On Wed, 5 Apr 2000, Trevor Reynolds wrote:

> While supporting the aims of the amendment, I find the wording ambiguous.
> To me "living heritage systems" would imply zoos, acquaria and National Parks
> rather than intangible cultural heritage.  Inserting "cultural" between
"living" and "heritage" would remove this possible miss-interpretation.
>
> Trevor Reynolds

==================================

Trevor:

I agree with you.  Indeed, I would have preferred the generally recognised
terminology of "intangible cultural heritage" myself.  However, the
wording now proposed was, I understand, the result of much discussion in
the Asia-Pacific region, where this has been a particularly live issue for
some years.

So far as zoos, natural parks etc. are concerned, these are in fact
already included in the current ICOM definition, reproduced below.


Patrick Boylan

-----------------------------

(STATUTES OF ICOM, ARTICLE 1):

1. A museum is a non-profit making, permanent institution
in the service of society and of its development, and open
to the public which acquires, conserves, researches,
communicates and exhibits, for purposes of study,
education and enjoyment, material evidence of people and
their environment.

(a) The above definition of a museum shall be applied
without any limitation arising from the nature of the
governing body, the territorial character, the functional
structure or the orientation of the collections of the
institution concerned.

(b) In addition to institutions designated as "museums"
the following qualify as museums for the purposes of this
definition:

(i) natural, archaeological and ethnographic monuments and
sites and historical monuments and sites of a museum
nature that acquire, conserve and communicate material
evidence of people and their environment;

(ii) institutions holding collections of and displaying
live specimens of plants and animals, such as botanical
and zoological gardens, aquaria and vivaria;

(iii) science centres and planetaria;

(iv) conservation institutes and exhibition galleries
permanently maintained by libraries and archive centres;

(v) nature reserves;

(vi) international or national or regional or local museum
organizations, ministries or departments or public
agencies responsible for museums as per the definition
given under this article;

(vii) non-profit institutions or organizations undertaking
research, education, training, documentation and other
activities relating to museums and museology;

(viii) such other institutions as the Executive Council,
after seeking the advice of the Advisory Committee,
considers as having some or all of the characteristics of
a museum, or as supporting museums and professional museum
workers through museological research, education or training.

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