This short paper is the first presentation (March 2005) of a research project started in 2004. It focuses on post-Soviet cultural heritage policies and trends in Central Asian countries, with special regard to the situation of museums and galleries.

1. Knowledge Networks for the Cultural Heritage
New trends and issues in Central Asia: A case study
by Alessandro Califano1
The current research starts from heritage related data, regarding Central Asian
countries once being part of the USSR, that can be found in the databases of
Unesco and at ICOM’s Documentation Centre in Paris. It then also focuses on
other museum related information, and on existing heritage networks, at a
local, national, and international level about Central Asia.
A primary purpose for this research is to update and describe existing evidence
of knowledge networks in the area, as well as to underline main trends for a
medium length time span. The fundamental issue hereby at stake is: what
impact do the new nationalisms, and a fresh Islamic cultural identity have on
heritage conservation policies in this area, on the evaluation of the past, and
on the definition of which are to be considered the most relevant elements for
building new national identities in Central Asia?
Assessing if the shift in cultural awareness and institutional priorities has had
(or is likely to have) an impact on conservation policies for pre-Islamic sites
and artefacts, seems a particularly urgent task. Also relevant is a comparison
to conservation trends and policies from the Soviet era.
A second purpose for the research is the identification of priorities and patterns
for a possible interaction – on educational, methodological and/or technological
issues – between local knowledge networks and knowledge bases, and the
international museum community.
A third purpose is to design a short layout of medium and long range cultural
and historical trends in a macro region that – even much before the times of
Alexander the Great – has been a hinge between East and West, and between
southern and northern regions, cultures and economies. Such a description
could be a key to better understand recent transformation patterns, and to
evaluate some of the vast geopolitical trends of the modern age.
[Paris/Rome, March 2005]
1
The author, Ph.D. in Oriental Studies, is Senior Conservator and Project Manager at
CRDAV, the City of Rome’s Research and Documentation Centre for the Visual Arts,
and has been involved since 1980 in the application of new technologies to cultural
heritage and the environment. A member of ICOM (UNESCO), he is also a member of
the Canadian Museums Association (since 1990), and of the Association of American
Geographers.