part 1 - Iccrom

How to register memory? Documentation, recording, archiving and
preservation of intangible cultural heritage in Venezuela
Jenny González Muñoz 1
Abstract
Culture as a social construction of human beings and nature produces intangible manifestations sustained
primarily by the oral tradition, which gives it significant features that print decisive elements for the creation
of technical documentation, recording, archiving and preservation of intangible cultural heritage. In Venezuela,
the problems in carrying out this task have remained; failures related to the true meaning ascribed to
intangible cultural expressions considered from the perspective of libraries for attributing items of material
culture. The best documentation, in-depth research product is essential not only for the preservation and
revitalization of intangible cultural heritage but for the formation of consciences on the basis of respect and
appreciation for the sake of intercultural dialogue.
Keywords: intangible cultural heritage, documentation, records, files, preservation, Venezuela
1
Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Cultura – Centro de la Diversidad Cultural (Venezuela). jenny.planificacion@gmail.com
Introduction
The status of cultural processes is implied in its
expression, a neat and unique human being, who
takes hold of their interpersonal relationships to
meet and conduct their own collective life projects.
This, guided by necessity, creates a series of utilitarian
items, but also carries away an ability to improve
themselves, their environment, context and community.
Culture leads man to worship gods, clinging to
the existence of higher beings to justify their stay in
the world and respond to uncertainties and doubts;
this creates myths, rites, ceremonies and legends.
The functions of aesthetics, customs, traditions and
preferences in establishing different types or aspects
of culture that change as situations occur, imply a
dynamic power that is manifested in the daily treatment
and non-daily life according to the weather
conditions and space.
Culture is a constant imperative for each and every
one of the world’s societies, giving a possible statement
about the presence of cultural events in each
act of daily life. It registers from the teaching of values
and behaviours at home to made-up creations
and academic development. Beyond that, culture
is a need for social outreach, economic, political
and artistic, hence its ability to establish itself as a
dynamic reference and transformer in a number of
different areas. The importance of building a collective
consciousness that allows for us as a constituent
part of our culture and traditions is significant for
v v v
understanding our history, with further subsequent
analysis and interpretation necessary in using specific
elements or self-reflection as a society. In this
sense, the role of oral tradition is essential not only
because it is a tool used by people who do not know
historical writing as part of its original establishment,
but also because it is achieved in rural and
farming communities, where elders are true ‘living
books’ capable of containing major events for the
locality or region, including its historical origins.
Orality is a symbolic expression, an act with
intended meaning from a human being to another
and another, and is perhaps the most significant
feature of the species. Orality, then, was for a long
time the only system for men and women’s expression
and transmission of knowledge and traditions.
(Álvarez Muro, 2001).
Orality is the expression of the world of meanings
and senses that is the culture, history turned into
sustained memory and staged through the spoken
word. Oral traditions are all oral testimony, narrations
concerning the past. This definition implies
that only oral traditions, that is, narrating testimony,
can be taken into account. This is not sufficient to
distinguish them from written records, but from
all material objects that can be used as sources for
knowledge of the past (Vansina, 1968).
However, as the cultures established under these
characteristics are held by man himself, their survival
and preservation over time is fragile so they
should be treated with recording and documentation
Muñoz, J. G. 2012. How to register memory? Documentation, recording, archiving and preservation of intangible cultural heritage in
Venezuela. In Zancheti, S. M. & K. Similä, eds. Measuring heritage conservation performance, pp. 53-58. Rome, ICCROM.
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