Conservation of monuments and sites in its modern format was born as the principal concept of the Modern (Western) Conservation Movement in the mid-nineteenth century in Europe. Remarkably, Sri Lanka commenced its first conservation related activities shortly after this, in the late nineteenth century, in 1890 drawing on the contemporary knowledge introduced by the colonial administrators. Over the past 130 years, such activities have rendered an invaluable service to the country and established an intriguing history of preservation (the term used in the Antiquities Ordinance of 1940). The conservation discourse, however, has evolved substantially since its introduction, by nurturing a broader concept of 'heritage' rather than simply 'monuments and sites' and moving towards management. However, in Sri Lanka, continued reliance on national legislation dating back to 1940 has prevailed primarily embodied in the institution created under its power, namely the Department of Archaeology; a legacy of colonial rule that was heavily influenced by the aforementioned movement. In their current form, neither the legislation nor the institution have succeeded in grasping the concepts of conservation and management of heritage that have since evolved, which are global in their scope and directed towards the twenty-first century, addressing a wide variety of issues and challenges with the invention of new and innovative approaches and tools. This is discussed in the first part of the paper, while part two briefly examines the status of the heritage sector in Sri Lanka. The paper concludes with some suggestions for change: eliminating some of the misconceptions and erroneous interpretations currently dominating the sector, while emphasizing the need to complement existing management systems with evolving knowledge, to ensure a sustainable and effective future for the conservation of Sri Lanka’s heritage.
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The main purpose of preserving the intangible cultural heritage is to preserve past and providing access it in future. There should be a collaborative relationship in between cultural and educational institutions to fulfill this task. It is very important to create knowledge bases and folk creativity centers for acquisition and storage of intangible heritage in digital form. The first step of preserving intangible heritage is to capture it while protecting its ownership. In this digital era, there are so many methods to capture the tacit knowledge. One day this knowledge will be vanished without keeping a footprint for future generation. Any living human being in this earth needs to know their past, oral traditions, languages etc. The tropical climate of Sri Lanka makes it an even bigger challenge to preserve the historical documents. In such environments climate control and storage facilities need to be kept under close surveillance. During the last few years, experts from countries like Netherlands have worked jointly with Sri Lankan experts, in order to establish and maintain sufficient conservation standards. Digitization has emerged as a good solution for this problem. Introduction Intangible cultural heritage can effectively contribute to sustainable development with its three dimensions of economic, social and environmental. Intangible cultural heritage provides communities, groups and individuals with a sense of identity and continuity, helping them to understand their world and giving meaning to their lives and their way of living together. A mainspring of cultural diversity and an unmistakable testimony to humanity's creative potential, intangible heritage is constantly being recreated by its bearers as it is practiced and transmitted from person to person and from generation to generation (UNESCO – EIIHCAP, 2008, p.1). It further stated that safeguarding living heritage means taking measures aimed at ensuring the viability of intangible cultural heritage. Moreover, it described that safeguarding means trying to ensure that the heritage continues to be practiced and transmitted within the community or group concerned. Communities must be actively involved in safeguarding and managing their living heritage, since it is only they who can consolidate its present and ensure its future. In this context it is clear that ICH play an important role for sustainable development in any country. At the same time it makes sense among individuals who practice it and carries it from generation to generation. In this manner it becomes part of their life. This has been clearly described by UNESCO (2011) and according to it intangible cultural heritage (ICH) as " a living form of heritage which is continuously recreated and which evolves as we adapt our practices and traditions in response to our environment. It provides a sense of identity and belonging in relation to our own cultures. " UNESCO's concept of intangible cultural heritage encompasses oral traditions and expressions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning universe and nature, and traditional craftsmanship (Sutherland, 2014, p. xv). Sutherland further describes that intangible cultural heritage as cultural inheritances that cannot be touched, held, boxed, shelved, fixed, or put on permanent display. Rather, intangible cultural heritage is akin to living heritage. It allows for new understandings
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