Submitted by: / Heemkunde Vlaanderen vzw (Belgium)
Contact details: / Zoutwerf 5, B-2800 Mechelen, Belgium. ++32 15 20 51 74
Date: / 15/05/09
General
1. Please briefly describe the general awareness in your country about the importance of intangible cultural heritage (as defined in Article 2 of the Convention).
[You may wish to distinguish between the levels of visibility among different groups of population (youth, minorities, academic world, etc.), or the visibility of specific intangible heritage domains (such as music, oral traditions, performing arts, rituals, festive events, etc.). You may also indicate why you consider it relevant, or not, to enhance awareness about the importance of the transmission of the intangible heritage. You may refer to some specific problems that you may encounter when doing so, and propose possible solutions]
The general awareness about the importance of intangible cultural heritage in Belgium can be considered as moderate to relatively high, though it is not yet as visible to the general public as the immovable heritage. Several initiatives contribute, however, to raising the awareness of the public for intangible remains. Probably the most visible action is the annual event ‘Erfgoeddag’ (‘Heritage Day’), which focuses on movable and immaterial heritage. Every year more than 200.000 people participate in one of the ‘Erfgoeddag’ activities. This event is complementary to the so-called ‘Open Monuments Day’. On a more regional level several ‘Heritage cells’ have been established by the Flemish government in the last years. These ‘cells’ also contribute significantly to the promotion of intangible cultural heritage through projects, exhibitions, image data bases a.s.o. Also the role of the several hundreds of voluntary study groups for local history, which are established in almost every Flemish village, can hardly be overestimated. Finally, some elements of the Flemish intangible heritage are very well-known (mostly festive, as the famous carnival in Aalst, or religious events, e.g. the procession of the Holy Blood in Bruges). The efforts of the Flemish government to inscribe some of these elements on Unesco’s representative list have also increased the awareness about their importance among the general public. In the academic world the awareness seems to be lagging behind a little bit, as there is no academic programme focussing on (intangible) heritage studies. The only relevant programme currently is a master in public history at the university of Ghent.
Awareness-raising at the national level
2. How can practitioners and bearers of the intangible cultural heritage be effectively involved in raising awareness about the importance of their heritage, while respecting customary access to it?
Due to its immaterial nature, the role of the practitioners or ‘transmitters’ of intangible heritage can not be overestimated. One could argue that not only the traditions but also those who perform them have to be safeguarded. In the process of safeguarding these practitioners and bearers could, at the same time, play a vital role in raising the awareness of the intangible heritage. It seems obvious that the awareness is dependent on the frequency of the performance, and the visibility of the heritage can not be increased without the practitioners themselves. Moreover, it is necessary to involve the practitioners when developing innovative recording strategies and techniques. Finally, they can play an important role in procedures of non-formal education and capacity building.
3. What role can formal and non-formal education play in raising awareness about the importance of intangible cultural heritage? What kind of educational materials could be developed for that purpose?
Awareness of heritage both nationally and locally should be promoted more actively through schools, via heritage input in the curriculum and extra curricular sponsorship of school projects. We consider it very important to involve more young people in the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. The only way to raise youngsters’ awareness about the importance of intangible heritage, however, is to allow them to assign their own values or meanings, even if this sometimes conflicts with the meanings or values that heritage professionals would like to stimulate among young people. Heritage education in this sense can not be seen as the classical ‘injection of factual knowledge’, but as a way to softly create a platform of awareness among young people. As new (digital) technologies are an important factor in the life of youngsters, their use should not be neglected in projects of heritage education.
4. What role can community centres, museums, archives and other similar entities play in raising awareness about intangible cultural heritage?
The processes of conservation and documentation can not be separated from the processes of transmission and valorisation, leading towards higher visibility of the heritage. In this sense museums, archives and other similar institutions are very important players to promote our intangible cultural heritage. In practice, we see that the knowledge about the intangible heritage is often disseminated through the smaller, local museums and archives, which – in most cases – depend on the efforts of local volunteers. Therefore, it is necessary that these volunteers are efficiently supported by the government. This implies not only financial and logistic support, but also capacity-building. These entities should learn how to be attractive for a diverse public, including also youngsters and ethnic minorities. Moreover, they should learn how to improve their marketing and communication strategies.
5. How can various types of media contribute to raising awareness? (television, radio, films, documentaries, Internet, specialized publications, etc.)
Though all media can certainly contribute to raising awareness, television and Internet seem to be the most valuable options. The heritage sector should, together with the government and the academic world, encourage the production of quality television programmes which aim to promote a greater level of awareness of our heritage, and a more critical attitude among the viewing public, as to its future protection and management. Probably a combination of several media, a ‘cross-media’ approach, often yields the best result in raising awareness. Different media tend to reach different target groups. We would like to refer to the Flemish version of the BBC format ‘Restoration’ as a good example of this approach, albeit once more in the immovable heritage field. This television series was supported by several ‘online’ activities, and yielded a lot of attention from a broad audience. Unfortunately, if these efforts are not repeated, there is a risk that the increased awareness about heritage only lasts for a short time.
6. Can commercial activities related to intangible heritage contribute to raising awareness about its importance?
Yes. Sometimes commercial exploitation is probably necessary to ensure the continuation of an element of intangible heritage (traditional music, medical knowledge, handicraft skills…).
7. Can enhanced visibility and awareness of the intangible heritage lead to income-generating activities?
Yes. As has been amply proven in the field of immovable remains, heritage has a vast economic potential, e.g. through its exploitation in tourism. The commodification of cultural goods can never be a goal in itself, but the fact that income is/can be generated by means of tangible or intangible heritage is not necessarily a bad thing. Of course one should always guard the circumstances in which this happens. As local voluntary groups are often the main responsibles for the safeguarding of intangible heritage, it seems an interesting challenge to investigate how the generation of income through heritage could contribute to improving the quality of work of these organisations. Of course, it is clear that heritage care should not become an empty façade for a series of activities detached from the goal of safeguarding the heritage of a community.
