.
Are human rights universal? The immediate response is "yes, of course." However, that simple affirmation assumes agreement about definitions of the "human" as well as what a human is entitled to under law, bringing us quickly to concepts such as freedom, property, and the inalienability of both. The assumption that we all mean the same things by these terms carries much political import, especially given that different communities (national, ethnic, religious, gendered) enact some of the most basic categories of human experience (self, home, freedom, sovereignty) differently. But whereas legal definitions often seek to eliminate ambiguity in order to define and protect the rights of humanity, ambiguity is in fact inherently human, especially in performances of heritage where the rights to sense, to imagine, and to claim cultural identities that resist circumscription are at play. Cultural Heritage in Transit examines the intangibilities of human rights in the realm of heritage production, focusing not only on the ephemeral culture of those who perform it but also on the ambiguities present in the idea of cultural property in general—who claims it? who may use it? who should not but does? In this volume, folklorists, ethnologists, and anthropologists analyze the practice and performance of culture in particular contexts—including Roma wedding music, Trinidadian wining, Moroccan verbal art, and Neopagan rituals—in order to draw apart the social, political, and aesthetic materialities of heritage production, including inequities and hierarchies that did not exist before. The authors collectively craft theoretical frameworks to make sense of the ways the rights of nations interact with the rights of individuals and communities when the public value of artistic creations is constituted through international law. Contributors: Valdimar Tr. Hafstein, Deborah Kapchan, Barbro Klein, Sabina Magliocco, Dorothy Noyes, Philip W. Scher, Carol Silverman.
What happens when UNESCO heritage conventions are ratified by a state? How do UNESCO’s global efforts interact with preexisting local, regional and state efforts to conserve or promote culture? What new institutions emerge to address the mandate? The contributors to this volume focus on the work of translation and interpretation that ensues once heritage conventions are ratified and implemented. With seventeen case studies from Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and China, the volume provides comparative evidence for the divergent heritage regimes generated in states that differ in history and political organization. The cases illustrate how UNESCO’s aspiration to honor and celebrate cultural diversity diversifies itself. The very effort to adopt a global heritage regime forces myriad adaptations to particular state and interstate modalities of building and managing heritage.
Introduction -- Pre-Columbian peoples of the Caribbean -- Ceramics of the eastern Caribbean -- Ceramics of the Greater Antilles -- Rock art -- Sculpture -- Personal adornment -- Epilogue: Living legacies
A History of Architectural Conservation expands knowledge about the conservation of ancient monuments, works of art and historic buildings. It includes the origins of the interest in conservation within the European context, and the development of the concepts from Antiquity and the Renaissance to the present day. Jokilehto illustrates how this development has influenced international collaboration in the protection and conservation of cultural heritage, and how it has formed the principal concepts and approach to conservation and restoration in today's multi-cultural society. This book is based on archival research of original documents and the study of key restoration examples in countries that have influenced the international conservation movement. Accessible and of great interest to students and the general public it includes conservation trends in Europe, the USA, India, Iran and Japan.