Digital meets Culture

how can tangible artefacts as photographs and other items represent intangible heritage such as traditions, practices, skills and cultural phenomena?

WEAVE blogpost: The Paradox of Intangible Heritage

Rugby League Cup final between Bradford Northern , the holders , and Wigan at Wembley Stadium – 29 April 1948 – © TopFoto.co.uk

img: 1398267: Rugby League Cup final between Bradford Northern , the holders , and Wigan at Wembley Stadium – 29 April 1948. TopFoto, In Copyright, Educational reuse permitted.

Looking at photographic collections in particular, it’s a striking realisation that physical prints or negatives are tangible representations of immaterial narratives, while the depictions, the images themselves, are recordings of moments that carry an essence of tangibility. Ironically, the digital transfer of an image re-renders the tangible carrier into an intangible asset that takes on new life and meaning in the even less material ‘cloud’.

Talking about and working with intangible cultural heritage is a challenging and complex process, as the partners in dedicated efforts such as the WEAVE project – can testify first-hand.

Read the blog published by the WEAVE project editorial team in Europeana to discover how photographic agency TopFoto addressed this challenge:
https://www.europeana.eu/en/blog/the-paradox-of-intangible-heritage

This blog is part of WEAVE – Widen European Access to cultural communities Via Europeana: a project funded by the European Commission under the Connecting Europe Facilities (CEF) aimed at developing a framework to link the tangible and intangible heritage of cultural communities.

Stakeholders Survey

European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage

The European Commission, on the request of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, launched an initiative for a digital infrastructure that will connect cultural heritage institutions and professionals across Europe and develop specific digital tools for this sector; this initiative is the European Collaborative Cloud for Cultural Heritage.

The Cloud will join and mutually re-inforce other past and future European initiatives such as Europeana or the common European Dataspace for Cultural Heritage.

The Cloud has the purpose of:

help the cultural heritage institutions to work with their digital objects more visibly and more interconnected
unlock the untapped potential of the sector by organizing joint exhibitions, digitizing artefacts, researching artworks, and documenting data
enable transdisciplinary and large-scale collaboration between specialists, who will be able to work in a highly professional digital working space using state of the art tools
generate new income for the cultural heritage institutions by opening new opportunities for marketing and commercialization, in the particular of the digital dimension of the cultural heritage sector.

Within this initiative a stakeholders survey was launched for to better focus on their needs and prioritize research on the tools they would like at disposal to be developed for the Cloud.

The feedbacks will influence the further development of the Cloud and its services.

Here the link to complete the questionnaire. Deadline is set for November 2, 2022.

the participatory activity continues across the months of October and November. It is still possible to join the volunteers in Granada

Recovery of the Aynadamar irrigation channel (Granada) – INCULTUM Pilot

text and images courtesy of Elena Correa Jiménez (University of Granada).

The recovery of Aynadamar irrigation channel, that is a stretch of about 2.8 km, will consist of removing soil and vegetation accumulated in the canalisation since the 80s, after the abandonment of this stretch of irrigation channel, to put it back into operation, up to the Campus de Cartuja (former Pago de Aynadamar), where irrigation will be resumed. During the working day we will learn the traditional techniques of maintenance, use and management of historical irrigation systems, as well as the importance of traditional irrigation and, specifically, the role of the Aynadamar irrigation channel in the city of Granada.

The Aynadamar irrigation channel was built during the 11th century to supply water to the ancient Alcazaba of Granada (Qasabat Garnata), the seat of the Zirid dynasty, and to the present-day Albayzín. This canalisation takes its water from Fuente Grande, also known as Fuente de Las Lágrimas in Alfacar. Aynadamar has undoubtedly been one of the backbones of the city of Granada, at least since the 11th century.

The recovery will be open at all times to the participation of the entire population interested in this hydraulic heritage, thus allowing the people of Granada to learn about the importance of the Aynadamar irrigation channel in the history of the capital, as well as the historical irrigation systems.

To participate, please fill in the following registration form: https://forms.gle/Dk1JwztrJeqZWYTq7.

Learn more about INCULTUM Pilot 1 – Altiplano de Granada

online 29th November 2022

Time Machine conference 2022

The 2022 edition of the annual Time Machine conference is announced as an online event.

The detailed programme is currently being mapped. Besides providing on this occasion a detailed overview over the current EU project involvements as well as national activities as Time Machine Organisation, the conference wil allow to participate in various sessions concerning our Local Time Machine projects.

Additionally, the Time Machine General Assembly will take place within the frameworks of this conference.

