The heritage chain management. General issues and a case study, China

The paper proposes a framework for the study of cultural heritage management issues: the “heritage chain”. The notion translates the concept of supply chain derived from industrial organization, investigating the set of activities taking place in the heritage sector (from preservation, to archaeological excavation, conservation, research, and museum presentation) in their relationships and abilities to impact performances. The concept can be used both to address problems and inconsistencies within an individual case and, in a comparative perspective, to understand how heritage became structured differently in different countries. In this paper it is applied to a specific case of heritage preservation and management in China: the “Horse and Chariot” Museum. While investigating several aspects of management of the Chinese heritage (a rather unusual field research made possible by an attitude toward international collaboration), the case highlights the ability of the “heritage chain” to grasp a single case of heritage management with a holistic view, opening up possibilities of development for the new framework.