Museum Studies: Cultural Heritage

While the definition of Cultural Heritage can vary from nation to nation, the 1973 legislation from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defined the different aspects of cultural heritage as follows:

• Tangible cultural heritage which includes movable cultural heritage (paintings, sculptures, coins, manuscripts); immovable cultural heritage (monuments, archaeological sites); and underwater cultural heritage (shipwrecks, underwater ruins and cities)
• Intangible cultural heritage: oral traditions, performing arts, rituals
• Natural heritage: natural sites with cultural aspects such as cultural landscapes, physical, biological or geological formations           

Related resources:                                                              

• UNESCO Database of National Cultural Heritage Laws

• International Foundation for Cultural Property Protection (IFCPP)    

• International Cultural Property Ownership and Export Legislation (ICPOEL)            

• Chronological List of Cultural Heritage Policy Documents (compiled by the Getty Conservation Institute)  

• Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)

• Trafficking Culture Research Consortium

• Cultural Heritage Law