International Day for Monuments and Sites 2020

Every year on April 18, the International Day of Monuments and Sites is celebrated around the world. In 2020, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) chose the theme ‘Shared Cultures, Shared Heritage, Shared Responsibility’ as the theme of events dedicated to this day. The 2020 International Day for Monuments and Sites invites participants to explore the idea of sharing—and its counterpoints, contestation and resistance—in relation to cultures, heritage and responsibility.

The theme for ‘Shared Cultures, Shared Heritage, Shared Responsibility’ recognises that heritage – whether places, landscapes, practices, or collections – are frequently connected with and valued by multiple and diverse groups and communities. At its core, the overarching theme is concerned with the relationships between cultures or cultural groups and their collective responsibility for the care and safeguarding of the significant attributes, meanings, and values of heritage.

However, the idea of ‘shared’ is intentionally provocative. In an historic sense, cultures and societies have commonly shared cultural practices, ways of doing, and viewpoints. Nevertheless, in some cases these features have been forced upon populations and resisted rather than collectively adopted (e.g., religious beliefs). In other instances knowledge and practice may be closely guarded and thus not shared (e.g., in many Indigenous cultures). Additionally, some heritage items have been destroyed or damaged for what they symbolise (e.g., the Buddhas of Bamiyan), thus resisting any sense of sharing or ideological tolerance. More typically in the work of heritage, the values of places can be contested leading to debates about their conservation (e.g., Sydney’s Sirius building). In adopting the term ‘shared’, the 2020 International Day for Monuments and Sites invites reviews of traditional thinking on the topic and seeks new and diverse perspectives and insights that encourage discussion and dialogue.

See more on ICOMOS website

Meanwhile, Belarusian Committee of ICOMOS , with the participation of EuroBelarus, announces the acceptance of applications for participation in the conference “Right to Inheritance” and the State List of Historical and Cultural Property: Challenges and Decisions, which will be held in Minsk on June 19-20, 2020.

The objectives of the conference: 1) to study the situation with the conservation and restoration of various categories of immovable heritage included in the State List; 2) the establishment of a dialogue between state parties, experts, the public, owners and representatives of local communities in the field of protection and restoration of monuments; 3) highlighting the best immovable heritage management practices and determining the prospects for reforming the legislation on protection and restoration in Belarus.

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