Intangible Cultural Heritage, Intellectual Property, and Cultural Branding in Celtic-Derived Cultures

About this project
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Martin Kretschmer

Megan Rae Blakely

Lead investigator(s):
– Prof Martin Kretschmer
Contributor(s):
– Ms Megan Rae Blakely
Start Date: 1st September 2013
End Date: 30th September 2016

Summary

Too frequently, a state’s economic status predicts the level of international attention to cultural preservation, and many manifestations of culture, especially intangible culture heritage such as song, traditional craft, and ritualistic practices passed from generation to generation, are neglected and left open to commercialisation. Further, Westernized states are associated with protectable intellectual property while the rest of the world is associated with culture, a serious oversight which can lead to a more subtle but steady erosion of intangible cultural heritage in these regions. Ultimately, this research seeks to determine best practices and policy recommendations for domestic governments to implement that best promote and protect intangible cultural heritage in these Celtic-derived cultures while maintaining incentives for creation and dissemination for the public good.

Project outputs include:

  • Pattern Recognition: Governmental Regulation of Tartan and Commodification of Culture – This article investigates the effects of government intervention relating to Scottish tartan in order to trace the relationship between formal proprietary rights, commodification, and cultural branding.
  • Project poster – Project activities have been summarised in this poster which was presented at the CREATe All Hands conference in September 2014