Panemunės Castle as a Cultural Heritage Property and the Totality of its Values

Transcription

1 Panemunės Castle as a Cultural Heritage Property and the Totality of its Values Assoc. prof. dr. Vaidutė Ščiglienė Assoc. prof. dr. Vaida Almonaitytė Navickienė Prof. Ieva Kuizinienė Dr. Angelė Čepėnaitė Lect. Kristina Daubarytė Vilnius Academy of Arts

2 Panemunės Castle (also referred to as Gelgaudai or Vytėnai residential castle)

3 A few Castles in Lithuania

4

5 Kaunas Castle Trakai Castle Biržai Castle Raudonės Castle

6

7 The complex of Panemunės Castle is situated in Panemuniai Regional Park which is included into the State Cadastre for Protected Areas of Lithuania. The park (15 ha) and three ponds situated in the grounds are recorded by the Cadastre of Rivers, Lakes and Ponds of Lithuania.

8 The Register of Cultural Properties of Lithuania lists Panemunės Castle as a complex as determined by its composition, together with a manor house (mostly referred as a palace ), included are also other tangible elements: a Classical style English garden with an elaborate chain system of ponds, communication equipment on the gullied slope of the Nemunas valley, and a burial chapel built by the Salesians.

9 Key periods in the history of the complex of Panemunės Castle: th C. A wooden manor house; Building of a residential castle Remodelling of the castle casts it in the features of Classicism; 1832 Sequestration of the land estate; 1925 Appropriation of the land estate; 1937 The Salesian monks built a burial chapel on a hill, named Kalviniškis Mountain; 1935 The castle transferred to the Archaeological Commission of the Ministry of Education;

10 1939, , 1984 and The years of conservation and restoration works on the castle. In 1961 Panemunės Castle is put on the List of the Architectural Monuments of Lithuania. Since 1982 The castle belongs to Vilnius Academy of Arts.

11 In the context of Lithuania, Panemunės Castle partially represents an example of good practice of heritage conservation and restoration.

12 How this place, its social, cultural and artistic contexts function today? To what extent do the values of Panemunės Castle as a cultural heritage property depend on them? Do these contexts help to animate this heritage? What are prospective paths along which (re)animation of the site could be achieved?

13 How this place, its social, cultural and artistic contexts function today? To what extent do the values of Panemunės Castle as a cultural heritage property depend on them? Do these contexts help to animate this heritage? What are prospective paths along which (re)animation of the site could be achieved?

14 The contemporary analytical discourse on the situation of heritage and heritage properties is dominated by the concept of shifting values, which depend on social and cultural context. In his classical theory of values, Alois Riegl (who put a strong emphasis on anthropological parameters) already proposed that we look for individual solutions regarding heritage and take social and cultural context into special consideration.

15 The history of restoration, heritization and conservation and the attempts of reuse of Panemunės Castle manifest that the altered heritage perception in society has not been taken into account. The focus of the effort was on conservation paradigm. The immediate environment, the harmoniousness and integrity of the place have not been investigated.

16 Bringing to the fore social value and its significance was recognized as a pressing necessity of the last decades of the 20 th C. In the first decades of the 21 st C. we come to consider the situation of heritage preservation as a history of socialization process.

17 The Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (Faro Convention). Lithuania has not ratified yet. The UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. Lithuania ratified this concention in 2007.

18 Community

19 Analysing firstly the links and relationships between the staff of Panemunės Castle and the local community; The research was coupled with public opinion survey of the local people; The outcome of the research has naturally prompted parallels between the conclusions made and some of the clauses in the Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society, leading to the development of some practical recommendations.

20 The community of Panemunės Castle which can be defined as a heritage community is a contemporary complex community composed of the locally based people currently employed by VAA and of VAA staff commuting from the towns of Jurbarkas and Vilnius.

21 The community of Panemunės Castle which can be defined as a heritage community is a contemporary complex community composed of the locally based people currently employed by VAA and of VAA staff commuting from the towns of Jurbarkas and Vilnius. The villagers of Pilis the settlement where the castle is situated do not identify themselves with the castle community and do not function as a heritage community.

22 The community of Panemunės Castle which can be defined as a heritage community is a contemporary complex community composed of the locally based people currently employed by VAA and of VAA staff commuting from the towns of Jurbarkas and Vilnius. The villagers of Pilis the settlement where the castle is situated do not identify themselves with the castle community and do not function as a heritage community.

23 Panemunės Castle is an example of the Lithuanian cultural heritage conservation practice of sustaining material forms of a cultural resource. However, in due time, no effort has been taken to sustain, to foster and to value all kinds of spiritual ties that may link to it.

