“ Many thanks go to Moana University of Technology (MUT), formerly Tongan International Academy (TIA), generally and Dr Aurelie Condevaux specifically for keeping with great sacrifice, passion and interest the intellectual, cultural and artistic and literary life of Tonga actively critically thriving. Herein, MUT and Dr Condevaux, supposedly yet purposely like all universities and academics alike, actively play a pivotal or vital role as critics of society and physicians of culture.
While the foresight of UNESCO, as in the formation of the 1972 World Heritage Convention and 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, is well-received and duly celebrated, there are however grave reservations as to their overemphasis on the utility of culture over its quality (that is, what culture is over what culture does).
If culture is to be taken seriously, then UNESCO must see to it that it puts the order of precedence correctly, where its quality is made to precede its utility, in that logical order -- as opposed to putting its utility before its quality, like putting the cart before the horse. Quite simply, we have to thoroughly know culture first before it can be of effective, creative and innovative use to us (that is, what culture is or cultural knowledge taking the lead over what culture does or cultural use).
This points to the inseparability or indivisibility of knowledge ('ilo and skills [poto]) acquired in education (ako) as an intellectual (and practical) process, which are then historically constituted or composed in culture (fonua / kalatua) as a social receptacle and dialectically transmitted or communicated in language (tala / lea) as a human vehicle in time (ta) and space (va).
By the same token, it therefore tells us that both the 1972 World Heritage Convention and 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage are immediately or primarily concerned with knowledge and skills (that is, quality or the question what is) and remotely or secondarily with either both culture and language merely as vehicles, devices or means or their use for people (that is, utility or the question of what does).
'Ofa manatu & manatu 'ofa,
Hufanga Dr 'Okusitino Mahina
Professor of Art, Culture & Critical Anthropology &'
Dean - Inquiry & Research, MUT ”