Cultural heritage is irrecoverable treasure of every nation; it indicates the development of community and demonstrates its cultural level and education. Reasons of damage or cultural heritage devastation vary: threats can be caused by anthropogenic or environmental affects, war conflict, terrorist attacks, etc. Cultural heritage protection is included into the Constitution as well as into further legislative acts and standards. Evacuation of movable cultural heritage is one way of its protection; there are high requirements for professional preparation as well as competent and complex logistic support.
In Polish conditions and relatively poor condition of public finances, funding protection of monuments is also made with a significant share of funds from the European Union A good example of such is the funding under the Regional Operational Programmes of individual provinces. This article attempts to present the role of Regional Operational Program in the system of financing the protection of monuments in Poland, activities related to the protection of cultural heritage and to present the project of monument protection funded by Regional Operational Program of the Opole Voivodeship. The cultural heritage of a nation in the form of material and intangible heritage of previous generations is a key to building national identity, because without it teaching respect for tradition and culture would be impossible. However, in a market economy cultural heritage in the form of monuments should be treated also as a factor supporting regional development. Presented policy on the use of funds for activities related to the protection of cultural heritage, protection of monuments and the funds allocated for this purpose that EU funds, especially the Regional Operational Program, will not replace the system of financing these activities from public funds, which is administered by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, but they can be a good complement to this system.
The article is a presentation of selected issues related to a concept of studying cultural (archaeological) heritage in forest areas and in the Białowieża forest as well as a presentation of general information related to the project entitled “Cataloguing of Cultural Heritage”, conducted since 2016 as part of the initiative entitled “Evaluation of Biodiversity Status in the Białowieża Forest on the basis of Selected Natural and Cultural Components”. The fundamental objectives of the article include (1) discussion of selected issues related to the application of ALS to studying cultural heritage in the Polish part of the Białowieża forest as well as (2) participation in a discussion on certain methodological issues as regards the application of ALS in the protection of archaeological finds in forest areas. The research is funded by the General Directorate of State Forests.
Review of a book: Alexandra Xanthaki, Sanna Valkonen, Leena Heinämäki and Piia Nuorgam (eds.), Indigenous Peoples’ Cultural Heritage: Rights, Debates, Challenges, Brill-Nijhoff, Leiden-Boston: 2017
The development of the information society contributes to the emergence of new forms of participation in culture and tourism, also in cultural tourism. One of these forms are virtual museums, as a tool of sharing and disseminating cultural heritage to a wide audience. Digitalization of the museum collections and creating digital repositories are indicated as important actions in national programs of heritage protection and development strategies of cultural institutions. The aim of the article was to present the essence of solutions, which are virtual museums in the promotion and sharing of cultural heritage and location them among existing tourist values. The article refers to examples of two projects: the Virtual Museums of Małopolska and Virtual Museums of Podkarpacie. Application of information and communication technologies in the cultural sector is an important area of social policy and one of the directions of the development of contemporary cultural tourism. The result is also creation of a new tourist attraction, encouraging to visit not only the virtual collections but also the place or region.
Landscape parks are protected areas because of their natural, historical and cultural values, as well as for landscape features. Nowadays there are 13 landscape parks, which possess both significant natural and cultural potential. The aim of this paper is to preliminary analyse the possibilities of cultural-natural tourism development of landscape parks in Wielkopolska surroundings. The cultural resources which exist on gmina areas where the parks are located has been examined. Total 44 gminas of Wielkopolskie voivodeship have been evaluated. The results of this study show that there are more than 1 thousand cultural heritage facilities in the research area. The most numerous are palace complexes and manor houses, residential buildings and sacral objects.
The objective of this paper is to present and summarize the achievements of Polish researchers in recording Poland’s cultural heritage. It also presents the current state of research on recording Polonica outside Poland. A search in library catalogues and internet sources was made for this purpose and on its basis a bibliographic specification including catalogues of Polonica published within the last 150 years was prepared. The main thesis of the paper is that research is conducted in an unsystematic, chaotic manner, which was documented throughout this search. This important issue has not yet been duly examined. Even the bibliography of the subject has not been drawn up. The subsequent parts of the paper discuss geographical directions towards which interests of Polish researchers recording Polonica turn, institutions undertaking such projects, and present conclusions and bibliography of catalogues of Polonica in chronological order.
This study is an attempt to describe the current condition of the watermills situated in the river valleys of the Silesian voivodeship. Changes in the number and distribution of mills from the late 18th century until the 20th century have been presented (as exemplified by the Liswarta River basin in the northern part of the voivodeship). Watermills have been discussed both as industrial monuments that document the history of the milling industry and as tourist attractions. Currently, working mills that serve the local population in rural areas are a rarity, and working watermills are unique sites that should be protected as industrial monuments that constitute an important part of our cultural heritage. They are among those industrial monuments that are particularly vulnerable to destruction. Such mills increasingly attract the interest of industrial tourism promoters. Activities aimed at promoting watermills as cultural heritage sites and leading to their protection and preservation as part of the river valley landscape have also been discussed. In the Silesian voivodeship, there are many watermills that deserve attention; some of these are listed in the register of monuments maintained by the National Heritage Board of Poland. Unfortunately, most disused mills are falling into disrepair and are slowly disappearing; only a few have been preserved in good condition. Many of these have long histories and they are also situated in areas attractive for tourists. There is no doubt that watermills should be preserved. Their inclusion in open-air museums is not the only solution – any form of protection in situ by putting them to different uses is also valuable. Changing the function of a mill to serve as a hotel, restaurant, cultural centre, etc. makes it possible to maintain these sites as parts of river valley landscapes.