More information to be published here: https://www.timemachine.eu/events/time-machine-conference-2022/

hosted by The High Mountains, partner Promoter visited the locations, community and environment of Konitsa

Meeting INCULTUM pilot in Greece, in the valley of Aoos river

the bridge of Konitsa

A meeting was organized between INCULTUM partners Promoter, and The High Mountains cooperative to review the work done so far for the participative action to enhance the Aoos river’s valley and unlock its tourism potential, in the context of INCULTUM Pilot 7 Aoos the shared river.

Aoos Valley belongs to Konitsa’s municipality, a mountainous municipality that hosts one of the most sparsely populated areas in Greece. Konitsa is the main town of the area and the capital of the municipality surrounded by some of the highest mountains of Greece. It is built on the edge of Vikos Canyon, core of the National Park of Vikos-Aoos, and is close to various protected natural areas. Despite its natural uniqueness, Konitsa remains one of the poorest and most depopulated areas in Greece.

meeting with president of village Molista

The actions of the Pilot included the development of a digital interactive map of the area and a range of dissemination and educational seminars engaging local stakeholders in various villages of the area, finalized to promote local resources and communities of practices.

Other actions and volunteer programmes also are promoted to strengthen the local identities and social ties making people value, rethink and reclaim the traditional ecological knowledge and practices in a orre modern and participative approach.

During the meeting, Promoter’s team had the change to meet communities of the villages, volunteers at work with cleaning hiking trails in the woods, and a variety of stakeholders engaged by The High Mountains cooperative to support the effort in INCULTUM pilot.

Discover the INCULTUM Pilots: https://incultum.eu/pilots/

All photos courtesy of Promoter.

the 3-days event is organized by The Grands Sites de France network, and INCULTUM partners will participate

International workshop in Albania about integrated management of heritage sites

Building together the future of heritage sites in the Balkans

Vau i Dejës & Shkodra, Albania

14-17 November 2022

Three-and-a-half days exchange workshop about heritage sites sustainable management in the Balkans, based on case studies and shared experiences. The plenary sessions will take place in the municipalities of Vau i Dejës and Shkodra. There will be a full day on the field at Komani site. The closing session will take place during an official event in Tirana.

The Grands Sites de France network, of which INCULTUM partner BIBRACTE is an active member, is an organisation that brings together local authorities responsible for both day-to-day operations and long-term evolution of the most remarkable protected landscapes in France. Since 2010, it manages the International Centre for training and exchange of francophone heritage site managers.

This seminar in Albania is s co-organized by the Franco-Albanian archaeological mission of Drin Valley, the municipalities of Vau i Dejës and Shkodra, as well as the Réseau des Grands Sites de France (RGSF), in collaboration with the Grand Site de France Bibracte-Morvan des Sommets, the French Embassy in Albania and the partners of the RGSF’s International Francophone Centre. Albanian partners of the INCULTUM project CeRPHAAL and the Municipality of Permet will also take part in the event.

Context and goals
The municipalities of Vau i Dejës and Shkodra are committed to a project to create a protected area in order to enhance the diversity of Komani heritage resources (landscape, archaeology, vernacular heritage, etc.). Based on Komani case study and on the Grands Sites de France approach, the workshop intends to feed discussion about integrated management of heritage site in Albania and more broadly in the Balkans. It will also discuss the experience acquired within the Grands Sites de France national policy (coordination between preserving heritage value of sites and managing tourist flows, stimulating a socio-economic impact on the area, urban sprawl, etc.).

More information about the event and registration: http://www.polepatrimoine.org/actualites/nos-dernieres-actualites/169-registration-open-international-workshop-albania-2

The web page of the UNCHARTED Central Event is available

The UNCHARTED project is excited to launch its Central Event which will take place in London on the 12th and 13th January 2023 organised under the co-coordination of the Goldsmiths University of London.

A dedicated page has been published on the project website and all information on the event will be made available here.

The event will involve the entire consortium, project advisory board members and other invited stakeholders to explore, reflect and debate around the conference topic: “Tensions in societal values of culture: can value conflicts be managed or mitigated?”

It will include:

a one-day public debate to present the findings of the project to a broader audience. It is designed to encourage critique and reflection from cultural practitioners, policymakers, administrators, and researchers to enrich our understanding and analysis of core value conflicts in the production, administration, and consumption of culture.

the second co-creation workshop of the UNCHARTED project offers the team an opportunity to reflect on the experience of the last three years and develop practical approaches for the next stage of the project

Stay tuned about the event: https://uncharted-culture.eu/events/central-event-in-london

partner Promoter organized a meeting with colleagues of CeRPHAAL and the Municipality of Përmet to discover the work done to promote the richness and heritage of the valley

Travelling to Albania to INCULTUM pilot in Upper Vjosa Valley

Përmet

A meeting was organized between INCULTUM partners Promoter, CeRPHAAL and the Municipality of Përmet to visit the sites of the INCULTUM Pilot 8 Vjosa the shared river.

