Erfgoedarena 04/12 (english edition)

New UNESCO Conventions: upcoming challenges for museum and heritage professionals

18 Apr 2012

This edition of the Academy’s Erfgoedarena informs you on the actual international context of these conventions offering you the opportunity to make the right choice for your individual contribution in the field.

We cordially invite you for our special Heritage Debate on Wednesday, 18 April about New UNESCO Conventions: upcoming challenges for museum and heritage professionals.

UNESCO is without doubt best known for its World Heritage List. Certainly so in the Netherlands, now that the 17th-century Amsterdam Canal District has been inscribed. But UNESCO has a much broader mandate concerning the protection and promotion of heritage in a culturally diverse world. It manages many other international conventions, which can have great influence on daily life. This provides a wide range of challenges for professionals. This year, the Netherlands will supposedly ratify the Convention for the safeguarding of intangible heritage, while now also the protection and promotion of still other kinds of heritage are being considered.

We wish to address three aspects:

  1. General: why and how do these conventions come into being? How they are implemented and maintained? What are the advantages and disadvantages? And why does the Netherlands always seem rather slow in ratifying?
  2. Practical: What impact do UNESCO conventions have on the work of heritage professionals? Is it all politics, or does the international context provide sufficient room for independent moves?
  3. Current: What new developments?

Since the Reinwardt Academy is also home to the International Master’s Degree Programme on Museology, the April edition of the Heritage Debate will be in English, which fits well with the international character of the subject of this month’s debate.

Mr. Riemer Knoop (professor Cultural Heritage at Reinwardt Academy) opens with a review of the history of the conventions. Guest speaker ms. Susan Legêne (professor of Political History at the VU University Amsterdam) tells us about the way of operating by the Dutch delegates in the international debate. Next, ms. Paula Dos Santos (lecturer Heritage Theory at Reinwardt Academy) and ms. Silvia Cuervo (Master Student of Museology at Reinwardt Academy) pitch on two recent developments in the UNESCO field. A special contribution will be made by the Chief of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Section, Ms. Cecile Duvelle. Chairman of the evening will be Imre Vegh (debat.nl).

We hope to welcome you on Wednesday 18 April (8 PM) at Reinwardt Academy, Dapperstraat 315, Amsterdam; participating is free press the RSVP button if you wish to attend.