Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Burra Charter

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Author
  
Meredith Walker

Language
  
English

Published
  
2013

Country
  
Australia

Genre
  
Non Fiction

Publisher
  
Australia/ICOMOS Peter Marquis-Kyle

The Burra Charter defines the basic principles and procedures to be followed in the conservation of Australian heritage places.

Contents

In 1979, the Australia ICOMOS Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Significance was adopted at a meeting of Australia ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) at the historic mining town of Burra, South Australia. It was given the short title of The Burra Charter.

The Burra Charter accepted the philosophy and concepts of the ICOMOS Venice Charter, but wrote them in a form which would be practical and useful in Australia. The Charter was revised in 1999 and has since been adopted by the Australian Heritage Council (December 2004), the Heritage Council of New South Wales (December 2004), the Queensland Heritage Council (January 2005) and the Heritage Council of Victoria (July 2010). It is also recommended by the Heritage Council of Western Australia and the Tasmanian Heritage Council.

Significance

The Burra Charter is recognised as having pioneered the understanding of cultural heritage as going beyond the mere preservation of the built environment.

Definitions

The Burra Charter identifies three levels of repair for heritage structures. These are:

  • Preservation - Maintaining a place in its existing state and preventing further deterioration.
  • Restoration - Returning a place to a known earlier state by removing accretions or by reassembling existing elements without the introduction of new material.
  • Reconstruction - Returning a place to a known earlier state and is distinguished from restoration by the introduction of new material.

    • References

    Burra Charter Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA