THE LINK TO PAST & FUTURE

HERITAGE provides us a comforting and meaningful context to life. It allows us to communicate with the past, standing in the present and envisioning the future. Any activity that undermines one’s heritage can only be considered insane.

We’ve just emerged from a year that had been observed as the Year of Cultural Heritage by the European Commission. But heritage, never confined by our inane concepts of time, is perennial, and every year deserves to be the Year of Cultural Heritage.

Governments and communities all over the world have recognised the priceless value of heritage, and have been coming up with efforts that encourage more people, especially the youth, to discover, appreciate and engage with their national and local culture and heritage. Be it at the national or community level, if there is something that can instil a sense of belonging, shared identity, hope and worth among people, it can be heritage only.

Heritage can be tangible, intangible, natural or even digital. Every old building, every artifact, every traditional cultural element, every epic, every traditional food, every natural landscape and every ancient site must take us closer to our heritage: if they don’t, it’s time we analyse our sense and sensibility. Though heritage is in essence the past, what sustains them is our present engagement with it. And this engagement shapes our future. Because, knowing our heritage helps us know ourselves and enrich our lives.

The beauty is, while heritage gives us a context to celebrate life, life gives us a context to celebrate heritage. This is how the Heritage Village at the Muscat Festival assumes significance.

As usual, one of the major attractions at the ongoing Muscat Festival 2019 is the famed Heritage Villages at the Al Amerat Park and Naseem Park venues.