Cultural heritage refers to the artefacts, sites and traditions that represent cultures around the world. It is a complex and diverse field that covers a wide range of activities. There are many challenges in the practice of preserving heritage. Some of them include: a lack of funding and professional training, natural disasters, climate change, illicit trafficking and smuggling, tourism and destination management, as well as local community’s negative attitude towards heritage preservation.
The concept of cultural heritage evolved in response to the systematic destruction or loss of monuments, buildings, works of arts, and landscapes during armed conflict or natural catastrophes. The emergence of this idea was linked to the recognition that the preservation and protection of cultural heritage was a fundamentally important task for humanity as a whole. The concept focuses on the idea that cultural heritage has outstanding universal value and belongs to all people, regardless of their national or ethnic origins.
As a result, various governmental ministries of culture and intergovernmental organizations such as UNESCO have developed preservation, restoration and revitalization programs. These programs are designed to safeguard the integrity of cultural heritage and ensure its continued vitality in modern society. These efforts are complemented by an increasingly large number of private foundations, companies and individual donors that support this type of research.
A major challenge is how to define cultural heritage, since it varies greatly from one culture to another. This is why many scholars have proposed different categories of cultural heritage to distinguish between them. The most common categorization is the distinction between tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Tangible cultural heritage consists of physical objects such as museums, archaeological sites, and other buildings. Intangible cultural heritage is composed of practices and traditions such as dances, music, and rituals. Some examples of these practices are tango and flamenco, Viennese coffee house culture, Chinese shadow puppetry, and Kabuki theatre.
Intangible cultural heritage also includes spiritual practices such as shamanism, and traditional craftsmanship. It can also consist of social practices, such as festivals and rituals that bring together a group or a family. It can also be an aspect of a person’s identity, such as a language, an ethnicity or a religion.
The preservation of cultural heritage is a global endeavor that involves the international, regional and national communities, as well as local communities. It is a challenging and complex endeavor that requires the collaboration of experts from a wide range of fields, including history, archaeology, architecture, sociology, anthropology and political science. A successful approach to this subject needs to address the complexities of human nature, as it is always open to changes and interpretations. Therefore, it is essential to find a balance between cultural preservation and the right of each individual to choose how to interpret their own heritage. This is why we at Transkribus are dedicated to providing the best tools for deciphering and digitising historical documents and making them available to researchers and the public alike.