IN-PERSON London Heritages. Section B

Abstract

While intangible and tangible cultural heritage are now widely recognised as valuable assets for the preservation of traditions, less thought has been given to suitable methods of documentation. When UNESCO issued a “Guidance Note For Inventorying Intangible Cultural Heritage”, no procedures were proposed, leaving any applicable methodology to the whims of the responsible parties. For instance, on the official website in Hong Kong, usually only a poor selection of photographs illustrates complex rituals. In my view, an orderly approach needs to be established, since it is not sufficient to describe and record only one aspect such as the artefacts or the rituals proper. Rather, the interplay and synergy of the manufacturing process, the actual artefact and the according formal application are interrelated and should be acknowledged as such. I understand the objects in question not only for themselves, but with their individual history (of their making) and their own destiny (of potential uses). An already undertaken case-study interlocking the three aspects opened the discourse towards my presumptions. Chinese spiritual tradition emphasises how the past influences the present in order to shape the future. More than in the European perspective, the three phases of the temporal perception are closely aligned. In order to do justice to the objects that are recorded as carriers of customs and convictions at different stages of their existence, a singular perspective must be abandoned, which requires the application of a multimodal approach, following Kress and van Leeuwen. This may be the only way to adequately and completely document the usage, the item and the origin of an ICH-object.