The Nara Document on Authenticity Adopted

Conservation experts meeting in Nara, Japan in 1994, under the auspices of UNESCO, ICOMOS and the Japanese government, adopted the Nara Document on Authenticity in response to concerns that the Venice Charter's largely Western, material-fabric-centered definition of authenticity did not fit heritage traditions elsewhere in the world, including Japan's own practice of periodically rebuilding wooden shrines such as Ise using original techniques. The document argued that judgments of authenticity must be rooted in the cultural context of the heritage in question rather than applying one fixed international standard, recognizing form, design, materials, use, tradition, spirit and other culturally specific values as legitimate grounds for authenticity. It became a foundational reference for UNESCO World Heritage practice and broadened international conservation theory beyond a single Eurocentric model.