International Conference on The Safeguarding of Tangible and Intangible Heritage Organized by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs and UNESCO
20-23 October 2004, Nara, Japan

Yamato Declaration on Integrated Approaches
for Safeguarding Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage

We, the experts assembled in Nara, Japan,

1. express our gratitude to the Japanese organisers and UNESCO for providing a forum to discuss integrated approaches for safeguarding tangible and intangible cultural heritage, and

2. taking into account

the International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites (the 1964 Venice Charter), the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (UNESCO World Heritage Convention, hereinafter called “the 1972 Convention”), the definition of “Cultural Landscape” established by the World Heritage Committee (1992), the Nara Document on Authenticity (1994);

3. further taking into account

the Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore (1989), the Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity (1997), the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (hereinafter called “the 2003 Convention”);

4. recognising that safeguarding intangible cultural heritage is as important as protecting tangible cultural

and natural heritage, and that the world community has come to realise that intangible cultural heritage has to be considered and safeguarded in its own right;

5. recalling the definitions of cultural and natural heritage in the 1972 Convention;

6. further recalling that intangible cultural heritage is defined in the 2003 Convention as “the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage [… and that …] this intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity”;

7. considering that the Nara Document marked an epoch in the conservation of heritage, emphasizing that interpretations of authenticity and their application should be attempted within the specific cultural context;

8. further considering that intangible cultural heritage is constantly recreated, the term “authenticity” as applied to tangible cultural heritage is not relevant when identifying and safeguarding intangible cultural heritage;

9. realising that the elements of the tangible and intangible heritage of communities and groups are often interdependent;

10. further considering that there are countless examples of intangible cultural heritage that do not depend for their existence or expression on specific places or objects, and that the values associated with monuments and sites are not considered intangible cultural heritage as defined under the 2003 Convention when they belong to the past and not to the living heritage of present-day communities;

11. taking into account the interdependence, as well as the differences between tangible and intangible cultural heritage, and between the approaches for their safeguarding, we deem it appropriate that, wherever possible, integrated approaches be elaborated to the effect that the safeguarding of the tangible and intangible heritage of communities and groups is consistent and mutually beneficial and reinforcing; and we call upon

12. national authorities, international, governmental and non-governmental organisations, and individuals actively engaging in safeguarding cultural heritage to explore and support investigations of strategies and procedures to integrate the safeguarding of tangible and intangible heritage, and to always do so in close collaboration and agreement with the communities and groups concerned;

13. UNESCO to adopt and implement in its programmes and projects, where appropriate, an inclusive and integrated vision of heritage, to support capacity building and to provide guidelines for best practices in the spirit of this Declaration;

14. national authorities and all other stakeholders to take concrete measures for raising awareness of the importance of safeguarding heritage, especially through formal and non-formal education, and for ensuring active local participation in this regard;

15. all stakeholders to take advantage of new information and communication technology in implementing programmes and projects integrating the safeguarding of tangible and intangible heritage;

16. all stakeholders to promote economically rewarding heritage-related activities without compromising the integrity of communities and the viability of their heritage;

17. Member States of UNESCO to ratify at their earliest convenience the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in October 2003.

Nara, Japan, International Conference on the Safeguarding of Tangible and Intangible Cultural Heritage: Towards an Integrated Approach, 20-23 October 2004