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To UNESCO and the signatory states of the World Heritage Convention: Request to recognize wine as the world cultural heritage!
Oleg C.
started this petition to
To UNESCO and the signatory states of the World Heritage Convention
Wine as a cultural phenomenon has had a great influence on human development for over 8000 years. It is known that the emergence and rise of civilizations have always concurred with the development of viniculture. Wine was an essential element of religions, rituals and mysteries. It encompasses both a sacral and social status and thus overcomes and bridges “the gap” between culture (the world of spirit) and civilization (the material world)”.
The wine phenomenon goes far beyond the concept of a beverage and agricultural product and represents a cultural and value space composed of the traditions of the past, regulated and streamlined in accordance with the current social and cultural criteria serving utilitarian, esthetic, ethic, cognitive, cathartic and therapeutic functions. As wine and its associated viniculture processes evolved as a work of culture, art, craft and science, it stimulated development of literature, painting, architecture, physics, chemistry, music, dance, theatricals, gastronomy, meteorology, medicine, applied arts, etc.
A participant in sacral, social and economic processes, wine emerged as a regulator of social relations and a means for modifying the behavior of both an individual and a group of individuals as a whole. Wine drinking involves all aspects of personality and thus “enables a man for a small moment to immerse himself in the condition normally inherent in gods.” As early as 5000 B.C. the ancient Egyptians had been well aware of the tranquilizing and cathartic properties of wine and, moreover, had used it as a medicine for many diseases. Hippocrates identified that “wine was surprisingly good for a human body, be it healthy or out of health;” it is in harmony with the Hippocratic principle that holds that “treatment should be pleasant,” Plutarch stated, “Wine is one of the best remedies for protecting a human body and one of the most tooth some dishes.” Later, Louis Pasteur commented, “Wine with good reason can be considered the most healthful beverage.”
Wine and the associated processes developed by past generations have survived the test of time and are among the human values that have gone through all eras of development and proven its evolutionary value. This experience of many generations, this art, can be rightly considered as the world’s cultural heritage to be preserved for the future of our civilization.
It is known, that “The status of any cultural phenomenon changes subject to the philosophical, ideological, axiological and administrative and legislative conceptions that may vary from complete negation of its significance in history to its idealization” (Selesneva E.). To ensure the continuity of the history of wine, it is important to develop up-to-date cultural codes and up-to-date programs for finding a solution to this issue at the present time:
• Cognitive function (combining the sensual experience of wine drinking with the traditions and history of viniculture; understanding the functions and missions of wine by means of literature, music, painting, architecture, gastronomy, applied arts, etc.; preserving the traditions and monuments of the history of viniculture in various regions of the world; continuity and development of new technologies of viniculture and wine businesses; cultivating mouth-feel; understanding the sense experience).
• Educational function (creating awareness of the therapeutic and cathartic properties of wine subject to adequate consumption; explaining the ethical and moral phasis of substance abuse; teaching the wine drinking culture, particularly among youth, to prevent substance abuse and drug addiction).
• Communicative function (bridge-building; developing communication and understanding skills, particularly when differences in cross-cultural, group, individual and contextual behavioral patterns impede communication and dialogue).
• Utilitarian function (ritual and goetic, practical and cognitive, sign and communicative functions; a gastronomic item highlighting specific features of an ethnic cuisine).
• Esthetic function (a means for meeting esthetic requirements and cultivating esthetic sensitivity; in this context a sense of beauty is not only a result of education, breeding and civilization but also one of the fundamental properties of human nature).
• Relaxing function (due to the esthetic effect and operation of the chemical components of wine; particularly in the context of drastic social changes both at the level of an individual and a community as a whole);
• Health-improving function (due to the unique chemical composition (polyphenols, micronutrients, vitamins) wine, if consumed in moderate doses, may contribute to improving health and preventing certain diseases).
Recognition of wine as the world’s cultural heritage contributes to the creation of global programs focused on maintaining and developing the traditions and culture of viniculture and wine drinking. An adage holds that “the wine drinking culture determines the social environment.” Professional psychologists indicate that a cornerstone to the drinking culture is laid from childhood both in the family and the community. It is important that the educational curricula include “the wine drinking culture.” The wine drinking culture is the most civilized and natural means for fighting drug abuse and alcoholism, promoting health and preventing the risks related to inadequate or excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, and, particularly, hard liquor. Excessive and inadequate drinking of alcoholic beverage results in persistent alcohol abuse.
Wine differs from spirit-containing beverages, in that it is a complex organic product centered on microbiological and microelement components. It has an overall positive bioenergetic and health-improving impact on the human body, and can be a helpful aid in regaining stamina. Wine, if consumed moderately, contributes to the upsurge of creative effort and performance capability. It is rather a subject of rejoicing and having a good time, more so than a means for forgetting one self and escaping reality. The ethics of wine drinking is one of the traits of a highly-cultured person.
