Topic

The advent of the fields of museum and cultural heritage studies and social sciences’ reinvention of material culture studies during the 1980s have made these fields today social sui generis, in the context of Émile Durkheim.

The natural and cultural “heritage” collected by museums comprise exclusive artefacts already appraised as having specific value or meaning. The value and re-presentation of such natural and cultural heritage rely heavily on historical/traditional perspectives.

In exploring the nature of cultural heritage, an emphasis on historic sites and architecture as embodied by the “world heritage” concept is no longer adequate. In 2004, the UNESCO Convention for the Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage expanded the definition of cultural heritage to include “intangibles” in the five realms of oral tradition (including transmission languages); performing arts; social practices, rituals, and festival events; knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; and knowledge and skills related to making traditional crafts. The clear limits to the concept of knowledge defined by the convention have encouraged museum administrators and others to reconsider the future essence of museums. This and other developments have encouraged reconsideration of the nature of museums in light of cultural content and cultural heritage.

Interpretation and communication of museum approaches to collection, exhibition, education help frame the issue of whether museum objects and cultural heritage are treated as either cultural relics or scientific specimens. This, in turn, helps determine whether their meaning and value is antotelic (having innate purpose) or exotelic (having purpose in the context of some external objective) on the way to eliciting the raison d’être of natural and cultural heritage in museums.

Subthemes

1. The Role of Museums in Preserving and Rehabilitating Heritage Resources.

2. The Display and Interpretation of “Musealized” Heritage.

3. Heritage Education: Theories and Practice.

4. Heritage Management and Politics.

5. Architecture and Cultural Heritage.

6. Academic Research & Social Practice on Museums and Heritage Resource.