Emmanuel GARCIA, University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines
Joseph PALIS, University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines
E.B. Zerrudo (2009) defines heritage “as anything of value from the past that provides identity to the present and inspires the future generation” while Graham (2002) argues that heritage is a social construction that imbricates both economic and cultural practices. This presentation focuses on insights and observations generated from fieldworks conducted in Sabtang and Mahatao – both in the northernmost islands of the Philippines – in mapping heritage resources. Reflective of Philippine contexts and experiences, Zerrudo (2009) offers a heritage and development framework consisting of four phases with each having a specific set of activities. The framework contains the following phases: Heritage Awareness, Heritage Appreciation, Heritage Protection and Heritage Utilization. However in operationalizing the intangible heritage of a locale, the last two phases – Protection and Utilization – are more challenging to implement compared to the first two especially since the intangible aspect of heritage is embedded in cultural practice that does not assume physical materialities compared to infrastructures and tangible artefacts. Our presentation hopes to initiate conversations on the operationalization of intangible heritage in island communities. Aware of the different cultural traditions emanating from various regions of the Philippine archipelago, we hope to open a wider network of discussion to generate fruitful conversations.
Mots clés : intangible heritage|operationalization|island communities|Philippines
A104166EG