Another important factor is the advocacy and promotion of the modern feast culture, i.e. a whole set of worldly traditions and culinary regulations that turn drinking into a beautiful ceremony associated with the warmth and pleasure of human contact. We should start with building a proper attitude toward wine with its positive and health-improving properties in mind and drink it in doses that are not detrimental to health and do not result in asocial behavior. In many countries moderate wine drinking is an integral part of the lifestyle, manners and culture. Wine drinking is a socially adapted phenomenon. Moreover, collective drinking has been for a long time perceived as one of the manifestations of socialization, such as hospitality, human contact and trust.
It is important to promote and foster globally the wine drinking culture through organizing viniculture museums, various festivals, exhibitions, auctions, presentations and wine tastings. This can also be accomplished through creating specialized magazines and TV programs; developing awareness-raising and educational programs; promoting wine tourism including sightseeing, visits to wineries, local wine and ethnic cuisine tasting; increasing food and wine awareness to improve the alcohol culture in a community; and introducing IT into the educational and professional aspects of the wine industry.
Today when it is common for the pop culture to override the cultural traditions, it is critically important to turn to the experiences of the past, to create mechanisms for the traditions and continuity factors transfer, and to identify universals contributing to the community adaptation to the environment. The current phase of history characterized “by pursuit of social stability is in need of sustainable and balanced models of culture as was the case in the Antiquity, the Renaissance and Classicism.” Wine with its multi-functional properties may become an example of such a model of equilibrium.
For this challenge to be met, it is important to grant wine the status of the world’s cultural heritage. It is known that “the cultural heritage covers the objects and property that emerged as a result of a historical event and are of great importance and value in the context of history, archeology, architecture, art, science and technology, esthetics, ethnology or anthropology and social culture and are the evidence of eras and civilizations.”(Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, The General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris, 1972). This definition expressly determines the place and role of wine and the associated processes in the history of human development.
Please, join us in making Wine, as a product of viniculture and the moderate wine drinking traditions, a part of the of the world cultural heritage!
I support a proposal to recognize Wine and the related wine traditions as an object of the world cultural heritage as I am assured that Wine is a masterpiece of the human creative genius and a universal human value.
I request to recognize wine as the world cultural heritage of the human civilization with a view to create favorable conditions for developing viniculture and to foster the wine drinking culture as a means for strengthening interpersonal communication and social stability and preventing drug addiction and alcoholism.
__________________________________
www.gesundmitwein.de
The wine phenomenon goes far beyond the concept of a beverage and agricultural product and represents a cultural and value space composed of the traditions of the past, regulated and streamlined in accordance with the current social and cultural criteria serving utilitarian, esthetic, ethic, cognitive, cathartic and therapeutic functions. As wine and its associated viniculture processes evolved as a work of culture, art, craft and science, it stimulated development of literature, painting, architecture, physics, chemistry, music, dance, theatricals, gastronomy, meteorology, medicine, applied arts, etc.
A participant in sacral, social and economic processes, wine emerged as a regulator of social relations and a means for modifying the behavior of both an individual and a group of individuals as a whole. Wine drinking involves all aspects of personality and thus “enables a man for a small moment to immerse himself in the condition normally inherent in gods.” As early as 5000 B.C. the ancient Egyptians had been well aware of the tranquilizing and cathartic properties of wine and, moreover, had used it as a medicine for many diseases. Hippocrates identified that “wine was surprisingly good for a human body, be it healthy or out of health;” it is in harmony with the Hippocratic principle that holds that “treatment should be pleasant,” Plutarch stated, “Wine is one of the best remedies for protecting a human body and one of the most tooth some dishes.” Later, Louis Pasteur commented, “Wine with good reason can be considered the most healthful beverage.”
Wine and the associated processes developed by past generations have survived the test of time and are among the human values that have gone through all eras of development and proven its evolutionary value. This experience of many generations, this art, can be rightly considered as the world’s cultural heritage to be preserved for the future of our civilization.
It is known, that “The status of any cultural phenomenon changes subject to the philosophical, ideological, axiological and administrative and legislative conceptions that may vary from complete negation of its significance in history to its idealization” (Selesneva E.). To ensure the continuity of the history of wine, it is important to develop up-to-date cultural codes and up-to-date programs for finding a solution to this issue at the present time:
• Cognitive function (combining the sensual experience of wine drinking with the traditions and history of viniculture; understanding the functions and missions of wine by means of literature, music, painting, architecture, gastronomy, applied arts, etc.; preserving the traditions and monuments of the history of viniculture in various regions of the world; continuity and development of new technologies of viniculture and wine businesses; cultivating mouth-feel; understanding the sense experience).