Museums provide public services of an great importance for society. They are custos - guardians of the national treasures. However they are also providing other significant public services. In the structure of the government they act as administrative facilities, what significantly affect their activity. Contemporary issues in the management of public museums is connected with the widely described in the literature crisis of public entities providing services for society.
Directive 93/7/EEC created a legal framework for the return of cultural goods illegally removed from the territory of a Member State. The procedure for the return of cultural goods proved to be ineffective for numerous reasons, including a very narrow definition of a cultural good, flawed instruments of administrative cooperation, or risky court proceedings connected with the indemnification of the possessor. Directive 2015/60/EU is a new step towards the creation of an effective European system of return of cultural goods. Pursuant to the new directive each Member State can now define which cultural goods constitute national treasures. The directive has also provided for the creation of new, electronic means of fostering administrative cooperation, while court proceedings have been amended to minimize the aforementioned legal risks. Thus, once the new directive has been implemented by Member States, the result may be a greater number of returns of illegally exported cultural goods, based on adherence to its provisions.
This paper focuses on the economic impact of tourism, specifically on the economic evaluation that includes its impact on jobs creation and economic growth, exportation of EU best practices to developing countries, its contribution to the generation of spin-offs, and the development of tourism and other cultural industries. The paper analyzes the best practices of implementation is the creation and utilization of the socalled satellite accounts of culture and various countries and describes the Czech experience with using culture satellite account. It appears that the share of culture in the value added of the Czech economy is oscillating around 2% which is comparable with the other EU countries. Nevertheless, our analysis point at advantages and disadvantages of currently used methods, and suggests ways for further improvement and development.
Forty years after the Convention on Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property adopted by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization gathered in Paris between 12 October and 14 November 1970 is a good occasion to discuss its effectiveness and topicality in today’s world with its threats to the movable heritage. The aim of this article is to discuss the most important provisions of the Convention and their implementation in Poland.
In the following article I explore how a body of selected historical events and processes are constructed and utilized by local authorities and cultural institutions in former mining city of Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia. I focus on local narratives and practices which I perceive as a local historical discourse. I argue that this discourse is a main source of metaphors constructing local identity and depicting local material and nonmaterial cultural heritage. I recognize the following metaphors: “the myth of pioneers and longue durée” and „the rhetoric of fight: fight against nature and history”. These key-metaphors serve as a guide for explorations of local identity and city` cultural roots.
The "Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre" Centre is a cultural institution based in Lublin. The projects implemented by the Centre draw upon the symbolic and historical meaning of its location: the Grodzka Gate, also known as the Jewish gate. In the past, the gate was a meeting place and a crossing point between the Christian and Jewish parts of the city. In 1939 Lublin had almost 120000 inhabitants, of whom approximately 43000 wereJewish. During World War II, the Jewish citizens were murdered by the Nazis, and the Jewish quarter was destroyed. Changes brought forth by the fall of communism in the year 1989 commenced the process of a collective restoration of memory by the Polish nation. Lublin was one of the cities that had to confront a past forgotten throughout the years. The founders of the "Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre" Centre, at the beginning of their work in the early 1990s, discovered that the vast empty space on one side of the Grodzka Gate contained memories of the Jewish part of the city and that without an understanding of these spaces neither could the history of Lublin be understood. For the Centre, itself a place of memory, the Grodzka Gate and the destroyed Jewish quarter have become a natural starting point for activities in the area of record-keeping, education and art.
Small technical heritage structures in the cultural landscape present special challenges for their research and conservation. They are usually located on private land, many have disappeared entirely or have been refitted for a different purpose, and archival records are sparse or not available at all. The article describes experiences with the research and conservation of these structures in the Rožnov area in eastern Czechia. It outlines available methods, critically reflects on their application, and suggests ways for overcoming limitations associated with research of these structures. The article argues for the creation of a robust interdisciplinary research team including historians, anthropologists, GIS specialists, archaeologists, foresters, and geologists, to name a few. Also, it calls for the critical and complex use of archival materials, ethnographic interviews, and GIS in mutual interconnection. The conservation of small technical heritage objects is contingent on what we can find out about them through research as well as on their character, location, state of preservation, and on attitudes towards them held by owners, local inhabitants, and municipal authorities. A strong role can be played by private enthusiasts, local NGOs, and public officials as partners in the repair, renovation, and promotion of these structures. Open-air museums can contribute with expert supervision and methodical leadership to prevent amateur renovations from ruining the structures’ heritage value.
The article deals with negative economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related countermeasures on the Czech culture. It proceeds from statistical data treated by the National Information and Consulting Centre for Culture (NIPOS) and the Czech Statistical Office. It compares 2020-2021 economic achievements of culture with the period before the pandemic. It demonstrates that the biggest losses caused by the drop in attendance to cultural activities were suffered by performing arts and cultural heritage. The immediate cause consisted in the restriction on the movement of people, which had a negative impact particularly on tourism. In view of the fact that domestic and inbound tourism affect the attendance of cultural events roughly equally, the article also pays attention to the relationship between culture and tourism. Culture is not a homogeneous entity. Along with activities aimed at the audience in a given place and time, it also includes market-oriented industries (press, media), and for this reason the impact of the pandemic on culture is not unambiguous. In contrast to the financial and economic crisis of 2011−2013, when market-oriented cultural disciplines were affected more than performing arts and cultural heritage, the opposite is the case during the pandemic. In the Czech Republic, the decline in total financial resources entering culture was accompanied by a decrease in household spending and, conversely, an increase in public spending on culture. In the case of both sources of finance, however, the portion of spending on culture in total expenditure decreased. Analysis of available data shows that the economic impact on cultural heritage and performing arts in the first two years of the pandemic is more than CZK 10 billion.