“Cultural heritage is an ongoing process”: A few notes

This paper aims to undertake a preliminary analysis of the ongoing international processes of decolonising cultural heritage. The following study will be divided into two main parts: the first will delve into the evolution of the concept of authenticity from the Venice Charter to the Nara Document, concluding with an examination of the relationship between heritage authenticity and the growth of cultural tourism. The second part will focus on repatriation demands within the context of the Declaration on the Importance and Value of Universal Museums and identity-based movements aimed at decolonising museum institutions. The primary goal of this work is to identify the underlying ontological and epistemological frameworks shaping the various approaches to constructing cultural heritage in the contemporary world.