ICH & Museums: Ethics, deontology & instruments

When museums engage with intangible cultural heritage and its practitioners, it’s always important to reflect on the conduct and methods of the process of safeguarding. After all, as soon as you start talking about intangible cultural heritage, people are center stage.

Below we collect some tools that can help determine directions or broaden the outlook on your proceedings.

1. Ethics in general, in relation to intangible cultural heritage and museums

The ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums 'is a reference text setting standards for the practice of museum professionals.'
The web page of UNESCO on Ethics and intangible cultural heritage, includes, among others, UNESCO’s 12 Ethical Principles for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage
UNESCO developed a Capacity-building materials repository in relation to intangible cultural heritage. Several units in this repository cover subjects related to ethics. Unit 38 specifically focusses on ethics and safeguarding intangible cultural heritage (> create an account for access: login required)

2. The importance of involving the communities, groups and individuals concerned

Whatever actions, activities or measures you are planning in relation to intangible cultural heritage, be aware that its practitioners or bearers are the prime custodians of this heritage.

Make sure to reflect on appropriate ways of identifying and involving them.

Know that there are many ways and forms of participation possible, and that these may be valuable in various ways in relation to museums and intangible cultural heritage.

The ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums relflects similar considerations. 'Museum collections reflect the cultural and natural heritage of the communities from which they have been derived. As such, they have a character beyond that of ordinary property, which may include strong affinities with national, regional, local, ethnic, religious or political identity. It is important therefore that museum policy is responsive to this situation,' is the principle underlining chapter VI, titled 'Museums work In close collaboration with the communities from which their collections originate as well as those they serve.'
Unit 7 (Involving communities concerned), Unit 21 (Ethics in community-based inventorying) and Unit 22 (Free, prior and informed consent) of UNESCO’s Capacity-building materials repository shed light on how and why to involve practitioners of intangible cultural heritage.
The IMP-toolkit includes a brainstorm exercise that can help you and your colleagues decide how to go about.
In relation to community participation more broadly, check out The Participatory Museum, a book by Nina Simon, or learn from the experiments and conclusions in the Our Museum initiative.

3. When documenting intangible cultural heritage, make sure you have prior and informed consent from the people involved

An important principle underlying the paradigm of intangible cultural heritage, is that of ‘free, prior and informed consent’. When taking interviews, making photographs or audio-recordings, … for exhibitions or publications for example, this is all the more important.

UNESCO’s Capacity-building materials repository includes a range of theoretical and practical support documents for inventorying intangible cultural heritage, that might come in handy in museums. Free, prior and informed consent form the baseline! Check out Unit 23 to 29.
The Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, as well as the American Folklife Center released interesting publications covering topics such as interviewing and documenting. They also include templates for audio and video recording logs, release forms, et cetera: M. Hunt, The Smithsonian Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide (Washington 2016). S. Winick and P. Bartis, Folklife and Fieldwork: An Introduction to Cultural Documentation (Washington 2016).

4. What about intellectual property rights, access and use?

(Documentary) collections relating to (different domains of) intangible cultural heritage and its bearers, often implicate complex issues relating to intellectual property, and in addition to that – relating to access and use.

In 2010 Molly Torsen and Jane Anderson compiled the book Intellectual Property and the Safeguarding of Traditional Cultures. Legal Issues and Practical Options for Museums, Libraries and Archives (written for WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization). It includes an overview of issues, policy debates, a series of good practices and a useful glossary, directed at museums. The publication is available in English, French and Spanish.
A whole range of background briefs on different topics relating to intellectual property produced by WIPO (such as traditional knowledge and IP), that connect to museums and intangible cultural heritage, can also be found here.
Access and use also are important topics in the book First Peoples: a Roadmap for Enhancing Indigenous Engagement in Museums and Galleries (by Terri Janke). It highlights elements that are of key importance for intangible cultural heritage in general, such as two way care-taking of cultural material, repatriation, policy alignment, (cross-sectoral) collaborations, …
Chapter III of the ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums starts by stating that 'Museums have particular responsibilities to all for the care, accessibility and interpretation of primary evidence collected and held in their collection'.
Caroline Joelle Nwabueze, talks about the 'Role of Intellectual Property in Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in Museums', in het contribution to the International Journal of Intangible Heritage.

5. Think of remunerating involved communities, groups and individuals (or not)

Many practitioners of intangible cultural heritage are self-employed.

Make sure to reflect on the necessity of paying them for their time and effort (or not), and prepare your budget in accordance.

The Museum of English Rural Life published Make your own museum of the intangible: a toolkit. On p. 24 you will read some advice concerning ‘project budgets and paying creative practitioners’.
Customs, practical arrangement and possibilities regarding remuneration differ from country to country. You might think of appointing someone to do research as to what are fair honoraria and establish standard rates, as they did at the University of Newfoundland and Labrador and have a policy in place in the museum.