Heritage and Transformation

Professor Jacek Purchla's book is devoted to the very delicate topic that is historical heritage confronted with the contsant flux of the contemporary world. The author's thoughts centre mainly around issues of heritage protection in the context of the transormation that Central Europe has seen since 1989. Professor Purchla is rightly aware of the differences in the way that Central Europe and Western Europe understand many geopolitical and historical concepts. This has a crucial influence on both the theory and practice of heritage protection, and hence also on the legislative and financial solutions employed in this field. The author also draws attention to the fact that since 1989 little attempt has been made in Poland to modify the system of financing and managing culture that was created for a socialist state and a command and control economy. Over the years it has become clear how toleration of the previous system has compounded our dilemmas, generating a sense of lack of stability and omnipresent frustration. The lack of a clear defined cultural policy on the part of the state has been the source of many mis-conceptions in terms of establishing the tasks of cultural and heritage protection institutions. The greatest loss to the national economy, however, is that the potential of culture as a factor in economic development and a source a new jobs is being ignored, which is in turn blocking its use as a major social policy tool. (from the foreword by Andrzej Rottermund)

International Cultural Centre, Krakow 2005, 68 pages

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