Chapter 12 - Heritage protection in Chile through its institutions

Abstract

The State of Chile has created a series of regulations, instruments and institutions to attend to the necessary heritage protection, both material and immaterial. In addition, over the last few decades, the Chilean governments have been making an effort to define a cultural policy and the heritage question has been included as part of it. The Cultural Policy currently in force (Gobierno de Chile, 2011) establishes, among its proposals, the desire to contribute to the enhancement and safeguarding of the material and immaterial cultural heritage. To do so, it raises the necessity to coordinate actions to favour heritage enhancement, conservation and management processes, including research, identification, protection, intervention and diffusion. For the specific case of the immaterial heritage, it proposes the design of «strategies oriented towards safeguarding the cultural manifestations and expressions of the original peoples and the cultural traditions of Immigrants». Furthermore, it stresses the need to make the younger generations more aware of the value and richness of the immaterial cultural heritage (Gobierno de Chile, 2011). The Cultural Policy emphasises the enhancement of heritage as a driving force for the development of local communities, which gives it a socio-economic dimension that goes beyond contemplation and preservation. To this effect, it «promotes the material and immaterial cultural heritage as a tourist goal; linked to regional socio-economic development» (Government of Chile, 2011). Thus, it establishes the nexus between heritage and tourism, which should be strengthened to transform the heritage capital in the territory into benefits for the community. This position is in consonance with the sustainable local development policies, in so far as it looks to generate wellbeing and stability for the territorial communities. This chapter presents the diverse forms in which the action of the State of Chile is manifested in the protection and promotion of the heritage. First of all, an analysis is made of the institutions and legal tools that correspond to the material heritage, and then the same is done for the immaterial heritage. Some specific programmes are then reviewed that aim to achieve the enhancement of the heritage on a local or regional scale by means of state interventions and private participation.