Evaluation of the Authenticity in Conservation of Persian Heritage: The Role of Continuity Vernacular Culture in Artistic Creation

The variety of criteria used in preserving the authenticity during the process of conservation of historical heritage has been itself reckoned as an index of international cultural diversity. Thus, paying a close attention to such vernacular approaches would be effective in deepening the worldwide understanding of the concept of authenticity. To strengthen this hypothesis, the results of reviewing the Sadraean doctrine of principality of the existence were applied to promote the common method of authenticity evaluation. Seven commonly used criteria of authenticity extracted from the theoretical texts of conservation and the practical attitudes were analyzed for their dependence on the specific cultural discourse from which they were arisen and their general limitation in concentration on limited existential dimension of the historic work. In response to this challenge, a feasibility study was accomplished to present a different interpretation of authenticity of historic work as a dynamic unity by reviewing the approach of Sadraean doctrine toward key-terms of historic conservation literature such as time and materiality of heritage. As a result of this study the concept of “continuity of vernacular culture of artistic creation” has been introduced as a new criterion for evaluation of authenticity especially for those monuments which still play a role in the dynamic social life of urban textures or religious places. Respecting the physical manifestations of this concept in the old and new parts of a historic work (i.e. repairs, reconstructions, and additions) would results in further coordination of conservation process and vernacular values as well as deepening of worldwide understanding of the authenticity