Intangible Cultural Heritage in
Scotland: An Inclusive Approach
Festival of Politics
Joanne Orr
UNESCO Scotland Committee
• A UN agency which contributes to peace
and security by promoting collaboration
among nations through
• Education, culture, science and
communication
• UNESCO Scotland Committee – part of
the UK National Commission
2003 Convention on Intangible Cultural
Heritage
a) to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage;
b) to ensure respect for the intangible cultural heritage of the
communities groups and individuals concerned;
c) to raise awareness at the local, national and international levels of
the importance of the intangible cultural heritage, and of ensuring
mutual appreciation thereof;
d) to provide for international cooperation and assistance
The domain definitions set out in Article 2.2 of the
Convention:
oral traditions and expressions, including language as a
vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage;
performing arts;
social practices, rituals and festive events;
knowledge and practices concerning nature and the
universe;
traditional craftsmanship.
Article 15 –participation of communities, groups and
individuals
? Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)
. . . living practices,
representations, expressions
knowledge, and skills
- as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts
and cultural spaces associated therewith -
that communities, groups and
individuals themselves
recognise as part of their
cultural heritage
. . . central to their identities
Elements and Environment
Fish and long line
hooks
Knitted Fish project, part of
the Deirdre Nelson residency
held at Taigh Chearsabhagh
in early 2008.
The Approach to ICH in Scotland
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Collaboratively inspired and driven
Community centred and owned
Inclusive of all / accessible to all
Unforced / uncontrived
Celebrates community diversity
Promotes community cohesion
Puts heritage in the context of shared spatial &
social identity
Title / title
Copy
Different Approaches
• Pro-active & aggressive re-presentation of
fragile and ‘at risk’ Galician ICH
• Produces pseudo-events as in theme parks
• Or prescriptive – Austria 3 generation rule,
Croatia 2 generation rule
• ICH in Scotland uses a participative Wikibased approach
Online Inventory of ICH in Scotland
www.ichscotlandwiki.org/
Wiki
• Collection of web pages
• Flexible: can manage
changing priorities
• Free software
• Ease of data entry
• Attractive for end users
Inventory of ICH in Scotland
Website
www.ichscotland.o
rg/
http://ichscotland.org/
ICH in Scotland: a summary
(The UK is not signed up to the UNESCO Convention)
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ICH is alive and well in Scotland
ICH is embedded at community
People in Scotland are comfortable with ICH
Starting point for the ICH wiki is heritage as a
dynamic process not a fixed end product contained
in a building.
• ICH is reliant on community knowledge and
contribution
www.ichscotland.org/
http://www.unesco.org.uk/scotland
iuny@unesco.org.uk
www.museumsgalleriessscotland.com
@MuseumsGalScot