Baština iz perspektive zapadne i istočne kulture

Cultural heritage all over the world has its differences, it is not uniform, but instead subject to different geographical, social and historical factors. Because heritage, be it tangible or intangible, is given values that match the culture and tradition of its given territory and people, it is understandable that not all culture will have the same heritage, nor the same perception about it. West and East have strongly accentuated cultural differences, as seen countless times throughout history; on one side there is a materialistic sphere of the West and their approach which is greatly differentiated from a more spiritual approach of the Eastern cultures. One of the fundamental differences can be seen in the demolition of Eastern temples and its construction anew, as a way to preserve the original design and appearance, as well as meaning, without allowing time to corrode the material which had been originally used centuries ago – while that same approach of destruction for the sake of rebuilding cannot be seen in the West. It only goes to show that cultural differences affect the way that heritage is preserved and used. In this paper, differences between cultures will be more closely examined, as well as the way they affect the heritage of aforementioned cultures. The paper will go over potential ways of how to reach a better understanding of foreign heritage – which always has the potential to bring forth the mutual understanding of heritage on different sides of the globe, serving as means to break cultural dissonance and the stigma which West may hold toward the heritage of the East, and vice versa.