MINISTRY OF CULTURE
Digitalization of 'Cultural Heritage' – concept of the project presented by
the National Commission of UNESCO of the Republic of Macedonia
to the General Director of UNESCO, Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura
Ohrid, 29.08.2003
The concept of 'cultural heritage' is assigned an explicitly historical
dimension. Cultural heritage involves relics which have been inherited from
previous generations and which are thought to be valuable or meaningful
enough to be passed down to following generations. Cultural heritage
constitutes the memory of the living culture of a people. Both the notion of
cultural heritage and that of culture went through a broadening of meaning.
Until the beginning of the eighties, heritage primarily referred to historical
buildings, archaeological findings and aesthetically valuable relics. But during
the last decennia, the notion of heritage was drastically expanded. Cultural
heritage developed into a coordinating concept that encompassed material as
well as immaterial traces of the past. High culture was joined by popular and
mass culture, by landscapes, industry, trades, language, rites, festivities,
posters…
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization was
assigned the task to protect the heritage that was considered to be universally
important world canon, against damage or destruction in armed conflicts.
Initially, this only concerned the archaeological or architectural heritage, and
collections in museums. Since its first feat (the relocation of the Egyptian
temple of Abou Simbel in 1960), UNESCO took the lead in the sensitization of
the world. With reference to the thirtieth anniversary of the Convention for the
Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (the convention which
installed the tradition of the known, yearly list of the world patrimony), the UN
declared 2002 the United Nations Year for Cultural Heritage.
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All over Europe, experience in digitalization has been gained through pilot
projects and innovative experiments in the field of cultural heritage. To bring
about a transition to a stage of large-scale application, considerable effort and
investments will be required to transfer existing knowledge to the operational
level.
In some South Eastern European countries there are already existing
digitalization centers supported by UNESCO (Prague, Zagreb, Ljubljana,
Sofia, etc.,) and their experience has shown that such digitalization is a highly
professional, expensive long-term project.
The creation of meaningful digital content depends on a thematic organization
of digital information of different types, data, text, still and moving images, and
sound. Building thematic collections is a cross-sectoral activity for which new
forms of collaboration should be stimulated between heritage institutions (i.e.
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archives, museums, and libraries), the educational sector, and the private
sector (e.g. publishers, ICT industry).
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Digitalization of the cultural heritage in Republic of Macedonia as a
dynamic and current heritage policy is the division between the architectural
heritage monuments, and the moveable and immaterial heritage. Preservation
is the primary task in the heritage policy. The process of digitalization provides
the possibility of preserving original artifacts in optimal circumstances, and, at
the same time, of rendering a digital equivalent available for the public. In
addition, it will be a contribution to the enhancement of cultural diversity and
dialogue in the world.
Application of new technologies and digitalization of the cultural heritage in
the Republic of Macedonia as a country suffering from conflict and postconflict situation (in the Balkans) during the last decade is necessary as a
preventive measure of cultural heritage, helping thus to preserve its rich
cultural diversity. The protection of cultural identity of various nations and
communities in Macedonia is an essential factor for the protection of the
diverse ethnic, religious and cultural identities. The restoration of devastated
cultural monuments from pre-history to the twentieth century is alarmingly
made difficult due to non-existent photo, film and digitalized documentation.
An entire gamma of information and communication technologies (ICT)
can be found at the bottom of this term: data bases and catalogues, virtual
reconstructions, web-pages and home-pages, digital photographs, internet,
DVD's, CD-ROM's, MP3'n, network connection with existing digitalized
systems…).
The establishment of digital archives centers, museums, libraries and
media becomes a basic precondition for the protection of cultural heritage
from damage caused by inter-ethnic conflicts or natural causes. This will be
an additional mechanism of cultural policy of ratification and respect for
international conventions referring to protection of world cultural and natural
heritage (the Convention on Protection of World Cultural and Natural
Heritage, The Hague Convention), as well as the recommendations of The
High Level Conference on Cooperation between UNESCO and the countries
of South Eastern Europe, held in Paris, April 2002.
Republic of Macedonia, as most South Eastern European countries that
have a poor cultural infrastructure, a limited education and insufficient
possibilities of distribution, has often been a victim. 'Digitalizing' can be
understood as the conversion of the (analogous) reality into a certain form,
that can be conveyed and processed by a computer. Every culture composes
a collective memory of the heritage, that tries to hold on to its individuality;
traditions and cultural wealth in a continuous process of tradition (cf.
UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme).
Digitalization of Macedonian cultural heritage is in its initial phase due to
lack of well-defined cultural policy and orientation and insubstantial financial
means. However, if sufficient funds are provided, Macedonia could fully
implement its intellectual human resources. Cultural heritage encompasses a
vast field of moveable and non-moveable heritage, ranging from monuments
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and archaeological sites to collections of art, folk heritage, books, documents,
photographs, and audiovisual materials. There are about 150 official
archeological sites in Macedonia, a large number of Byzantine churches,
monasteries, frescoes, mosques, specific architectural artifacts which haven’t
been digitally recorded. Digitalization of all these cultural objects would serve
as basis for a potential reconstruction in case of damage, devastation, or
destruction, access for the widest possible audience and encouragement in
cultural participation. By preserving cultural heritage and nourishing traditions,
people, to some extent, manage to remain united with the constantly evolving
cultural identity of the community.
Digitalizing is confronted with the same problems and preconceptions. The
things we can read about the development of the film, at the end of the
nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century are surprisingly
analogous to the present discourse on the process of digitalization (problems
with standards, software and hardware, oligopoly, copyright, anarchy, social
impact, reputation, Americanization). However, the coexistence of different
media (different museum, archives, libraries etc.) is today necessary.
The new established digital system of cultural heritage in Macedonia will
provide the following advantages:
 Museums and archives will computerize their collections in the light of
the opening up of the heritage that was entrusted to them. Their public
is enlarged to include, actually, the world. Museum curators, librarians,
and archivists shall identify materials (text, images, video) within their
collections that have already been digitalized.
 Digital technology will bring the potential for museums, libraries, and
archives to play an integral role in the enhancement of learning by
providing access to digitalized primary and secondary cultural
resources as well as more traditional bibliographic materials.
 Digitalization of the cultural heritage will provide multimedial, interactive
and easy access for a large and broad public, geographically as well as
on a social level.
 It will encourage identification of general categories of indexing or
cataloging information that is used to describe digital materials.
 Build a model and electronic database of historical information
collected from participating museums, libraries, and archives.
 Establish a new Macedonian digitalization headquarters and Council
with full equipment.
 Establish a framework for the creation of the database.
 Encourage the promotion of digital education and cultural tourism.
Ministry of Culture
Mr. Blagoj Stefanovski
Minister of Culture
of the Republic of Macedonia
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