Balancing between local nd global: Heritage presentations of central European small towns (Case of Telč and Bardejov)
Abstract
Through the case study of the heritage presentations of Telč and Bardejov, this chapter will focus on the strategies of heritage presentation of two specific central-European historical towns included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Both Telč in the Czech Republic and Bardejov in Slovakia have a long history and deep tradition of cultural heritage represented by many tangible objects as well as by intangible festivals, traditions and historical communities of multiple ethnicities and religions.
However, these small towns are located in remote peripheral areas and they are long-term underdeveloped in the terms of socio-economic indicators. Their huge set of cultural heritage is therefore deliberately used for the purpose of the towns' propagation, to attract tourists and businessmen - in short, to promote the towns in a positive way and to improve their condition.
The question is, how do the towns operate with this recently acquired UNESCO status, a status of universal importance and global attractiveness, in their heritage presentations? How do they approach the UNESCO and the non-UNESCO heritage? Is the UNESCO label seen as a superior value of these towns, making the non- UNESCO heritage minor, pushed away or even forgotten? How do the towns balance their global and local level of heritage? I will therefore examine the heritage presentations produced by both towns in recent years before and after the UNESCO inscription. These are mostly the printed tourist guides and the official websites.
These municipal sources, as well as the claims of municipal representatives, will show the impacts,,the advantages and even possible disadvantages and threats of becoming 'a small local town of big global importance'.