THE ICOMOS ENAME CHARTER FOR THE INTERPRETATION AND PRESENTATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE SITES: THE INITIATIVE, ITS DEVELOPMENTS AND ITS FUTURE APPLICATIONS

Claudia Liuzza,
Ename Center, Belgium

Introduction

ICOMOS, the International Council of Monuments and Sites, has since its establishment contributed worldwide to foster conservation and protection of cultural heritage. This has been also possible through the dissemination of internationally recognized guidelines and charters dealing with specific heritage issues. These guidelines have focused on specific conservation issues and have enhanced the public communication of the importance of cultural heritage to the wider public.

Several charters have underlined the importance of interpretation in heritage conservation, for example the Nara Document of Authenticity (1994), the Burra Charter (1999), the International Charter on Cultural Tourism (1999) and the Principles for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in China (2002). However no specific document has been dedicated to “define the basic principles of Interpretation and Presentation as essential components of heritage conservation efforts and as a means of enhancing public appreciation and understanding of cultural heritage sites”, this is what the Ename Charter aims at. This proposed ICOMOS charter is the result of a more than five years long review process whose conclusion will be hopefully the official approval at the ICOMOS General Assembly in Quebec, Canada this year. I will delineate the beginning of the initiative, which started in connection with public heritage project in Belgium and which had led to the creation of a research center first (The Ename Center for Public Archaeology and Heritage Presentation) and of a specific International Scientific Committee inside ICOMOS (the ICIP, International Committee on Interpretation and Presentation) whose task, among other has been to coordinate the final draft of the Ename Charter. Finally some of the future development and activities related to the Charter such as the Illustrated Ename Charter Project will be discussed.

The Ename 974 Project

The first steps of this initiative were born in Belgium in the 1980s. In a village about 25 km south of the city of Ghent, the provincial capital of East-Flanders a project of archaeological excavation, research and public heritage presentation of a medieval site started through a locally sponsored project, the Ename 974 Project. This innovative initiative  was the outcome of the collaboration between the Archaeological Heritage of the Flemish Community of Belgium and the Province of East-Flanders.

The village of Ename include the remains of a Benedictine Abbey, the medieval Saint Laurentius church and a natural reserve.

The project resulted innovative computer-based presentation techniques to explain to the visitor the archaeological site of the medieval Abbey without the use of physical intrusive reconstruction, the site was so transformed into an open-air museum. The medieval church was researched and an interactive application was installed to present its history and developments to the public.

A museum was also opened, hosted in a local historical house, to present the daily life of the Ename community from the early Middle Ages to the present day. It also presents an Archeolab, where visitors can learn about the various scientific methods employed in archaeological and historical research, and e an interactive  character-based presentation techniques. This system called the Feast of a Thousand Years, is an interactive storytelling which allow visitors to choose objects connected with an historical character and to put them into understandable context, giving new life and meaning to ancient objects.

The natural reserve is remarkable for its ecological value and can be discovered through organized educational tour.

The project included a holistic view of the local heritage with the implementation of innovative techniques and the inclusion of local community who was actively involved and consulted during the project.

Fig1: The virtual reconstruction at the Ename archaeological site

The Ename Center  and the Ename Charter Initiative

Over the year the project team organized several workshop and developed new technologies for the public presentation of archaeological and historical sites, this led to the creation in 1998 of a permanent research center based on the site of the project, the Ename Center for Public Archaeology and Heritage Presentation. The founding goal of the Center was to develop and disseminate expertise relating to the public interpretation and sustainable development of archaeological sites, museums, historical monuments and landscapes both in Flanders and at partner sites throughout the world.

During the years a series of seminars and meeting were held in Ename and it became clearer and more central in discussions the need of standards for public interpretation and presentation.  In the spring of 2002 an initial draft was formulated by the staff of the Ename Center in consultation with international scholars. Among them there was the former Secretary General of ICOMOS Jean-Louis Luxen who suggested that ICOMOS could be the most appropriate international institution for the formulation of an international charter on interpretation and presentation. This first draft was organized into sections of scientific and professional guideline, planning funding and management; tourism aspects and heritage education. The central theme of the draft and the role of heritage professionals into an integrated strategy of heritage planning. The draft was then circulated to international experts before the conference Heritage, Technology and Local Development held in Ghent in the fall of 2002. Their input was included in a subsequent revision of the charter and discussed in a workshop organized by the US National Park Service in Washington in November 2002. The feedback of the participants to the workshops confirmed the necessity of a new charter on interpretation and presentation. There was also present the executive director of US/ICOMOS, Gustavo Araoz who also suggested that ICOMOS would be the most appropriate institution for such a task

Fig2: The Ename Charter website (http://www.enamecharter.org/index.html).