Awareness-raising at the international level
8. What kind of actions and tools do you expect the UNESCO Secretariat to develop in order to assist the States Parties in enhancing awareness about the intangible heritage?
[such as the collection and dissemination of information, the development and maintenance of a website, the production of information materials, the constitution of a repository of audiovisual materials, the launching of international campaigns, the development of partnerships, the participation in international congresses, the provision of information to other UN agencies and other intergovernmental organizations, etc.)]
There seems to be a real need about practical information or guidance: how to start a project, how to structure your organisation, how to find a local-regional network and how to connect to an existing network, how to find the best use of procedures, how to resolve language barriers… The publication of a general manual or practical guidebook by UNESCO would help to overcome these issues.
Stimulating networks: many smaller organisations feel the need to connect with other like-minded, similar organisations to share expertise and experience. It seems there is a need to form more in-depth (international) networks and communities of practice. This formation could certainly be facilitated by UNESCO.
UNESCO should support the establishment of inventories of the intangible cultural heritage on a national level.
The dissemination of information through the Internet is also one of UNESCO’s main tasks. This can possibly also include digital repositories for audiovisual recordings of intangible heritage.
9. The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity is established under Article 16 of the Convention “in order to ensure better visibility of the intangible cultural heritage and awareness of its significance, and to encourage dialogue which respects cultural diversity". What kind of specific measures should be taken to achieve these objectives?
The inscription of any element of intangible heritage on the Representative List will be a major asset for the organisations and individuals that try to safeguard and valorise this heritage. It will automatically generate more interest in the media and possibly also from the tourism sector. Of course, UNESCO has to make sure that enough – and correct – information concerning the inscribed elements of intangible heritage is available to the public, a.o. through dedicated websites or repositories (cfr. supra). To encourage more (intercultural) dialogue, it could be suggested to organise meetings, workshops and conference on a regular basis, where heritage practitioners and professionals can meet up and share their experiences. Not only visibility, but also dialogue is an important goal. UNESCO should also stimulate cross-boundary applications for the Representative List, supported by different countries sharing similar elements of intangible heritage.
10. How can the programmes, projects and activities that best reflect the principles and objectives of the Convention, as referred to in Article 18, contribute to raising awareness about the importance of the intangible heritage?
Several elements have been touched upon in the other answers. One more remark: as a lot of ‘best practices’ in the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage seem to grow from small organizations and projects, there is a need for political awareness on an international/national level about these ‘micro-scale’ practices, that often ‘disappear’ under the radar of administration and government. On a recent conference about heritage care and active citizenship in Belgium, the concept of ‘micro funding’ was launched to support such smaller projects.
11. Through what means can the Committee disseminate best practices, as referred to in paragraph 3 of Article 18?
The dissemination of information through the Internet is also one of UNESCO’s main tasks. This can possibly also include digital repositories for audiovisual recordings of intangible heritage.
Threats related to awareness-raising
12. When applying awareness-raising measures, what aspects or elements of the intangible heritage should be excluded?
No aspects of the intangible heritage should be excluded.
13. When attempting to raise awareness about intangible heritage, what kind of measures should be taken to avoid inappropriate use or access to it?
There’s always a risk for inappropriate use or access, and this can never be avoided completely.
14. What kind of precautions should be taken to avoid possible negative effects resulting from enhanced visibility of certain forms of intangible heritage?
In the framework of the safeguarding activities, the widest possible participation of communities, groups. In order to avoid exclusion of the heritage of certain groups, UNESCO should proactively investigate the existing forms of intangible and assess their importance for the local communities. Promoting certain forms of intangible heritage could potentially lead to the neglection of other forms of heritage, though the latter are not necessarily less important.
15. What ethical questions do you think need to be raised when promoting the intangible heritage of certain communities?
Intangible cultural heritage should not be used as a means to promote a hidden political agenda or to justify any (power) relations between cultural groups or communities. Notions of ‘ownership’ of cultural heritage are specifically dangerous, as they often serve the interests of the most powerful groups. Thus, (intangible) heritage should not be transformed in a political commodity. Finally, one has to consider the potential risk of an element of intagible heritage losing its ‘authenticity’ when it receives a formalized status, e.g. through the inscription on any (national or international) list of representative examples of heritage. Throughout all promotion activities it is important to take sustainability and human rights, relating to the intangible heritage into account.
Additional comments
ANNEX 2: Summary of suggestions made by the Committee on Agenda item 7 (Istanbul, Turkey, 2-5 November 2008) and extracts from the Convention (Articles 13,14 and 15)
The Committee stressed that the working document on Agenda item 7 prepared by the Secretariat was too limited and therefore requested the Secretariat to enlarge the scope of the draft directives by addressing, in particular, the measures that should be taken not only at the international level but also at the national level, including those proposed in Articles 13, 14 and 15 of the Convention.
Several Members of the Committee indicated that States Parties may take into account the experience of other conventions and programmes when developing awareness raising measures. They mentioned in particular the 1972 Convention because of the visibility given to the World Heritage List and the Convention on Biological Diversity because of effectively involving local communities in its implementation. Reference was also made to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the UN Commission on Sustainable Development and the extensive networks of the Durban Process. Some Members also proposed cooperation with development agencies and in particular with UN sustainable development programmes. The suggestion was also made to involving ICOMOS in case in which there is a link between tangible and intangible heritage.