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Posts Tagged ‘Cultural diversity’

Call for Presentations: ICH in Urban Context

During the ICH-NGO Forum meeting (Bogota, Colombia, 7 – 14th December 2019), there will be a session on Sunday morning, 8 December 2019, dedicated to the topic of “ICH in an urban context: Cultural diversity and social cohesion.” This session has been prepared in cooperation with the National Heritage Board of Singapore and is a timely topic.

Over half of the population of the world now lives in urban areas—cities with millions of inhabitants and diverse communities. Cities such as Bangkok, Singapore, Bogota, and Rotterdam are facing multiple social and cultural challenges, not least due to processes of migration, the challenge of superdiversity, and social cohesion. Thinkers about superdiversity see evidence of emerging cosmopolitan cultural practices that build on social practices brought by migrant groups to new locales. These cultural practices are often reflected in public festivals and festivities. Festivals like Diwali are not just celebrated in India; they have become a permanent feature of Little India precincts all over the world. Similarly, other traditions such as Carnival or the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival are celebrated in major cities across the world.

During the ICH-NGO Forum meeting, there will be a session on Sunday morning, 8 December 2019, dedicated to the topic of “ICH in an urban context: Cultural diversity and social cohesion.” This session has been prepared in cooperation with the National Heritage Board of Singapore and is a timely topic. Over half of the population of the world now lives in urban areas—cities with millions of inhabitants and diverse communities. Cities such as Bangkok, Singapore, Bogota, and Rotterdam are facing multiple social and cultural challenges, not least due to processes of migration, the challenge of superdiversity, and social cohesion. Thinkers about superdiversity see evidence of emerging cosmopolitan cultural practices that build on social practices brought by migrant groups to new locales. These cultural practices are often reflected in public festivals and festivities. Festivals like Diwali are not just celebrated in India; they have become a permanent feature of Little India precincts all over the world. Similarly, other traditions such as Carnival or the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival are celebrated in major cities across the world.

Cities can be defined as contact zones where the global meets the local. As the text of the 2003 Convention noted, “processes of globalization and social transformation, alongside the conditions they create for renewed dialogue among communities, also give rise, as does the phenomenon of intolerance, to grave threats of deterioration, disappearance and destruction of the intangible cultural heritage.”

While intangible cultural heritage is often presented as a mainspring for cultural diversity, what about intangible cultural heritage in an urban context? What is intangible cultural heritage in an urban context and how is it transmitted and safeguarded? How can it contribute to social cohesion and renewed dialog among communities? Is there a role for city governments in adopting certain cultural policies?

During the session there will be six (or possibly more, which may then be accommodated in parallel sessions) short presentations, up to 10 minutes each, from cases from all over the world. Already scheduled are presentations from Singapore and Bogota. The session will be moderated by Albert van der Zeijden (ICH-NGO Forum, Dutch Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage) and Kirk Siang (National Heritage Board, Singapore). The moderators of this session are still looking for presentations from other regions, such as Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. NGOs attending the Intergovernmental Committee meeting in Bogota, and wanting to give a presentation, are invited to present an abstract (with a maximum of 200 words) before November 1 to Albert van der Zeijden, at a.vanderzeijden@immaterieelerfgoed.nl.

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Call for Papers: Engaging with diversity conference

Interpret Europe Conference | 31 May – 3 June 2019 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina | #iecon19

At the IE conference, ‘Engaging with diversity’, we will explore the significance of EU’s ambitious motto ‘United in diversity’ in all its diverse meanings and implications. Cultural diversity can be a great asset that broadens horizons, facilitates creativity and thinking outside the box. But history is full of examples of diversity being framed in ways that reinforced stereotypes and fueled hate.  Almost everywhere, a particular building or a species of animal can invoke very different feelings in different people because they may associate different meanings with them. This poses challenges to heritage interpreters and puts a high responsibility on their shoulders.