24 There is no tradition surrounding the place; There is no connection between the castle and the people living next to it.

25 Respondents answers show that artificial forming of the community drove a wedge between the castle community and the local population. This alienation is strengthened by the fact that the villagers have local expectations, while the owner of the castle and the fosterers of cultural heritage envision a much broader audience for their activities.

26 Circumstance preventing the local population from perceiving themselves as a heritage community The study has revealed a misguided perception of cultural properties of national significance: part of the locals assume that the castle is there solely for tourist needs; Panemunės Castle is a national level heritage resource. Those living in the village of Pilis are but a local community s there solely for tourist needs.

27 We face a gap in the system of heritage conservation: when the process of designation excludes local community, distancing it from heritage, it remains passive instead of assuming functions of animation.

28 Economic value

29 The study analysed social and economic characteristics of the region and found that it falls into the category of problem afflicted territories due to the level on unemployment, population aging and the rate of migration. The investment climate of the region has been found as receiving quite significant attention through financial support for agricultural activity, connected with manufacturing and realization. Incentive measures have been used for the emerging smallscale businesses and the development of current businesses.

30 The analysis of the measures implemented in the region towards improvement of investment environment has revealed that a number of measures intended towards bettering of investment environment were directly linked with the development of cultural tourism:

31 While shaping its long-term vision, Municipal Council of Jurbarkas turned to the local cultural environment as an additional internal resource for the development of the region. I

32 II The measures towards improving investment climate implemented by the region authorities in Pilis village were fragmentary.

33 III The investments into the revival of Panemunės Castle contributed to the growth of economy by creating 8 work places in the field of cultural heritage management and conservation and museum operations.

34 The renewed castle has its attraction as a cultural heritage complex. Yet the Municipality of Jurbarkas has no long-term strategic activity plan, but operates by sporadic initiatives. The revival of the castle has failed to become a catalyst in the development of Jurbarkas region or to attract new investments into the fields linked with cultural heritage.

35 Image as a resource

36 Image is a collection of meanings which renders the object recognizable and is used by people to characterize it, to remember it by and to connect to it. It is a result of interaction of personal beliefs, ideas, feelings and impressions about the object. [G.Dawling]

37 Identified were the following paradigms of existing routines which determine the image of Panemunės Castle:

38 The creation or selfemergence of Panemunės Castle image is dominated by traditional imageshaping means, and their internal correlation is chaotic. I

39 The castle is perceived and presented as something finite. Its existence has been marked by an obsessive vision of safeguarding. II

40 III The image of Panemunės Castle can be pictured as an organism operating in a fragmented manner.

41 The quality of expression of the shaping components in the image of Panemunės Castle is insufficient; the process is not informed by the guidelines of contemporary heritage conservation.

42 Non-market direct use value is perceived as life in a historical environment and as values gained from direct recreational, visual and other types of use of cultural heritage property without gaining market benefits. Non-market indirect use values are perceived as values that do not generate market benefits and are gained through indirect use of heritage properties via books, articles, TV or cinema. The value of existence relates to an individual s moral satisfaction provided by the very existence of a cultural heritage property even though this individual does not intend to visit it. Altruistic value relates to individual s desire to provide an opportunity of visiting the cultural heritage property to contemporaries. The value of having a choice relates to an individual s desire to retain an opportunity to visit the property in the future. Legacy value relates to individual s desire and intent to preserve a cultural property for the future generations.

43 Thus the formation of the image correlates with nonmarket values, especially closely with the non-market direct and indirect use values.

44 Conclusions

45 The heritage community will function effectively when VAA community stops turning its back on the local population and the community of Pilis is ready for renewal and for adequate response to problems, and above all, when it stops blocking innovation. 1

46 The synergy of different communities has the potential of animating the property on three levels: private, local and public. 2

47 The animation of a cultural property of national importance should not be left to manage by a local community as the meaning of it and responsibility is far too big for that; therefore local communities need a thoroughly planned and consistent help in different forms and of all kinds. 3

48 With the help of VAA staff, involved in the management process of the castle, a collective vision, mission and values of the castle have to be shaped and articulated and revisited yearly. This would provide additional stimulus for prospective partners to cooperate in developing services offered in the castle. 4

49 The image of Panemunės Castle has to be interpreted as a resource for added value, the profile of which should be shaped in an integrated manner, by including the interested elements of society and by constantly monitoring its effectiveness. 5

50

51 Special note: The presentation was created as a research results within the Smart Value project by the Lithuanian group of scientists (Vilnius Academy of Arts). The full version of research results will be published on the international level within the project activities. Italy, Politecnico di Milano, 2016, 28th of June.