• Educational function (creating awareness of the therapeutic and cathartic properties of wine subject to adequate consumption; explaining the ethical and moral phasis of substance abuse; teaching the wine drinking culture, particularly among youth, to prevent substance abuse and drug addiction).
• Communicative function (bridge-building; developing communication and understanding skills, particularly when differences in cross-cultural, group, individual and contextual behavioral patterns impede communication and dialogue).
• Utilitarian function (ritual and goetic, practical and cognitive, sign and communicative functions; a gastronomic item highlighting specific features of an ethnic cuisine).
• Esthetic function (a means for meeting esthetic requirements and cultivating esthetic sensitivity; in this context a sense of beauty is not only a result of education, breeding and civilization but also one of the fundamental properties of human nature).
• Relaxing function (due to the esthetic effect and operation of the chemical components of wine; particularly in the context of drastic social changes both at the level of an individual and a community as a whole);
• Health-improving function (due to the unique chemical composition (polyphenols, micronutrients, vitamins) wine, if consumed in moderate doses, may contribute to improving health and preventing certain diseases).
Recognition of wine as the world’s cultural heritage contributes to the creation of global programs focused on maintaining and developing the traditions and culture of viniculture and wine drinking. An adage holds that “the wine drinking culture determines the social environment.” Professional psychologists indicate that a cornerstone to the drinking culture is laid from childhood both in the family and the community. It is important that the educational curricula include “the wine drinking culture.” The wine drinking culture is the most civilized and natural means for fighting drug abuse and alcoholism, promoting health and preventing the risks related to inadequate or excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, and, particularly, hard liquor. Excessive and inadequate drinking of alcoholic beverage results in persistent alcohol abuse.
Wine differs from spirit-containing beverages, in that it is a complex organic product centered on microbiological and microelement components. It has an overall positive bioenergetic and health-improving impact on the human body, and can be a helpful aid in regaining stamina. Wine, if consumed moderately, contributes to the upsurge of creative effort and performance capability. It is rather a subject of rejoicing and having a good time, more so than a means for forgetting one self and escaping reality. The ethics of wine drinking is one of the traits of a highly-cultured person.
Another important factor is the advocacy and promotion of the modern feast culture, i.e. a whole set of worldly traditions and culinary regulations that turn drinking into a beautiful ceremony associated with the warmth and pleasure of human contact. We should start with building a proper attitude toward wine with its positive and health-improving properties in mind and drink it in doses that are not detrimental to health and do not result in asocial behavior. In many countries moderate wine drinking is an integral part of the lifestyle, manners and culture. Wine drinking is a socially adapted phenomenon. Moreover, collective drinking has been for a long time perceived as one of the manifestations of socialization, such as hospitality, human contact and trust.
It is important to promote and foster globally the wine drinking culture through organizing viniculture museums, various festivals, exhibitions, auctions, presentations and wine tastings. This can also be accomplished through creating specialized magazines and TV programs; developing awareness-raising and educational programs; promoting wine tourism including sightseeing, visits to wineries, local wine and ethnic cuisine tasting; increasing food and wine awareness to improve the alcohol culture in a community; and introducing IT into the educational and professional aspects of the wine industry.
Today when it is common for the pop culture to override the cultural traditions, it is critically important to turn to the experiences of the past, to create mechanisms for the traditions and continuity factors transfer, and to identify universals contributing to the community adaptation to the environment. The current phase of history characterized “by pursuit of social stability is in need of sustainable and balanced models of culture as was the case in the Antiquity, the Renaissance and Classicism.” Wine with its multi-functional properties may become an example of such a model of equilibrium.
For this challenge to be met, it is important to grant wine the status of the world’s cultural heritage. It is known that “the cultural heritage covers the objects and property that emerged as a result of a historical event and are of great importance and value in the context of history, archeology, architecture, art, science and technology, esthetics, ethnology or anthropology and social culture and are the evidence of eras and civilizations.”(Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, The General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Paris, 1972). This definition expressly determines the place and role of wine and the associated processes in the history of human development.
Please, join us in making Wine, as a product of viniculture and the moderate wine drinking traditions, a part of the of the world cultural heritage!
I support a proposal to recognize Wine and the related wine traditions as an object of the world cultural heritage as I am assured that Wine is a masterpiece of the human creative genius and a universal human value.
I request to recognize wine as the world cultural heritage of the human civilization with a view to create favorable conditions for developing viniculture and to foster the wine drinking culture as a means for strengthening interpersonal communication and social stability and preventing drug addiction and alcoholism.
__________________________________
www.gesundmitwein.de
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