the REMAINS OF THE BEAUTY: A DEFINITION OF BEAUTY

The study Cultural heritage counts for Europe (2015), demonstrated how cultural heritage is central to the processes of value production also in terms of its contribution to continuous social innovation. The focus is not only on the tangible and physical assets, but also on the intangible ones. Thoughts and beliefs stemming from very different historical and geographical contexts are confronting each other with increasing frequency. This research asks whether the cultural values and ideals we relied on in the last century are also somehow changing. In the light of modernity and of the present uncertainties (i.e. migrations, pandemic…), we probably have to redefine and reaffirm what we took for granted during the second half of the twentieth century, i.e. the idea of beauty. A series of interviews with experts to deepen the perception and definition of the concept of beauty are at the core of this paper. Keywords: Beauty and heritage; interviews; definition of beauty; social changes