Why collections matter: impacts of cultural heritage collections on people’s lives

ABSTRACT

This article presents the results of a global, cross-cultural survey conducted by ICCROM that invited people from all walks of life to describe the impacts that cultural heritage collections have on their lives. The qualitative responses of nearly 2,400 collected surveys were coded to extract main themes, which were subsequently analysed against respondents’ ages, geographic distribution, and occupations using asymmetrical correspondence analysis. Across eight main themes, this research explores recurring justifications observed in the survey data describing how heritage collections were perceived to impact – or not impact – people’s lives, considering variance across different demographic groups. It further engages contemporary heritage debates to discuss what the results might say about the actual and potential roles of heritage collections in today’s global societies, as well as some possible implications on their management.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural heritage
• collections
• people-centred
• values

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank everyone in ICCROM’s global network who helped disseminate the survey, in particular those who contributed to its translation into different languages. This gratitude is also extended to those who graciously revised quote translations.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2023.2243481

Notes

1. Vietnamese, Croatian, Persian, Serbian, Arabic, Korean, and Malay were not supported by DeepL at the time of the analysis.

2. Correspondence analysis was conducted neither on the subthemes nor smaller impact categories due to their smaller sample sizes.

3. https://www.iccrom.org/news/heritage-and-wellbeing-what-constitutes-good-life

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amy Iwasaki

Amy Iwasaki is an MPhil Candidate in Heritage Studies at the University of Cambridge, with research interests in heritage values, wellbeing and Strategic Foresight. Previously, she has contributed to Foresight initiatives in ICCROM’s Strategic Planning Unit and the Getty Conservation Institute’s conservation research database AATA Online.

José Luiz Pederzoli

José Luiz Pederzoli Junior manages the Strategic Planning Unit at ICCROM, as well as a portfolio of projects related to the conservation and management of heritage collections. He holds a MSc in Polymer Chemistry from the University of Helsinki, Finland. His main research areas include heritage science (paper-based heritage), risk management for cultural heritage, and sustainable development through collections-based work.