Material and Immaterial Culture

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Material and Intangible Culture represent the two types of cultural heritage, which together constitute the culture of a particular group.

Material culture is associated with material elements and, therefore, it is formed by tangible and concrete elements, for example, works of art and churches.

The immaterial culture is related to the spiritual elements or abstract, for example, knowledge and ways of doing.

Both have symbolic aspects, as they carry the cultural heritage of a certain people, while promoting their identity.

material culture

Associated with concrete elements of a society is the material culture or the material cultural heritage. These elements were created over time and, therefore, represent the history of a certain people.

Several buildings, artistic and everyday objects are part of the material culture, which are classified in two ways:

Movables: can be transported and gather collections and collections.
real estate: are fixed structures and represent historic centers, archaeological sites, etc.

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In 1972 took place in Paris, France, the “Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage”. The event raised awareness of the importance of the topic, as well as the safeguarding of world heritage. See the following excerpt from the convention that defines the concept of material cultural heritage:

ARTICLE 1

For the purposes of this Convention, the following shall be considered as cultural heritage:
The monuments. – Monumental architectural, sculpture or painting works, elements of archaeological structures, inscriptions, caves and groups of elements with exceptional universal value from the point of view of history, art or science;
The sets. – Groups of isolated or combined constructions which, by virtue of their architecture, unit or integration into the landscape have exceptional universal value from the point of view of history, art or science;
Places of interest. – Works of man, or combined works of man and nature, and areas, including places of interest archaeological, with an exceptional universal value from a historical, aesthetic, ethnological or anthropological.

Examples of Material Goods

Clothes
museums
theaters
churches
squares
Universities
monuments
Works of art
Utensils

immaterial culture

Associated with the habits, behaviors and customs of a particular social group is immaterial culture or intangible cultural heritage.

This represents the intangible elements of a culture. Therefore, it is formed by abstract elements that are closely related to the traditions, practices, behaviors, techniques and beliefs of a particular social group. Unlike material heritage, this type of culture is transmitted from generation to generation.

It is worth noting that immaterial culture is constantly changing, as its elements are collectively recreated. This makes intangible assets very vulnerable.

For this reason, many programs and projects have been developed in Brazil and around the world with the aim of surveying and recording these practices.

In October 2003, in the city of Paris, France, the “Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage”. This event represented a great advance in the understanding and importance of this concept:

“"Intangible cultural heritage" is understood as the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge and skills - as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated with them - that communities, groups and, eventually, individuals recognize as part of their heritage cultural. This intangible cultural heritage, handed down from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups according to their surroundings, their interaction with nature and its history, and gives them a sense of identity and continuity, thus helping to promote respect for cultural diversity and human creativity.” (Article 2: Definitions)

Examples of Intangibles

dances
songs
Literature
Language
cuisine
rituals
Parties
fairs
legends

Brazilian Material and Intangible Culture

Our country has an immense cultural diversity. In other words, each region of the country has different cultural and historical characteristics. This means that Brazil is home to many elements belonging to material and immaterial cultural heritage.

Understand more about the topic: