Cultural property and the limitations of preservation

Many of the things and places we identify as “cultural property” are in every sense public: they reflect collective experiences in their creation, formal dedication, and the ongoing re-inscription of their meaning. Yet cultural property is a large and protean category of things and places, encompassing far more than public memorials. The significance of much (if not most) cultural property originates not in the public realm but in the open-ended possibilities of personal engagement that enable a “wide range of interpretive distinctions.” This paper explores how this vital interpretive process is mediated by public recognition and preservation of cultural property through a growing body of cultural preservation laws.