On cultural property and its protection: a law-and-economics comment

The term cultural property seems to have come into vogue after the Second World War as part of efforts to prevent the recurrence of the massive war-time destruction of objects of cultural significance to various groups and, in some cases, to all of humanity. The 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict symbolises those efforts. Destruction is not the only doomsday scenario for cultural property. Removal of objects from their owners or region of origin is another concern. This, too, had occurred during the Second World War with the nazis’ looting treasures of all kinds from occupied territories, not to mention the massive confiscation of the property of their Jewish victims everywhere. But the concern was older, as Merryman for one shows in the story of the Elgin marbles, brought from Greece to England during the 19th century. This concern has found expression in a 1970 UNESCO treaty and in a 1995 Unidroit Convention seeking to halt international traffic in cultural property.

Creating the Iraq cultural property destruction database: calculating a heritage destruction index

Over the past decade there have been constant reports of damage to significant cultural property in several complex (post-)conflict and (post-)revolutionary states. Recent events in Syria, Mali, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Afghanistan and Iraq – as devastating as they have been for people – have also had dramatic consequences for a number of important cultural heritage sites. Despite the severity of these events and global concern, the field of heritage studies has not developed a methodology for cataloguing such heritage destruction in a database. Addressing this paucity in the literature, this article details the methodology developed to produce the Iraq Cultural Property Destruction database, the world’s first database to document the destruction of cultural property in Iraq. This article also documents the calculation of the Heritage Destruction Index – a scale for measuring both the heritage ‘significance’ of a site and the overall level of destruction. Finally, this article also demonstrates the manifold uses of such a database in measuring and monitoring heritage destruction in Iraq. This study therefore sets a significant precedent in heritage studies by providing methods that can be applied to other contexts (past, present and future) to document the destruction of cultural property in complex contexts.

Heritage under fire: lessons from Iraq for cultural property protection

This chapter begins with a discussion of the impact of the Iraq War and subsequent occupation (2003-–2011) on Iraq’s heritage, documenting the most significant and devastating instances of heritage damage and destruction that occurred. Moving forward, this chapter continues with a discussion of the grave challenges facing Iraqi heritage beyond the withdrawal of US military forces in the forms of development, neglect, continued hostilities, and inexpert and haphazard excavation, preservation, protection, and restoration. Despite this troubling scenario, this chapter also examines the extent to which the Iraq conflict was a turning point for major Western military operations and the development of CPP programs which aim to better prepare military personnel for protecting cultural property in future conflicts.

Traditional knowledge, traditional cultural expressions and intellectual property law in the Asia-Pacific region

Contents

* The international debate about traditional knowledge and approaches in the Asia-Pacific region / Christoph Antons
* How are the different views of traditional knowledge linked by international law and global governance? / Christopher Arup
* Protection of traditional knowledge by geographical indications / Michael Blakeney
* An analysis of WIPO's latest proposal and the Model Law 2002 of the Pacific Community for the Protection of Traditional Cultural Expressions / Silke von Lewinski
* The role of customary law and practice in the protection of traditional knowledge related to biological diversity / Brendan Tobin
* Can modern law safeguard archaic cultural expressions? : observations from a legal sociology perspective / Christoph Beat Graber
* Branding identity and copyrighting culture : orientations towards the customary in traditional knowledge discourse / Martin Chanock
* Being indigenous' in Indonesia and the Philippines / Gerard A. Persoon
* Indigenous heritage and the digital commons / Eric Kansa
* Traditional cultural expression and the internet world / Brian Fitzgerald and Susan Hedge
* Cultural property and "the public domain" : case studies from New Zealand and Australia / Susy Frankel and Megan Richardson
* The recognition of traditional knowledge under Australian biodiscovery regimes : why bother with intellectual property rights? / Natalie Stoianoff
* Protection of traditional knowledge in the SAARC region and India's efforts / S.K. Verma
* The protection of expressions of folklore in Sri Lanka / Indunil Abeyesekere
* Traditional medicine and intellectual property rights : a case study of the Indonesian jamu industry / Christoph Antons and Rosy Antons-Sutanto.

