Tangible and Intangible Heritage

Content

• Characteristics of tangible heritage
• Characteristics of intangible heritage
• Examples of tangible heritage
• Examples of intangible heritage

Cultural heritage is the set of goods, traditions and knowledge of a certain culture or community. The patrimony can be classified according to the type of goods that it includes in:

• Tangible heritage. It is made up of goods, sites or objects that are considered relevant to the culture, history and identity of a given society, country or region. This type of heritage can be movable, for example: utensils used by the Mayans or real estate, for example: the Parthenon in Greece.
• Intangible heritage. It is made up of expressions, knowledge, activities and techniques that transmit the identity and culture of a certain community or group. It is made up of intangible, immaterial assets. These are traditions and customs that are usually transmitted from generation to generation through orality. For example: dances such as merengue, festivities or cultural events such as the Oruro Carnival in Bolivia.

Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is in charge of identifying the heritage that is important to cultures and nations and promotes its knowledge and preservation.

Characteristics of tangible heritage

• It has a historical, cultural or natural relevance.
• It includes natural heritage, industrial heritage, archaeological heritage, cultural heritage, artistic heritage, and architectural heritage.
• It can be quantified and measured, since it is made up of objects or buildings.
• Tangible heritage - real estate are those sites or buildings that cannot be transferred from one place to another.
• Tangible heritage - furniture includes works of art, books, documents, photographs, utensils from the daily life of ancient civilizations.
• It provides a unique testimony of a cultural tradition or an existing or already disappeared civilization.

Characteristics of intangible heritage

• It is passed down from generation to generation.
• Its quantification is not possible so its valuation is measured from a symbolic point of view.
• Encourage cultural diversity.
• It is preserved by each community that documents and protects its heritage, both current and past.
• It instills a feeling of identity and continuity in societies.
• It is formed by knowledge or ways of doing, celebrations, rituals, festivals, gastronomy, clothing, artistic expressions such as dance, theater, music.

Examples of tangible heritage

Examples of intangible heritage

• More examples in: Cultural heritage