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ICOMOS

Posts Tagged ‘Burra Charter’

Reflections on the application of the conventions and charters concerning heritage in Latin America

Reflexiones sobre la aplicación de las convenciones y cartas sobre el patrimonio cultural en américa latina

» El patrimonio natural y cultural de América tiene una particular significación a nivel mundial. Es el ultimo continente en ser poblado por la Humanidad; durante siglos estuvo alejado de la influencia del resto del mundo hasta que la conquista y colonización europea alteró radicalmente su entorno natural y cultural que por miles de años logró mantener.

Tradicionalmente se nos divide en dos grandes áreas culturales y económicas: los Estados Unidos y Canadá, por una parte, y América Latina, y el Caribe por la otra. En realidad, tanto ayer como hoy las fronteras de tales divisiones son difusas y están en constante proceso de transformación;
las migraciones siguen igual de activas y los fundamentos culturales indígenas, coloniales y modernos están presentes y en contradicción junto a desarrollos desiguales, democracias inestables y el anhelo de construir un mundo más libre y mejor para todos … »

America’s natural and cultural heritage has a special significance worldwide. It was the last continent that was populated by Humanity and for thousands of years it was far from the influences of the rest of the world until the European conquest and colonization radically altered its natural and cultural environment that it had held on to for thousands of years.

We are split, traditionally, into two large cultural and economic areas: the United States and Canada on the one hand and Latin America and the Caribbean on the other. As a matter of fact, both before and now, the borders of such a division are hazy and in constant flux; migrations continue as active as ever and the indigenous, colonial and modern fundaments are still present, contradicting unequal development, shaky democracies and an overwhelming desire to build a freer and better world for all. It is in this context that cultural heritage in Latin America and the Caribbean is undergoing a special process, littler studied and analyzed in its context…. 

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Revising the Burra Charter: Australia ICOMOS updates its guidelines for conservation practice

This paper outlines the revisions made in 1999 to the Burra Charter, the core doctrine for heritage conservation in Australia that was first adopted by Australia ICOMOS in 1979. It examines the reasons why changes were needed, including broadened perceptions of heritage, new understandings of heritage significance, and recognition of the need for community input into conservation decisions about its heritage. The review process, which took five years, changed its procedures halfway through after members of Australia ICOMOS roundly rejected a draft, while agreeing that a revision should still take place. Following a thorough consultative process with members, the text of the 1999 revision of the Charter was resoundingly endorsed (the text is included here as an Appendix). The paper describes how the revised Charter differs from the previous text. The changes lie primarily in the recognition that heritage value, or significance, may be embodied in the uses, associations and meanings of a place, in addition to its physical fabric. Other key changes include incorporation of a flowchart explaining the conservation planning process; the seeking of community input; and the recognition that interpretation is an integral part of good heritage management practice.
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Issues in Values-Based Management for Indigenous Cultural Heritage in Australia

In Australia, values-based management has formed the basis of heritage practice through the use and evolution of the Australia ICOMOS Charter for Places of Cultural Significance (better known as the Burra Charter). In values-based management systems, heritage planning, decisions, and actions rest on a compre-hensive understanding of the heritage values. Not only does this process re- quire that the articulation of values be the foundation of all policies and decisions; it also implies the need for problem solving to address emerging issues, ruling out approaches based on typological templates. The involvement of all associated communities and stakeholders is essential for success, since this is the means of ensuring that all the values and issues are identified and that they form the basis of management solutions. This paper looks at the history and state of play for values-based management of Indigenous cultural-heritage places from an Australian perspective. It discusses the interactions between Indigenous cultural-heritage practices and the development of the Burra Charter and concludes with a discussion of contemporary issues in this field of heritage work, including rights and intangible heritage issues and the need for integrated considerations of nature and culture.
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Contexts for change: Paving the way to the 1999 Burra Charter

In this paper, I examine the context in which the proposed amendments to the Burra Charter took place and how in fact they reflected trends in heritage practice as it stood when the Burra Charter review started in 1994/95. In doing so, I will outline work within Indigenous heritage to involve community values and its influence on explorations into ‘social value’ for non-Indigenous heritage undertaken by the Australian Heritage Commission (AHC), and parallel initiatives by Australia ICOMOS. I suggest that in fact many threads came together, particularly in the AHC2 over a decade from late 1984.
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