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Imaging Heritage as a Tool for Conservation & Sustainable Community Development. Andrew P. Smith. Heritage Defined. For the purposes of this study, the focus is on Jamaica’s tangible natural and cultural heritage.
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Imaging Heritage as a Tool for Conservation & Sustainable Community Development Andrew P. Smith
Heritage Defined • For the purposes of this study, the focus is on Jamaica’s tangible natural and cultural heritage. • Outstanding National Value, based on UNESCO’s definition of Outstanding Universal Value. • Of cultural and/or natural significance which are exceptional examples of Jamaica’s heritage and are of common importance for past, present and future generations of all Jamaicans.
Developing Jamaica’s Identity via Heritage • Culture is crucial for giving people a sense of identity and belonging that gives meaning to efforts to reconstruct our nation. This is central to our social and economic renewal whilst we progress towards developed country status. – Jamaica’s Vision 2030 document
Why Photography? • “The value of the photograph in all conservation work is inestimable, whether represented by today’s ongoing site-record photographs or early photographs consulted for historic information.” (The Getty Conservation Institute,2007) • The marketing of tourism products relies heavily on photographic images. Pictures that communicate messages of destinations, programs, and activities are the key to attracting and holding potential visitors.” (Dewar, Li &Davis, 2006).
Photography as a Conservation Tool • Photography functions as a tool for communication, memory & identity (Van Dijck, 2008). All are applicable in heritage conservation. • Photography is used to visually communicate, educate and inform the general public and policy makers. • Communicates the presence and condition of the heritage site.
Memory • Inability to effectively communicate can lead to the lack of knowledge or memory of these sites. • If they are already absent in the minds of the public and those given the task of conserving these sites – then the loss of or lack of development of these sites might not be considered important. • If an unknown heritage site in Jamaica’s interior or off the mainland is destroyed, does it matter if no-one knew about it?
Identity • Identification of & WITH sites, contributing to National Identity • 1851. Prosper Mérimée, 2nd director of France’s Commission des monuments historiques, sent out a team of photographers to create a photographic inventory of the nation’s architectural heritage. • According to Welch (2008), this decision “was undoubtedly an acknowledgement of the benefits photography could bring to scientific and archival endeavour; but the visualization and drawing together of the nation’s monuments through photography could also serve as an effective reminder of its history and cultural heritage”.
Photography & National Identity (Welch, 2008) • Since the nineteenth century, print culture has been supplemented – and arguably displaced by – visual culture in general, and by the photographic image in particular, as the primary medium through which we are encouraged to imagine the polis and our place within it. • As Louis Kaplan notes, ‘photographic images have externalized and realized how we imagine community, so it does not exist in the mind’s eye alone’ (Kaplan 2005: xv). • The material traces of the past gathered by the photographic survey act as visible evidence that the nation, has real historical and cultural substance.
Vision 2030 & Heritage Tourism • The Culture Creative Industries and Values Sector Plan of the Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan • Goal # 3: to create “communities with strong and diverse cultural values”. • Outcomes: “communities with cultural programming and infrastructure that support transformation”. • Strategy: to “strengthen community based tourism”. • Specific actions being to “document, develop and promote local attractions (e.g. trails, sites of memory, historical sites, and monuments). • The agencies named for implementing this strategy are the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT), Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) and the Jamaica Conservation & Development Trust (JCDT).
Jamaica National Heritage Trust • Mission is “To inspire a sense of national pride through the promotion, preservation, and development of our material cultural heritage, utilizing a highly motivated and qualified team in conjunction with all our partners”. • Functions: to promote the preservation of national monuments and anything designated as protected national heritage for the benefit of the Island.
National Monument • Any building, structure, object or, other work of man or of nature or any part or remains thereof whether above or below the surface of the land or the floor of the sea within the territorial waters of the Island.. • Any site, cave or excavation, or any part or remains thereof, ...
Tourism Product Development Co. • A private company under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Tourism & Entertainment and mandated to facilitate the maintenance, development and enhancement of the tourism product. • Has been placing emphasis on the development of cultural heritage tourism to widen the market for eco, nature based and adventure tourism.
Jamaica Conservation & Development Trust • An NGO whose mission is: “to promote environmental conservation and sustainable development, with particular emphasis on the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park (BJCMNP), for the benefit of Jamaica and our people”.
Visual Communication of Jamaica’s Heritage • The main focus of this presentation/research will be the agency’s on-line photographs, since these images are most visible to the public and thus gives the most immediate information and impression to a global audience. • All agencies have sites and Facebook pages, both of which are examined.
JNHT • 196 designated sites according to its list of declared sites. • The Trust’s website utilises photographs to illustrate various heritage sites. The main pages (and subsequent sub-pages) with photos are the “Sites”, “Tours” and “Development” pages. • Have both Facebook and website.
Gaps Exist • Gaps exist between heritage sites designated by the Jamaica National Heritage Trust (JNHT) and many other sites that have the potential to be thus designated. • Gaps have also been noted by Griffith and Emmanuel (2005) who state that “....only 5-10% of Jamaica has been surveyed over the past 7 years in terms of locating historical/cultural sites in Jamaica”. This study further states that there is “inadequate knowledge on heritage” and adds “there is a need to conduct systematic heritage surveys.” • Confirmed by JNHT, that have a plan for an island-wide survey of built and archaeological sites from the 1990s
TPDCo / JTB • The Jamaica Tourist Board is the marketing arm of the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment and is charged with driving demand for the tourism industry. As such, they are the entity which uses photography as a promotional tool, to show Jamaica in its best light. • The TPDCo is responsible for facilitating the maintenance, development and enhancement of the tourism product. They use photos to document their activities, such as the upgrading of facilities through funding from the Tourism Enhancement Fund.
JTB/TPDCo Websites • JTB’s Unrestricted Use Images • JTB’s Restricted Use Images. • Visit Jamaica’s website, • Visit Jamaica’s Facebook Page • Cultural Heritage Tourism. • Community-based tourism development.
TIPS Photos • There are 660 restricted usage photos and 469 unrestricted usage photos, totalling 1129. • The most common category available is “Gardens and Parks at 13% followed by “People” with 9%. Ocho Rios is also at 9%, and is the most available resort area. • Culture and cultural heritage are both at 0%, although historical sites is at 6% . Special mention must be made of the Dennis Valentine library (6%) who is a Jamaican photographer whose collection includes the Blue Mountains, well-known Jamaican artists , YS Falls, Lacado and NDTC.
Visit Jamaica FB • 2178 photos in over 50 unique albums. • Most photos are Reggae Sumfest (11%) and the Timeline photos (24%) • Wedding Expos (6%) and Jazz & Blues (4%) • Historic/Heritage sites less than 1%. • Primarily to promote happenings and events
JCDT • JCDT manages the Blue & John Crow Mountains National Park. which has been submitted to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site as a mixed property - high biodiversity & the Windward Maroons. • On-line photographic presence has two separate components. The photo page on the sites consists of one gallery consisting of 19 images of the biodiversity found within the Park.
