Preserving Transcultural Heritage – Your Way or My Way?

Questions on Authenticity, Identity and Patrimonial Proceedings in the Safeguarding of Architectural Heritage Created in the Meeting of Cultures

In an era of generalized globalization, which leads to increased hybridity in practically all levels of our existence, cultural barriers also tend to shade off substantially. This has motivated a growing feeling of protection regarding several singular cultural heritage elements that are considered to be unique identity components of the societies and communities that created them, and of irreplaceable value. However, this globalization that began centuries ago through commercial, technological, cultural, political and war-related exchanges between different peoples, which have been gradually increasing in intensity to the present day, turned out to be itself the originator of a heritage that has been created precisely in the context of contacts between different cultures. This new transcultural heritage (or, in some way, hybrid heritage) presents a whole set of different complexities that, to a greater or lesser extent, hinders its safeguard and preservation for future generations.