In January 2004 the Executive Committee of ICOMOS confirmed that the review of the now called ICOMOS-Ename Charter would be undertaken by an editorial group of international experts of ICOMOS and members of the Ename Center. The new editorial committee restructured the charter which resulted into seven more general principles dealing with: Understanding and Communication; Evidence; Context and Setting; Authenticity; Sustainability; Inclusiveness; Research Education and Training.

This new draft was reviewed during April-June 2004  by all the ICOMOS International Scientific Committees and other international expert. After this cycle of review a new draft was distributed to all the national committees of ICOMOS, their valuable comments let to the formulation of a new draft (Draft Three, 23 August 2004).

In an Advisory and Executive Meeting held in Bergen, Norway a subsequent review was recommended to give more time to the ICOMOS membership to evaluate the new proposed charter, this took place during winter and sprig 2005.

In May 2005 during the 8th International Symposium of US/ICOMOS, dedicated to the proposed ICOMOS Interpretation Charter was discussed and commented by the participants who also formulated a declaration in support of the charter.  Their comments were also included in a subsequent  draft., Charter Draft Four (dated 5 July 2005).

With the continuing review and reflection on the Charter the need for more formalised ICOMOS institutional sponsorship was felt this led to the formation of a specialized International Scientific Committee on Interpretation and Presentation, which was officially approved by the ICOMOS Executive Committee during the 15th General Assembly in Xi'an, China in October 2005.

Fig3: The ICOMOS International Committee on Interpretation and Presentation ICIP website (http://icip.icomos.org)

In August 2006, the members of ICIP took over and continued the review process of the proposed ICOMOS Charter on the Interpretation of Cultural Heritage Sites as an official activity of the committee. A revised version of Draft Four (dated 31-07-06) was distributed to all members of the committee for their comments and suggestions. The result of this process which included also additional comments from members of the ICOMOS Advisory Council meeting in Scotland in September 2006, was Draft Five.

During the winter and spring of 2007, Draft Five was distributed once more to all ICOMOS National Committees and International Scientific Committees for another review and further recommendations. The comments received led to the formulation of Draft Six. During this last review cycle it became clear that the text was reaching its final form. After the second annual meeting of ICIP in March 2007 a Proposed Final Version was published (dated 10 April 2007). The Committee then voted and approved the submission of the text to the Executive Committee meeting in Pretoria in October 2007. The Final Proposed Draft was thus officially submitted to the ICOMOS Executive Committee for consideration and decision regarding its presentation for ratification at the 16th ICOMOS General Assembly in Quebec. The text of the Charter was officially endorsed by the ICOMOS Scientific Council by its Advisory Committee as well as by the ICOMOS International Executive Committee. This has opened the way to an Official presentation of the Charter for international ratification which will take place at the next ICOMOS General Assembly, in September 2008 in Quebec, Canada.

The Ename Charter today

The final draft of the Charter, dated 10 April 2007, is a document which addresses the main activities of heritage interpretation and presentation. The former is defined as “the full range of potential activities intended to heighten public awareness and enhance understanding of cultural heritage site” and the latter as “the carefully planned communication of interpretative content through the arrangement of interpretative information, physical access and interpretative infrastructure at a cultural heritage site”.

The seven principles in which it is divided clearly mirrors its objectives and deal with broad interpretative issues.

The first principle, Access and Understanding, refers to both physical and intellectual access, whose aim is to enhance personal experience, create connections with the site and increase public respect and understanding. Moreover, Understanding should be addressed demographically and culturally, taking into consideration the different audiences and also different cultural sensibilities which might require restriction to uses and interpretation on site.

The second principle, Information Sources, refers to the necessity of inclusion in all interpretative programmes of information from scholarly research but also from living cultural traditions. These sources should be accessible to the public and archived for future reference. Finally, alternative historical hypotheses and traditional storytelling should be incorporated through participation of members of associated communities.