The Vlachs hut recently reconstructed by CeRPHAAL. Vlachs are a recognized ethnolinguistic minority in Albania. The hut is now managed by a local lady, Dona, offering accomodation and an authetic experience to tourists.

The Pilot aims to support touristic development of the area, by exploring the ‘hidden’ potential of cultural heritage and landscape assets of the Upper Vjosa Valley, and also attempting to balance experiences on both Albanian and Greek territories who share the Vjosa/Aoos river.

The pilot develops by focusing on the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the historic nomadic Latin-speaking Vlach community, including their transhumance routes and seasonal pastoral settlements. A big effort in preserving and sharing heritage of the Vlach community was the focus of pilot’s actions last summer.

Additionally, the area is rich in archaeological, historical and natural sites (both urban and rural) including the traditional villages and their communication routes, byzantine and post-byzantine churches, and the military and industrial remains/existing factories in the Përmet area and beyond.

Vjosa river

All these are important parts of local heritage, people’s identities and history of the area, but currently being marginalized/abandoned and lagged behind, due to globalization, regional weak promotion/preservation policies and the negligence and exclusion from the policies of ‘classical tourism’.

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Discover the INCULTUM Pilots: https://incultum.eu/pilots/

All photos courtesy of Promoter.

five curated galleries from the WEAVE editorial team tell some stories of intangible heritage

WEAVE galleries in Europeana

Diada castellera de la festa major de la Mercè a Barcelona. Actuació de les colles convidades a la plaça de Sant Jaume. Els Castellers de Vilafranca carregant un 3 de 9 amb folre. S’observa l’enxaneta fent l’aleta.

img: Festa de la Mercè a Barcelona di Duran Fígols, Oriol – CRDI / Girona City Council – CC BY-NC-ND.

Disappearing trades and occupations

As our daily life and routines have changed a lot in past decades thanks to clever inventions and modernization, several jobs and trades that used to offer the same conveniences through less technologically advanced solutions are disappearing. With these gallery of workers with unique knowledge and skills, we celebrate the intangible heritage that is the art of the cobbler, the knocker up, the rag-and-bone-man, the peddler, lamplighter and more!

A whiff of memory: favorite smells

A faint hint of perfume, a sharp waft of mint, freshly mown grass or cake cooling from the oven: smells are powerful triggers of memory and emotion. Can you find your favorite in our gallery?

Never walk alone: processions

From Antiquitiy but particularly from the Middle Ages onwards, people worldwide have expressed belief, piety, societal cohesion and solidarity by organizing as collective bodies moving through public space. In so-called procession, participants often perform rituals, choreographies, songs and chants while wearing dedicated dress and carrying symbols, signs or banners.

Additionally, two more galleries were published by WEAVE Editorial Team in Europeana:

about the tradition of Castellers in Catalonia: Together we stand: human towers

and about various other intangible heritage practices: WEAVE intangible heritage.

welcomed by colleagues of Maj Bel University, the team of partner Promoter explored the surprising cultural and tourism potential of an area that would deserve much more attention and promotion

Discovering INCULTUM pilot in Slovakia: mining treasures of Banska Bystrica

Promoter and UMB teams visiting Banska Stiavnica supported by the digital app – photo by Pietro Masi CC-BY-SA

In September 2022, INCULTUM partners Promoter and Matej Bel University met to discuss about the work ongoing in the Pilot 3 Mining Treasures of Central Slovakia.

Focus of INCULTUM action is to support territorial and tourist promotion in the region which has significant cultural and technical heritage related to its mining history. The Historic Town of Banská Štiavnica, and the Technical Monuments in its Vicinity (from 1993 enlisted at the UNESCO World Heritage List), are outstanding examples of an important mining settlement that has developed since the Middle Ages. The city of Banská Bystrica is the cultural and economic centre of Central Slovakia. The copper mining city acquired its present picturesque look in the Late Middle Ages when the affluent Fugger and Thurzo families founded the prosperous, largest and most modern early-capitalist company of that time. Depending mainly on the mines around Banská Bystrica, the company became the leading world producer of copper by the 16^thcentury.

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Several other localities in the region were part of this important mining history while preserving cultural and technical heritage of international relevance. Despite the great potential of this heritage for tourism, its development is vastly underrated in the region, and due to significantly lacks in marketing and digital tools supporting promotion of this unique part of its history.

The Pilot coordinated by Prof. Alexandra Bitusikova, Head of University Centre for International Projects and full professor in social anthropology at Faculty of Arts, Department of Social Studies and Ethnology, is oriented towards the creation of an interactive digital map on mining treasures in Central Slovakia. The most important mining sites will be presented into one interactive platform and a digital map available as a software application. In the phase of its design, university students are acting as mystery shoppers to test the digital map and its applications.