The National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (Iphan) is taking a major step to strengthen the preservation of the country's tangible cultural heritage, relying on the participation of society as a whole. Opening a direct channel with the public, the Public Consultation on the Tangible Heritage Policy has been available on the institution's website since March 1. The document consolidates principles, premises, objectives, procedures, and concepts for preserving Brazil's tangible cultural heritage, which have been shaped and modified over the decades.
The consultation will remain open until May 1, 2018, and contributions can be sent to ppm@iphan.gov.br. The initiative aims to involve the public in shaping a policy that is vital to the country's culture and represents a shared responsibility. The document also clarifies key concepts involved in the processes and actions for preserving cultural assets that represent the identity, action, and memory of the various groups that make up Brazilian society.
Public Participation
The proposed text introduces important innovations to the procedures for preserving and promoting cultural heritage. At the core of these innovations, however, is the goal of promoting the collective design of preservation tools, thereby ensuring the legitimacy of Iphan's actions among communities and public agents alike. This objective stems from several proposed principles, most notably the Inseparability of cultural assets and communities, Active Participation in formulating strategies, and Collaboration between public authorities and the community.
Declaration of Places of Memory
Another development with immediate impact, if approved, is an unprecedented protection tool: the declaration of places of memory. Through this recognition, even if a cultural asset has lost its integrity and authenticity due to human action or the passage of time, Iphan will be able to recognize the significance of its symbolic value.
Traditional Peoples and Communities
The policy also addresses the cultural specificities of traditional peoples and communities. For Indigenous peoples, it establishes the right to self-define their own priorities in processes involving the preservation of their cultural legacy. Consequently, the principle already applied to intangible heritage now extends to tangible heritage policy, placing the custodians of cultural assets in a leading role in shaping preservation efforts. This, in turn, helps bridge the divide between the two fields of protection.
Paleontology and Speleology
The proposal will clarify certain points regarding Iphan's jurisdiction, such as in the cases of paleontological and speleological heritage. According to the text, these assets only fall under Iphan's protection when they are found to carry values associated with the identity, action, and memory of the various groups that make up Brazilian society.
Principles, Premises, and Objectives
During the consultation period, the public can also contribute to establishing the principles, premises, and objectives to be adopted by the Tangible Heritage Policy. The proposal presents 18 principles, ranging from Humanization, which aims to improve human quality of life, to the Principle of Social Control, which establishes that citizens have the standing to monitor actions taken by Iphan.
Among the premises presented in the document are the pursuit of overcoming the division between the tangible and intangible dimensions of cultural heritage, understanding the present moment in the approach to cultural assets, analyzing the territory and its social dynamics, fostering the empowerment of social groups to preserve their cultural heritage, and coordination among levels of government to share responsibilities.
The five objectives proposed in Iphan's text are: qualifying and expanding actions and activities to preserve tangible cultural heritage; establishing practices for the collective creation of preservation tools; institutionalizing the preservation practices and instruments recommended by the World Heritage Committee; detailing institutional understandings of specific terms and concepts; and strengthening the preservation of tangible cultural heritage of traditional peoples and communities.
For more information, visit the Iphan website.
Via Iphan
This article was written by Romullo Baratto. The translation is powered by AI.
