Authenticity in the Heritage Context: A Reflection beyond the Nara Document

The notion of authenticity in the cultural heritage context has been at the centre of an intense debate and policy evolution over the past decades, with significant normative implications, notably within the World Heritage Convention. Two main factors have been driving these processes: the need to integrate new cultural perspectives into the discipline, especially from the non-Western world; and the growing recognition of the role of ‘communities’ in defining heritage value.A shared understanding of what authenticity means and of how it can be demonstrated, however, seems to be still lacking among practitioners and scholars. This is shown by the continuing controversies among experts, as well as by the comparatively large number of heritage properties which, in their nominations for World Heritage inscription, are apparently unable to make a convincing case for their authenticity, at least according to ICOMOS’ evaluation.Against this background, the paper aims at providing a clearer definition of what authenticity means in the context of cultural heritage conservation. It does so by reassessing the whole question from a fresh perspective, drawing more from philosophical and semantic conceptual frameworks than from the existing corpus of doctrinal texts in the heritage field, in an attempt to clarify persisting ambiguities and contribute to the ongoing reflection. In doing so, the paper provides the key elements of a framework to operationalise the concept of authenticity within the cultural heritage context, while also highlighting issues that will require further study and exploration.