It is no surprise that we are quick to react to the destruction of cultural heritage. With the growth of the heritage industry, the public has taken on the responsibility of cleaning up the mess: our own and that of Mother Nature.
In addition to SAFE’s public awareness campaign to highlight the destruction caused by the earthquakes in Haiti, other organizations have participated with assessment and initiatives focused on cultural recovery such as the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield led by Corine Wegener. Recently, IMLS released a statement that paintings in Haiti are restorable, according to conservators participating in the Haitian Cultural Recovery Project.
Our reaction to the oil spill in the Gulf is still in the organizational stages or so it seems. There has been a call to the archaeological community by the Department of Interior for help to clean up and protect sites. The National Park Service (NPS) deployed personnel “to prepare for and respond to oil impacts along the Gulf Coast." The U.S. National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (US/ICOMOS) created an interactive map highlighting heritage sites at risk.
Other public statements focus on the protection of prehistoric sites like the shell middens along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Finally, the Associated Press started asking questions about the possible damage to shipwrecks and "whether BP will be held responsible for ruining underwater sites."
While response to protect human, plant, and animal life comes first, I hope action to preserve cultural sites and to mitigate damage will immediately follow.
Image: National Park Service, produced by Cultural Resources GIS, 11 June 2010.
Sphere: Related Content
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment