Call for Ambassadors of Living Heritage
How visible are your culture and heritage in Finland? Do you want to make them more visible for the public and make some change? Are you a practitioner of heritage, an NGO worker, an artist, a researcher, an educator, an activist, or an enthusiast? If yes, do come along!
In autumn 2022, the new project welcomes seven people from culturally diverse backgrounds to act as ambassadors of living heritage. They will be selected among the applicants to this open call. The project is arranged by Finnish Heritage Agency in cooperation with Arts Promotion Centre Taike, Culture for All and Globe Art Point. The aim of the project is to bring more visibility to culturally diverse living heritage in Finland, to inspire discussion on how various groups participate in the safeguarding of living heritage in Finland and what measures could be developed.
Living heritage or intangible cultural heritage (ICH) means practices, expressions, knowledge and skills that communities recognize as part of their cultural heritage. It can include for example performing arts, crafts, oral traditions, social practices and festivities or knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe. The project is related to the UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Read here more about the work under the Convention in Finland.
The aim of the project is to bring new examples to the Wiki-inventory for Living Heritage representing various cultural groups in Finland. The Wiki was opened in 2016 to bring visibility to living heritage in Finland. It has now over 200 articles from 250 communities all around Finland. Among existing examples are the Singing tradition of Finnish Roma people and African Music and dance in Finland, but there are gaps and cultural diversity is not very well represented in the inventory. Find here all articles in Finnish and all translated to English. The Wiki was visited by over 100 000 people from 150 countries in 2021.
The project
In the project that will take place in autumn 2022, seven people from culturally diverse backgrounds will be selected through this open to call to participate as Ambassadors of Living Heritage. The selected people will participate in a workshop by the Finnish Heritage Agency to learn more about living heritage. They will then select a community, with whom they will work and organise 1-2 workshops to discuss their living heritage, identify some key elements in it and prepare an article (2-3 pages) of the one element to the Wiki-inventory by the end of 2022. The Finnish Heritage Agency will provide technical support for the publishing of the articles. The ambassadors will be paid a fee for the whole process.
The language of the first workshop is English, but in the process it is possible to use other languages. In the Wiki the articles need to be in Finnish or Swedish, but it is encouraged to use other languages as well. Budget for translations is also reserved. The workshops can be organised either in physical or virtual form. Support in planning and realizing the workshops in as accessible way as possible is offered.
The ambassadors of living heritage
Sounds interesting? You are the person we are looking for if you are:
- interested in culture and heritage
- active in one or more communities or associations
- have good social skills
- good in speaking and writing in English
- have experience in facilitating workshops
Please apply 5th September the latest at https://link.webropol.com/s/ambassadors
More information: Leena Marsio leena.marsio(at)museovirasto.fi +358 29533 6017