Document Type : Original/Research/Regular Article
Authors
1
Faculty of Arts, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran
2
TMU
3
Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran
10.22051/jtpva.2023.42003.1468
Abstract
Conservation and sustainable use of natural ecosystems, as well as paying particular attention to cultural services, are the basis for increasing the quality of life and achieving well-being. The interaction between biological and cultural diversities makes them stronger and protecting them is essential to ensure a sustainable balance in social and ecological systems. Therefore, it is not possible to understand and protect natural ecosystems without recognizing cultures related to them. From an economic (material) point of view, it is necessary to make the right decisions to get the most benefit from environmental services. However, deep cultural (non-material) attitude followed by cultural valuation based on reflecting the spiritual dimensions of the ecosystem should also be considered as cultural services of the ecosystem. As a result, the interaction between the biological and cultural diversities of the ecosystem strengthens both of them in the three domains: physical, psychological and social. Finally, a sustainable balance will be established. Ecosystem cultural services are advantages that ecosystems provide for human well-being through shaping identities, gaining experiences, and providing facilities. More precisely, ecosystem cultural services are non-material benefits that humans obtain from ecosystems through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development, reflectance, recreation, and aesthetic experiences. According to the definitions stated in the ecosystem services policy to determine the programs (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment), cultural services are classified into ten categories: cultural heritage, educational values, recreation and ecotourism, social interactions, knowledge systems, spiritual and religious values, inspiration, aesthetic values, cultural diversity and a sense of place. Art, which is one of the non-material benefits that humans get from the ecosystem as a cultural service, is placed in the category of symbolic (inspiring) values of cultural services. Therefore, focusing on the category of art, as a symbolic value and a cultural service, as well as creating an artistic dialogue as an intermediate discussion between two material and non-material approaches to the ecosystem, which evaluates questions and challenges and provides reinterpretations, can define the meaning of a topic, problem or place or lead to specific decisions, and as an illustration that has epistemological dimensions, can also focus on culture and its conceptualization and be effective in the sustainability of the ecosystem. Environmental art is a type of art that has an important role in natural ecosystems because of its interactive approach in this field. Due to its visual structure, the art makes it possible to create a dialogue between nature and the audience, as well as understand the cultural dimension of the ecosystem. Also, it causes spiritual enrichment, cognitive development and aesthetic experience of the environment and creates a set of experiences that lead to the recognition of many different advantages of the ecosystem for the establishment of cultural practices and cognitive and non-cognitive interactions between people and their landscapes, positions and life spaces. The main goal of environmental art can be considered as creating a context for establishing stable harmony between humans and natural elements through education and interpretation of natural processes, reviving damaged environments, providing new courses of action for coexistence with the surrounding environment, and interdisciplinary participation in society. Considering the importance of education in environmental art, people's participation is one of the basic events of this process, and environmental art is based on such relationships. Therefore, the part of people's life that is influenced by culture and nature should be investigated with environmental art. Environmental art is based on the interaction between humans and the environment as well as environmental perception, it relies on cultural issues and is established based on reflecting the attention to environmental issues. On the other hand, it was stated that cultural services, that have an intangible and interpretive nature, are obtained from the interaction between humans and their ecosystem and are based on the quality of perception. Therefore, commonalities in the concepts related to cultural services and environmental art and the alignment of these concepts make it possible for them to influence each other in a natural context. In order to provide new perspectives on understanding the human-environment relationship, and more precisely, to provide solutions for improving the human-environment relationship by measuring the impact of art and culture, it is necessary to conduct interdisciplinary research. The results will undoubtedly develop culture, increase people's awareness of environmental restoration and conservation and encourage them to protect and restore it. Anzali Wetland is one of the tourism hubs in Gilan province; in terms of environment, culture and economy, it has remarkable impacts on the local residents and provides them with a variety of cultural services. According to the concept of environmental art and its obvious form in nature as nature art, a proper context has been provided for the use of this type of art in linking the cultural services of this aquatic ecosystem with social and cultural benefits for the native community. To analyze this relationship, it can be useful to measure the perception of local communities around this wetland about its cultural services. The aim of this research is to evaluate the impact and efficiency of environmental art on the understanding of Anzali Wetland cultural services from the perspective of knowledgeable experts, by using a new perspective on the relationship between suburbanites and nature in the context of Anzali Wetland and also determining the perceptual territories for various cultural services that originate from this relationship. It also aimed to find new courses of action for the compatible and resilient coexistence of the local community and wetland nature, as well as provide the basis for the promotion of the perception of Anzali Wetland cultural services and the conservation and sustainable use of this valuable and damaged ecosystem. In this research, suburbanites of Anzali Wetland were interviewed. The obtained data were prepared for the relevant experts in the form of questionnaires. This method was used with the aim of investigating the performance of environmental art and its appropriate type in the perception of local communities about the cultural services of the wetland. The results showed that the effectiveness of environmental art is more in understanding Cultural Heritage, Education and Social Interactions. Based on the results and also considering that the level of perception for these three services was found to be low, it can be concluded that environmental art can be useful in improving the perception of these services. Among 4 innovative types for environmental art, the "In Nature" type, in which the artwork is created and presented in the context of nature, has been recognized as more appropriate for the perception of most cultural services. In this research, most information has been collected by field, and some by library, methods; they presented by descriptive analytical method.
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