Culture is not only demonstrated through tangible artifacts but also through intangible forms such as language, music, theatre, attitudes, gestures, practices, customs and a whole range of other manifestations. Intangible heritage includes voices, values, traditions, languages, oral history, folk life, creativity, adaptability and indeed all that is distinctive of a people. This is perceived through cuisine, clothing, forms of shelter, traditional skills and technologies, religious ceremonies, manners, customs, performing arts, storytelling and so forth. As the world becomes more globalized, there is growing recognition that intangible heritage needs to be safeguarded. ¹

Many museums and archives are recognizing that it is impossible to separate their collections from living cultures. In fact, it is the intangible attributes of the artifacts that make them worthy of preservation. The importance of safeguarding these intangible qualities lies at the heart of the ongoing debate about use versus preservation.

Throughout the world there is concern and discussion about the importance of safeguarding intangible heritage. The International Council of Museums (ICOM) focused on the importance of intangible heritage at its 2004 General Conference in Seoul, South Korea. But how, exactly, can intangible heritage be safeguarded?

Lyndel V. Prott has developed a pragmatic approach that provides a useful place to start.² She points out that intangible heritage is exceedingly complex, and that each aspect requires a method of safeguarding suited to its individual needs. Prott begins by considering individual classes of intangible heritage such as language, oral history, traditional religion and belief, sacred images and themes, etc. She then determines the objective, the needs, and finally the means of safeguarding each. This approach is illustrated below for “language”:

Intangible heritage and conservation
For many artifacts, function is equally or more significant than the material qualities of the object. Musical instruments or aircraft are good examples. Safeguarding the intangible qualities of these objects requires more than just preserving their material appearance. For instance, if the object is a musical instrument, it must be played to produce sound. Beyond that, people must have the skills to play it well, there must be music to play, and there must be an audience to enjoy the music, to sing to it, to dance to it, etc. For the intangible heritage to be truly safeguarded, all this must happen. But these needs must always be balanced against preservation issues that imply judicious usage of vulnerable objects. Herein lies the heart of the ongoing dialogue among conservators about use versus preservation.

If the material essence of an object is prized above all else, then usage that causes wear and could increase risk of loss or damage must be avoided. If, however, the intangible aspects are considered to be equally or more important than the material, then it is the ability to use the object — and not the actual object itself — that must be preserved. The conservation profession has always tried to balance use versus preservation, but has become increasingly aware of its role in facilitating the former.

Intangible heritage and museums/archives
Museums and archives are actively involved in safeguarding intangible heritage through collecting artifacts, managing their collections, and preserving documentation. Documentation of intangible heritage can encompass language or traditions, as well as the attributes, history, and creation of objects in the collection. It can also take many physical forms — a written account, a photographic record, or, increasingly, an audiotape, videotape, DVD, or CD-ROM. The use of electronic formats is creating additional challenges for museums and archives, as these media have extremely poor preservation characteristics.

Intangible heritage and CCI
CCI is well aware of the importance of safeguarding intangible heritage, and increasingly takes this issue into account in treatments, research, and preventive conservation advice. Although it is the question of preservation versus use that has had the most impact, the prevalence of electronic media in the preservation of intangible heritage — they feature in nearly every one of Prott’s draft strategies — has also had a direct effect. Because electronic media are well known to have poor preservation characteristics, CCI has been placing increased emphasis on finding ways to respond to the preservation issues. This research has been ongoing for a number of years, and already resulted in several publications ( TB #25 Disaster Recovery of Modern Information Carriers: Compact Discs, Magnetic Tapes, and Magnetic Disks; TB #27 Remedies for Deteriorated or Damaged Modern Information Carriers; Preservation of Electronic Records: New Knowledge and Decision-making). We will gradually be expanding the focus of this research to include other aspects of media preservation. It is in this area that we expect to make our greatest contribution to the preservation of intangible heritage.