ICOMOS International Conference: "The Image of heritage: changing perception, permanent responsibilities"

The proceedings of the ICOMOS International Conference: "The Image of heritage: changing perception, permanent responsibilities", (Florence, Italy, 6-8 March 2009) are now online.

The Conference was organised by the Romualdo Del Bianco Foundation (Florence) and the ICOMOS ISC on Theory and Philosophy of Conservation and Restoration.

Since the beginning of civilization, man’s main form of contact with works of architecture has consisted in visiting them physically(pilgrimages, journeys and recently tourism). Getting to know them indirectly from descriptions or visually was possible only through the media, changing and becoming more powerful with altering technology (printing techniques, graphic techniques, photography, film, television, recently computer technology).

The current rapid development of tourism and the media and their increasing accessibility have in recent years radically changed our perception of the cultural heritage.

These changes require a scientific description and analysis, leading to a diagnosis of the current situation and a prognosis of future developments.
What role should tourism have, and how can it be made into sustainable cultural tourism? What role and responsibility should the media take on? What benefits and threats do the development of tourism and the media bring with them? What kind of approach should the international movement for the conservation of the cultural and natural heritage adopt towards these phenomena?

Proceedings online