Museums and Intangible Heritage: The Case Study of the Athens and London Theatre Museums

The aim of this paper is to assess the implications of the use of intangible heritage in museum practice and more precisely in the areas of collecting, making exhibitions and working with communities. The concept of intangible heritage has only recently been the focus of academic interest in Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies (Butler 2006; Galla 2003; Garton-Smith 2000; Hooper-Greenhill 2000; Kreps 2005; Kurin 2004a), and its impact on the understanding of cultural heritage and the work of museums is currently the subject of much debate as witnessed at the 2006 Conference of the Museum Ethnographers Group. In brief, intangible heritage suggests a holistic understanding of what is cultural heritage by acknowledging the significance and value of oral and living practices and expressions that are related to objects, monuments and cultural spaces. In other words, as will be elaborated later in this paper, the concept of intangible heritage focuses on the human element inherent in artefacts and cultural spaces and in this respect raises practical and theoretical issues for museum theorists and professionals to engage with. Thus the scope of this paper is limited to the examination of the use of intangible heritage in museum practice as a way for assessing the dynamics of an ‘unconventional’ relationship. Since museums are primarily concerned with collecting, conserving and displaying material traces of the past, their involvement with living culture at first might seem paradoxical. In this sense, museums may seem unsuitable for dealing with living cultural expressions. It is hoped that an assessment of this ‘unconventional’ relationship will challenge traditional museum practices and reveal that the engagement of museums with living culture can suggest new functions and roles for museums in the 21st century. This paper seeks to explain what intangible heritage is and is concerned with assessing its implications in the work of museums with a particular interest in the compilation of collections, the making of exhibitions and the collaboration with communities. It engages with contemporary discussions in Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies that question the traditional notion of the ‘modernist museum’ (Hooper-Greenhill 2000) and underline the need for a museum that is in line with current social, educational and cultural concerns. While the Eurocentric criteria for identifying, designating and displaying heritage are questioned both within and outside the Western canon (Bennett 2004; Bharucha 2000; Londres Fonseca 2002), it will be argued that the concept of intangible heritage significantly affects basic museum functions according to contemporary demands for inclusion and access. Thus the concept of intangible heritage challenges mainstream museum practice and makes a call for inclusive collection and exhibition policies.