Describe tangible and intangible heritage with suitable examples.

Tangible Heritage:

Tangible Heritage is everything that we can touch and we can perceive clearly. This refers to the Cultural Heritage including: buildings, historical places, monuments, handicraft, sculpture, painting, etc. 

In this group are included objects from archeological sites, architectural structures, tools from technology and science from the different ancient cultures.

Tangible Heritage is divided in other two kinds of heritage: movable and immovable.

The tangible movable heritage is composed by archeological, historic, ethnographic, religious and artistic objects, for example, artworks, manuscripts, and documents, recordings, photographs, audiovisual documents, etc.

On the other hand, Immovable Tangible Heritage is composed by monuments, groups of buildings and sites.

They are human works that cannot be moved from one place to another, either because they are structures or because they are inseparable from the land, for example archaeological sites.

Intangible Heritage:

The Intangible Cultural Heritage means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills as well as the instruments, objects, artifacts and cultural spaces associated therewith that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. 

This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity.

Tangible and intangible heritage examples:

Cultural heritage includes tangible culture (such as buildings, monuments, landscapes, books, works of art,and artifacts), intangible culture (such as folklore, traditions, language, and knowledge), and natural heritage (including culturally significant landscapes, and biodiversity).

The term is often used in connection with issues relating to the protection of Indigenous intellectual property.

“Intangible cultural heritage” consists of non-physical aspects of a particular culture, more often maintained by social customs during a specific period in history.

The concept includes the ways and means of behavior in a society, and the often formal rules for operating in a particular cultural climate.

These include social values and traditions, customs and practices, aesthetic and spiritual beliefs, artistic expression, language and other aspects of human activity.

The significance of physical artifacts can be interpreted as an act against the backdrop of socioeconomic, political, ethnic, religious, and philosophical values of a particular group of people. 

Naturally, intangible cultural heritage is more difficult to preserve than physical objects.

Aspects of the preservation and conservation of cultural intangibles include:

i.Folklore.

ii. Oral history.

iii. Language preservation.

India is a treasure trove of cultural heritage, be it tangible or intangible. The intangible cultural heritage is the one of whose importance, richness is beyond measurement.

It includes dance, art, music, drama etc. On the other hand, tangible heritage are the monuments, excavated sites, etc.

The Government of India has taken the following steps in order to preserve the intangible and tangible heritage of the country.

For intangible heritage:

Lalit Kala Academy: Founded with an aim to propagate understanding of Indian art, inside as well as outside the country and also offers fellowships for the promotion of these arts.

Center for Cultural Resource and Training: Set up as an autonomous organization, it links culture with education, creating understanding and awareness regarding India’s rich cultural heritage. 

For tangible heritage:

Archaeological survey of India: Archaeological survey of India looks after the archaeological remains and excavations, maintenance of sites, conservation of monuments, conducting various expeditions abroad, giving training in archeology etc.

This was established in 1861 under the Department of Culture.

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