Intellectual property rights in indigenous cultural heritage : basic concepts and continuing controversies

The developments at international level in the debate on what intellectual property (IP) lawyers refer to as traditional cultural expressions (TCEs) have to be seen in the context of the decolonisation movements after the Second World War. Post-war developments saw the formation of the United Nations (UN) and the emphasis on human rights in the UN Charter. With this emphasis came development programmes for indigenous peoples and the recognition of indigenous rights in the ILO Convention No. 107 of the 1957 Concerning the Protection and Intergration of Indigenous and Other Tribal and Semi-Tribal Populations in the Independant Countries. The decolonisation movements also initiated or renewed a parallel debate about the repatriation of items of cultural heritage. There was a remarkable shift in this discussion from 'cultural heritage of mankind' to cultural particularism and an emphasis on 'cultural property' ....

Projecte de ruta, patrimoni cultural i natural del municipi de Llançà: "Llançà. Un Passeig pel temps descobrint el Patrimoni"

En aquest Projecte el que es planteja és abraçar el màxim d’elements patrimonials del municipi i crear una ruta, per conèixer, estudiar i descobrir quins són els elements més característics, emblemàtics, i més rellevants per després poder incloure’ls en la nostra proposta. En aquesta ruta, acabaran entrant doncs, tant el patrimoni inventariable, com el patrimoni intangible, sempre i quan tinguin una singularitat que la facin atractiva i interessant per al visitant. El que es vol és que aquest projecte sigui una alternativa real a les diferents rutes que es presenten al municipi de Llançà

El Paper del guia en la difusió del patrimoni cultural

Anàlisi dels canvis de la ciutat de Girona des del punt de vista turística, tendint cap a la “popularització”, i del paper important del guia turístic en aquest sentit, sobretot en la difusió del patrimoni cultural

Frederic-Pau Verrié, Premi 2002 de l’Institut del Patrimoni Cultural de la UdG

Descripció de la vida i obra de Frederic-Pau Verrié, amb motiu de l’atorgament del Premi 2002 de l’Institut del Patrimoni Cultural de la UdG. La Revista de Girona recull el discurs que va fer en l’acte de lliurament del Premi, i l’autor aprofita per fer una ressenya del premiat

Dos líneas de investigación didáctica con colectivos de tercera edad y patrimonio cultural

Esta comunicación nos permite exponer dos líneas de reflexión y, consecuentemente, de investigación sobre cómo la educación de las personas de Tercera Edad puede llevar a mejorar el desarrollo personal y optimizar su calidad de vida. El contexto educativo en el cual se desarrollan estas investigaciones es el ámbito no formal del aprendizaje

Trabajar el patrimonio histórico-artístico y cultural con maestros en formación de educación infantil

La participación de modo práctico en la asignatura de Conocimiento del Medio Social y Cultural y su Didáctica, de los alumnos de 2º curso de Educación Infantil de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad de Granada, nos llevó desde el planteamiento inicial a enfrentarnos a nivel teórico-práctico a un grupo de alumnos universitarios que en un futuro cercano van a tener la posibilidad de poner en práctica la experiencia vivida, y contextualizarla según las exigencias de nuestro sistema educativo. Como signo de alerta llamó nuestra atención el hecho de que a la altura de curso en el que entramos en contacto, y a falta de un curso académico para la finalización de la carrera, el 90% de éstos no habían manifestado interés, ni siquiera curiosidad por uno de los ejemplos patrimoniales más significativos de la ciudad de Granada, y vecino a la Facultad que era sede diaria de los alumnos. Por ello, acercarnos al monumento y sugerir mediante un aprendizaje autónomo la propuesta de planteamientos didácticos de aproximación al Patrimonio Histórico- Artístico y Cultural fue todo un reto y una experiencia muy válida compartida entre estudiantes y docente

El Objeto cultural en clase: mediación de la actividad de aprendizaje y orientación de la acción docente

En esta comunicación abordamos la cuestión vygotskiana de la mediación de los artefactos culturales en el contexto particular de la formación inicial de docentes