Conflicts of the heritage: mapping values of immovable cultural heritage in Kaunas downtown area

Abstract

The article focuses on the process of defining the value of the immovable heritage of Kaunas downtown (Naujamiestis) area. This urban landscape is protected by the national law of Lithuania. However, the official value of the site also includes 45 buildings marked with European heritage label (EHL). Besides, there are aspirations to inscript modern architecture of Kaunas on the UNESCO World heritage list. The main objective of the article is to discuss how these official layers of values correspond with expectations of the heritage community. Academic and doctrinal texts on cultural heritage widely acknowledged the importance of the community in the process of value definition. This aspect is especially important when speaking about the heritage of the 20th century. Majority of these buildings that were announced as a cultural heritage directly affect daily activities of the heritage community. After comparing some instruments official institutions and heritage community use for the value definition, it can be declared that in such complex territories as Kaunas downtown, all actions on the value definition have to be based on research. One of the tasks of such research should be a comprehensive map of values combining expectations of official institutions and the heritage community. The article was prepared within the framework of project “Heritage as a conflict: the shift between modernist and after-modernist concepts of heritage in Lithuania” financed by the program of the Researcher teams’ projects of Research Council of Lithuania (Agreement no. MIP-028/2015).