Cultural Heritage
My project is a short essay on cultural heritage. I have formatted it to help make it clear what it is and how it is important to a person’s life.
Cultural heritage is a vital aspect of an individual’s identity as it represents their belonging to a community. Whether your cultural heritage is represented by tangible objects like books and photographs, or intangibles like rituals and social practices, it is a large part of who you are as a person. The shared bond with people from the same cultural background should never be taken away from anybody. As communities have become more and more integrated, global cultures have blended. To me, culture truly means the combination of many different ideas and the similarities that they share over time. The idea of a shared cultural heritage having a considerable impact on the world is displayed in “What is Cultural Heritage?” by Elena Franchi.
“In an era of globalization, cultural heritage helps us to remember our cultural diversity, and its understanding develops mutual respect and renewed dialogue amongst different cultures” (Franchi). This struck me as an impactful part of Franchi’s essay as many times, people are skeptical of people from different cultures. However, when they learn to have the mutual respect that is described by Franchi, this is when a beautiful blending of cultures occurs. This melting pot ideology can be dated back to the Pre-Renaissance Era. After the fall of Constantinople, there was a large migration of Byzantine people to the Italian peninsula. After this migration, we can see a change in the style of art that was created during the period. We started to encounter more fragmented and non-realistic paintings in this new Italo-Byzantine style of art. This integration of Byzantine art styles in Italy is significant in that it provides a blend of cultural heritage from two groups being displayed through art. The two groups did not act ignorantly toward each other, but instead learned from each other to make art that represents both groups. Another example of various peoples sharing the same cultural heritage is the idea that the Mona Lisa resides in the Louvre in France, while it was made by Leonardo Da Vinci, an Italian artist. “It seems that in 1518 King Francis I acquired the Mona Lisa, which therefore ended up in the royal collections: that’s why it is obviously part of the French national heritage, too” (Franchi). Franchi includes this to provide that it is possible for many different groups to share something as part of their cultural heritage. There is no reason for one group to claim something as solely their own because these cultural beauties should be shared and celebrated by anybody and everybody.
How can this be applied to today’s world? We live in an extraordinarily globalized world where we can access information about the cultural heritage of virtually any group that we please. While some may act ignorant and only want to experience what they are accustomed to through their own cultural heritage, many act open-minded and adore exploring the cultures of others through food, books and many other modes of expression. Walking through New York City for instance, provides us with information about so many cultures. From watching street dancing to walking through Chinatown, we can so easily be exposed to loads of foreign cultural heritages. Being open to the unfamiliar can be imperative to experiencing the world in its best light. The most important part of culture is being open to other cultures, allowing for the global cultural heritage of tomorrow to be even more beautiful.