The third principle, Context and Setting, refers to the wider social, cultural, historical and natural contexts which should be considered in interpretative programmes. This includes the contributions of different historical periods and cultural groups but also the natural and intangibles elements as well as the cross-cultural significance of a heritage site.

The forth principle, Authenticity, refers to the importance for interpretative structure to respect the traditional social functions and cultural practices of a cultural heritage. So every effort should be made to avoid irreversible alterations to the physical structures and disturbance to the life of local residents.

The firth principle, Sustainability, refers to the potential negative effects of interpretative programmes and infrastructure on the natural and cultural environment of the site. Is stresses on the importance of a rationale planning to ensure effective and regular maintenance of the infrastructures and equitable benefits to all the stakeholders.

The sixth principle, Inclusiveness, refers to the fact that interpretative programmes should be the result of active participation between scholars and heritage professional and stakeholders and associated communities. This means also multidisciplinary approach to research and inclusion of public involvement in expansion and revision of the interpretative programmes, with particular attention to intellectual property and traditional cultural rights issues.

The seventh principle, Research, Evaluation and Training, refers to the necessity of a continuous revision, review and assessment of any interpretative programme which should never be considered the final interpretation of any cultural heritage site. In this process all the stakeholders should be included and training should be considered as a dynamic and continuous activity in formal an informal learning.

Conclusions

The aim of the Ename Charter is to define basic objectives and principles of site interpretation in relation to authenticity, intellectual integrity, social responsibility, and respect for cultural significance and context. It does not aims to dictate on specific content of each interpretative programme. It recognises that the interpretation of cultural heritage sites can be contentious and should include conflicting perspectives as well as contributions from different historical periods. Its main focus is interpretation at, or in the immediate vicinity of cultural heritage sites, even if its objectives and principles can as well be applied to off-site interpretation. The Charter seeks to encourage a wider public appreciation of cultural heritage sites as places and sources of learning and reflection about the past, as well as valuable resources for sustainable community development and intercultural and intergenerational dialogue. The articulated history of the Charter, the remarkable feedback and discussions generated through this initiative in many international contexts, shows that it is really difficult to approach these themes starting from a top-down approach and, on the contrary, it is absolutely necessary the involvement of the global community of heritage, people, cultures, societies. Results and impact of the Charter depend not just from the institutions or from formal applications, but on the ability of the local communities to include the past in their present and future life.

The Charter has now undergone several review cycle which have adapted its principles to a wider audience in consideration of geographical and cultural differences. However to give it more practical application it was suggested to create an “Illustrated Version” of the Charter and this will be one of the main activities that ICIP will undertake in the next years. This illustrated version could re-approach the issue from a bottom-up perspective, from case studies, real examples, showing problems, opportunities, weaknesses.

The project aims at collecting relevant case studies worldwide which can best express the principles of the Ename Charter. A call has been circulated first among ICIP member and several other calls will be distributed in the next months. The aim is to create a database of projects and initiatives which will be available on-line on ICIP website for consultation and reference. The statistical and qualitative analysis of the database of research and heritage projects involving the Ename Charter, will permit to monitor these activities and to create the premises for validating the results.

The ICIP will also foster the application of the Charter to new interpretative projects and seek for suitable case studies project for the application of its principles of heritage interpretation and presentation.

Heritage can be not crystallized in a standardized form, it is a continuous evolving matter immersed and floating in a fast and uncontrolled process of globalization. Heritage can evolve in new contexts and frameworks, but we have to find a way to understand what happen, to re-elaborate to interpret and communicate these phenomena for the benefit of future generations.

This contribution wishes to extend the philosophy and experience of the Charter to the Vesak community and to put ‘this message in a bottle’ for gathering new feedback from this important conference, hopefully with new case studies from communities involved in this program. The Charter needs urgently to embrace diverse and multicultural communities and post-modern identities.

In 1999, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the resolution to recognize the Vesak Day as an International Day of Recognition of Buddhists and the contribution of the Buddha to the world. Now we need to adopt new methods and guidelines for the public communication of the importance of world heritage to the public: to communicate heritage means to save and transmit heritage to the future generations.