Several aspects matter to heritage interpretation when contemplating ‘diversity’:

  • the diversity of the heritage phenomena, tangible or intangible, such as artefacts in a collection, traditions around a site or biodiversity of a protected area;
  • the diverse perspectives of historic stakeholders to whom heritage features are meaningful for different reasons;
  • the diversity of subject areas such as social history, history of arts or of technology, or the biology of species, ecosystems approach or evolutionary perspectives;
  • the diversity of contemporary stakeholders involved in heritage communities affected by heritage management and interpretation;
  • the diversity of people visiting heritage sites with different knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values systems, world views and identities;
  • and, last but not least, the diversity of interpretations by professional interpreters.

1 March 2019: Deadline for the submission of abstracts

Visit the website for further details

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Local Identity on the Global Stage: The challenges of representing diversity

Emphasizing intangible and tangible expressions of heritage in a publication on World Heritage and Cultural Diversity presents the opportunity to discuss a variety of current and potential future challenges. These can be either epistemological concepts that promise potential for scientific investigation and reconstruction, professional challenges in the application of models and guidelines, or educational needs for the heritage community, and its academic development in the early twenty-first century. The difficult and often contested role of intangible heritage expressions in the context of World Heritage Sites is one of the aspects triggering ongoing discussion. Equally, the section heading invites an exploration of the interrelation of the two relevant UNESCO instruments, the 1972 Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (World Heritage Convention)(UNESCO, 1972) and the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (Intangible Heritage Convention)(UNESCO, 2003). Such explorations could be aimed at evaluating their early attempts at cooperation and their potentials for mutual enforcement. However, these aspects seem to have been discussed previously at a number of international university seminars, such as the University of Montreal round table–“Tangible and intangible heritage: two UNESCO Conventions”(Cameron and Boucher, 2007), or the Cambridge Heritage Seminar–“Tangible-intangible cultural heritage: a sustainable dichotomy?”(Baillie and Chippindale, 2007). Yet another focus could be on cultural diversity and the processes which link the representation of intangible and tangible heritage expressions to the promotion of cultural diversity under the auspices of UNESCO. It is this aspect which this …
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Historic Places and the Diversity Deficit in Heritage Conservation

The United States has always been diverse. Now it is more so than ever. Yet historic preservation has done little to address this reality. How should historic preservation present racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse historical experiences? How should it serve diverse constituencies?
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Face aux nouveaux défis culturels: les Acadiens de Nouvelle-Écosse

La prise en compte du patrimoine culturel immatériel occupe une position centrale dans les nouveaux défis auxquels sont confrontées aujourd’hui les diverses communautés culturelles. Françoise Lempereur resitue brièvement la mondialisation et la diversité culturelle et montre que, face à ces deux orientations de base, les réactions des communautés peuvent être radicalement opposées : acceptation ou refus des métissages et, dans le cas de refus, approche essentialiste ou évolutionniste. Cette dernière sacrifie le patrimoine au profit de modes, sous-tendues par de nouvelles technologies ; la première privilégie le recours au passé idéalisé, dans ce que l’auteur nomme une politique de « folklorisation ». Fort heureusement, certaines communautés réussissent un métissage positif et rajeunissent leur patrimoine grâce à de nouvelles formes de communication. C’est le cas de la municipalité de Clare en Nouvelle-Écosse, porte-drapeau d’une identité acadienne en plein essor. Facing the new cultural challenges: the Acadians of Nova Scotia Taking into consideration the intangible cultural heritage holds a central position in the new challenges confronting today’s various cultural communities. Françoise Lempereur briefly repositions globalization and cultural diversity and shows that, faced with these two basic guidelines, communities’ reactions can be radically opposed: acceptance or refusal of the fusion and in the case of refusal, an essentialist or evolutionary approach. The latter sacrifices heritage for the benefit of trends, supported by new technologies; the first emphasizes the use of an idealised past in what the author identifies as a policy of “folklorisation”. Fortunately, some communities accomplish a positive combination and revitalize their heritage through new forms of communication. This is the case of the municipality of Clare in Nova Scotia, the flag-bearer of a growing Acadian identity.
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Cultural rights and conservation of Old Bangkok

Cultural diversity is one of the major characteristics of old Bangkok resulting from various groups of local people of different race and religion. Unfortunately, the development of old Bangkok has always been tied up with the interests of politicians. Therefore, lack of public dialog and acknowledgement of cultural diversity remain as major issues.
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