 An extreme example of how efforts to physically preserve may compromise the socially constructed meaning of the object is the Shinto Shrines of Ise Jingu, in Japan (Maré, 2004). These shrines are of significant cultural and spiritual value to the Japanese people, but every twenty years since the time of Emperor Temmu in the 7th century C.E. the buildings are completely destroyed and rebuilt. The rebuilding process is based on descriptions in the Documents on the rituals of the Great Shrine of Ise which dates from 804 C.E. and ensures that the recreations are exact replicas of the shrines taken down. Physical preservation of these monuments would damage the spiritual and cultural integrity of the process and purpose behind the continuous rebuilding.   Physical preservation can also work to maintain spiritual and culture integrity of an object, especially in the case of musical instruments. At the violin museum in Cremona, Italy, nine instruments crafted by the Amatis, Guarneris, and by Antonio Stradivari are played ceremoniously six days a week – both to keep them in good physical, playable condition, and to maintain their cultural significance and meaning. From the island of Java in Indonesia, the instruments of the gamelan are treated with respect and reverence, and played on a regular basis to maintain their physical and spiritual life. They are played only for certain occasions and only by certain individuals trained in the art. They must also be handled and stored with care to be sure no one should compromise their spiritual integrity by stepping over them. (Kartomi and Mendonça) Gamelan instruments can be found in museums throughout North America, but to accurately remain gamelan instruments, they must be treated and respected according to both their physical and spiritual properties. However, examples of the significance of meaning and spiritual integrity exist in North America as well. Jish is a Navajo medicine bundle used in religious rituals related to curing or prevention, and specific care and established provenance is necessary to preserve the existence of jish versus a simple bundle of herb and grasses. NAGPRA, or North American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act has helped to highlight this issue of meaning and spiritual integrity in the United States. The act not only covers objects and remains recovered from American Indian graves, but the subsequent literary material developed based on the examination and analysis of these objects. (Grose) Preservation of meaning is perhaps most relevant and recognized in museum collections, but this does not mean there are not key books and documents that are defined by their social construction as well as their physical existence. When a book printed on acid paper turns to dust, there is no doubt that it ceases to exist as book. However, when books are stacked on top of a Koran, or a Guru Granth Sahib is repaired rather than ceremoniously cremated, the spiritual integrity of these texts is compromised or destroyed, and the physical object is void of spiritual or cultural meaning. It may at this point actually cease to be what it had been previously identified as, at least in terms of its cultural or spiritual meaning.
Religion Some Shinto shrines are regularly destroyed and rebuilt in order to preserve their meaning An extreme example of how efforts to physically preserve may compromise the socially constructed meaning of the object is the Shinto Shrines of Ise Jingu, in Japan (Maré, 2004). These shrines are of significant cultural and spiritual value to the Japanese people, but every twenty years since the time of Emperor Temmu in the 7th century C.E. the buildings are completely destroyed and rebuilt. The rebuilding process is based on descriptions in the Documents on the rituals of the Great Shrine of Ise which dates from 804 C.E. and ensures that the recreations are exact replicas of the shrines taken down. Physical preservation of these monuments would damage the spiritual and cultural integrity of the process and purpose behind the continuous rebuilding. However, examples of the significance of meaning and spiritual integrity exist in North America as well. Jish is a Navajo medicine bundle used in religious rituals related to curing or prevention, and specific care and established provenance is necessary to preserve the existence of jish versus a simple bundle of herb and grasses. NAGPRA, or North American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act has helped to highlight this issue of meaning and spiritual integrity in the United States. The act not only covers objects and remains recovered from American Indian graves, but the subsequent literary material developed based on the examination and analysis of these objects. (Grose) Culture A Stradivarius violin, some of which are regularly ceremoniously played so they maintain their cultural significance Physical preservation can also work to maintain spiritual and culture integrity of an object, especially in the case of musical instruments. At the violin museum in Cremona, Italy, nine instruments crafted by the Amatis, Guarneris, and by Antonio Stradivari are played ceremoniously six days a week – both to keep them in good physical, playable condition, and to maintain their cultural significance and meaning. From the island of Java in Indonesia, the instruments of the gamelan are treated with respect and reverence, and played on a regular basis to maintain their physical and spiritual life. They are played only for certain occasions and only by certain individuals trained in the art. They must also be handled and stored with care to be sure no one should compromise their spiritual integrity by stepping over them. (Kartomi and Mendonça) Gamelan instruments can be found in museums throughout North America, but to accurately remain gamelan instruments, they must be treated and respected according to both their physical and spiritual properties. Collections Preservation of meaning is perhaps most relevant and recognized in museum collections, but this does not mean there are not key books and documents that are defined by their social construction as well as their physical existence. When a book printed on acid paper turns to dust, there is no doubt that it ceases to exist as book. However, when books are stacked on top of a Koran, or a Guru Granth Sahib is repaired rather than ceremoniously cremated, the spiritual integrity of these texts is compromised or destroyed, and the physical object is void of spiritual or cultural meaning. It may at this point actually cease to be what it had been previously identified as, at least in terms of its cultural or spiritual meaning.
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Religion Some Shinto shrines are regularly destroyed and rebuilt in order to preserve their meaning
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However, examples of the significance of meaning and spiritual integrity exist in North America as well. Jish is a Navajo medicine bundle used in religious rituals related to curing or prevention, and specific care and established provenance is necessary to preserve the existence of jish versus a simple bundle of herb and grasses. NAGPRA, or North American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act has helped to highlight this issue of meaning and spiritual integrity in the United States. The act not only covers objects and remains recovered from American Indian graves, but the subsequent literary material developed based on the examination and analysis of these objects. (Grose)
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Culture A Stradivarius violin, some of which are regularly ceremoniously played so they maintain their cultural significance
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However, examples of the significance of meaning and spiritual integrity exist in North America as well. Jish is a Navajo medicine bundle used in religious rituals related to curing or prevention, and specific care and established provenance is necessary to preserve the existence of jish versus a simple bundle of herb and grasses. NAGPRA, or North American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act has helped to highlight this issue of meaning and spiritual integrity in the United States. The act not only covers objects and remains recovered from American Indian graves, but the subsequent literary material developed based on the examination and analysis of these objects. (Grose)
Collections