Roundtable: Interpretations and recommendations for the Archaeological Parks of San Agustín and Isnos (Huila, Colombia)
This multidisciplinary roundtable constitutes a central activity of the project WHV – Living Heritage! Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the San Agustín and Isnos Archaeological Parks as World Heritage. It seeks to foster an integrative dialogue on the statuary and its symbolic values of these World Heritage sites, advancing both scholarly and community-based perspectives. Convened in a hybrid format, the session will engage institutional, academic, and grassroots actors, including representatives from the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH), the Centro de Investigación Social of the Universidad Surcolombiana, the Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia (UNAD), the Vigías del Patrimonio Cultural “Guardianes del Macizo,” and residents of San Agustín and Isnos.
The roundtable is designed to articulate diverse epistemologies and methodological approaches, incorporating archaeological, geographical, and biological expertise alongside the knowledge of local tradition-bearers. This exchange will enable a holistic consideration of both tangible and intangible dimensions of the archaeological parks. In particular, participants will critically assess the current challenges to the preservation of the monumental statuary—such as deterioration, visitor impact, and risks of misappropriation—while also foregrounding the immaterial values, symbolic meanings, and practices of appropriation that communities attribute to the heritage.
Through this dialogue, the event aims to produce concrete recommendations to strengthen preservation strategies, informed simultaneously by technical disciplines and lived cultural experience. Moreover, by explicitly acknowledging intangible cultural dimensions within the framework of material heritage management, the roundtable aligns with UNESCO’s integrated vision of heritage, echoing the synergies between the 1972 and 2003 Conventions.
This event is made possible thanks to the leadership of Corporación Huiltur (NGO-90576 accredited by the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage), the volunteer group Vigías del Patrimonio Cultural Huiltur, and the Macizo Colombiano: Cultura y Patrimonio Research Group, within the framework of the aforementioned project, which is part of the World Heritage Volunteers (WHV) Initiative of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Better World / International Workcamp Organization.
Programme
- 4 October 2025 8:00AM: Roundtable ‘Interpretations and recommendations for the preservation of the statuary in the Archaeological Parks of San Agustín and Isnos’
Streaming in: https://www.youtube.com/live/vCy1saHOzYM and https://www.facebook.com/vigiashuiltur
Text as provided by the organiser(s).