Teodora Konach

In the 1960s, researchers began their quest for a new role and development path of museums. At present, numerous theories and concepts, particularly from the New Museology trend, refer to the issues of identification, management, and protection of intangible cultural heritage in compliance with the provisions of the 2003 UNESCO Convention. This article aims to contextualize the intangible cultural heritage within the interdisciplinary studies on cultural heritage and to determine the models of presenting and interpreting such heritage in cultural institutions and other dedicated facilities. The analysis was premised on the comparative museology studies and the latest comparative techniques (Legrand 1999) as part of critical cultural & heritage studies. The paper also presents the preliminary results of the qualitative studies carried out in selected cultural institutions in Poland, Bulgaria, and Austria. Final deliberations point out the potential of the intangible cultural heritage as a way of interpreting tangible artifacts in the practice of museums and cultural institutions and show the legal and administrative ways of including the heritage into such institutions’ activities. They also serve as a basis for further queries about the mission of museums and the new role of cultural institution personnel.

Having developed gradually over time, historic city areas embody the values of culture both tangible and intangible. The UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage draws attention also to the intangible dimension of the historic urban landscape that enrich and extend the content of its outstanding universal value. However, the material culture in historic city areas is the center in the national preservation process of many countries. On one hand, the strategy of conservation and protection of intangible cultural heritage is governed by the standards and paradigms based on elements of traditional culture and folklore, and on the other hand, there is a growing trend of monitoring urban environment heritage, within the process of metropolization. Mapping the intangible cultural heritage includes strategies and indicates possibilities for the development of the ancient city of Nessebar community in the intangible cultural heritage unique to the investigated area.

Strategies of protection and identification of intangible cultural heritage: actions taken within national cultural policies and the involvement of local communities

The UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage of 2003 has established a new, holistic approach to cultural heritage and a new set of administrative and legal instruments and strategies of identifying, preserving, managing and promoting intangible cultural heritage. The policy of intangible culture entails the conceptualisation of the elements of intangible heritage in the national cultural policy framework. Administration strategies and methods are often confronted with scientific contextualisation and various policies of representation and identification. Thus, while articulating the idea of the growing importance of intangible cultural heritage, national authorities increasingly construct national inventories through processes of worldwide networking and positioning through symbolic meanings such as “national issues” and “national
culture”. The paper presents a brief review of administrative and legal measures and policies concerning the intangible cultural heritage of selected countries with a special emphasis on the community-based approach in the identification and safeguarding processes.