Integrità e autenticità

Integrity and Authenticity are two words, two concepts, which can be confused, due to the different terminological misunderstandings that arise in the different cultural areas of our planet. In the World Heritage System, the concept of Integrity is the measure of completeness and untouchability, of our Pre-existence recognised as Cultural or Natural Heritage. “A statement of integrity needs to set out how the collection of features, processes and/or attributes that convey potential Outstanding Universal Value are contained within the boundaries and that the property exhibits a satisfactory state of conservation and its values are not threatened”. In these texts, the Integrity of the pre-existence refers to the state of so-called completeness and untouchability, and is related to “the attributes” necessary to convey OUV (Outstanding Universal Value). So we should know what the different attributes of the OUV are? In the definition, Integrity was associated with the analytical process to establish Authenticity. As in various cultures and traditions the number of the Word Heritage List has expanded, perhaps a little too much, it is now deemed necessary to find convergences, in agreement, to the various definitions of concepts, methodological criteria and practical uses. The analysis of Authenticity, as defined in the Operational Guidelines can be considered as the examination of a series of possible qualities (or weaknesses) defined by a “given attribute”, and offer a series of characteristics that can be tangible and intangible. Sometimes it may seem that a high degree of Integrity may collide with Authenticity. In this contribution, we would like to take a closer look at these concepts, definitions, which have been encountered daily at various international congresses for several decades.