ICOMOS discussion paper: Evaluations of World Heritage nominations related to sites associated with memories of recent conflicts

(2018) ICOMOS discussion paper: Evaluations of World Heritage nominations related to sites associated with memories of recent conflicts. Discussion Paper. ICOMOS International, Charenton-le-Pont, France, 25p. [Book]

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Abstract (in English)

In response to concerns that a number of World Heritage nominations might be submitted in the near future related to sites associated with memories of comparatively recent conflicts, and in the absence of clear parameters for how such sites relate to the World Heritage Convention, the World Heritage Centre has initiated two working groups, one on the interpretation of sites of memory (not confined to World Heritage properties) and the second on the use of criterion (vi). This discussion paper complements these studies and offers an ICOMOS perspective on evaluation of sites associated with the memories of recent conflicts in relation to the World Heritage Convention. It considers how the World Heritage Committee has considered such sites in the past, and the issues that they raise in relation to Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) and the idea of commonality. The evaluation of sites associated with memories of recent conflicts raises fundamental issues relating to the purpose and scope of the World Heritage Convention and how its notion of commonality might be satisfied. There are difficulties with evaluating memories which inherently are still evolving or partisan in one way or another, or where memory is re-invested with retrospective ‘truths’. These sites also might raise inconsistencies between OUV that is fixed at the time of inscription and the dynamic and political realities of the wider post-conflict processes for sites associated with recent conflicts. Difficulties arise, too, with undertaking comparative analyses for sites related to conflicts that covered large parts of the globe and/or resulted in the deaths of thousands or even millions of people, in terms of undertaking meaningful comparisons of the tragedy and loss which gives such sites their significance.

Item Type: Book (Discussion Paper)
Editors:
Editors
Email
Bourdin, Gwenaëlle
UNSPECIFIED
Corporate Authors: ICOMOS
Languages: English
Keywords: historic sites; cultural heritage; war damage; memory; intangible heritage; World Heritage Convention; Evaluation; methodology; armed conflicts; OUV; values; Guidance; theory of conservation; Tentative list; Marshall islands; Japan; Poland; Angola; Argentina; Cabo Verde; Belgium; France; India; Russian Federation; Rwanda; Slovenia; Turkey
Subjects: A. THEORETICAL AND GENERAL ASPECTS > 09. Philosophy of conservation
A. THEORETICAL AND GENERAL ASPECTS > 12. Theory of conservation
M.WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION > 10. Advisory body
M.WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION > 11. Tentative list
M.WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION > 12. Other
O.INTANGIBLE HERITAGE > 07. Other
Name of monument, town, site, museum: Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome), Japan; Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test Site, Marshall islands; Auschwitz Birkenau, Poland
National Committee: ICOMOS International
Number of Pages: 25
Depositing User: ICOMOS DocCentre
Date Deposited: 18 Feb 2019 15:29
Last Modified: 28 Jul 2023 10:40
URI: https://openarchive.icomos.org/id/eprint/2051

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