Safeguarding the Future: Cultural Heritage and the Intangible Past

10.14361/zkmm-2023-0201

• Abstract

  With the ratification of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in 2003, an expanded concept of cultural heritage came into play three decades after the World Cultural and Natural Heritage Convention of 1972. With its intangible perspectives on cultural expressions, the 2003 Convention from was able to stand up to the material conception of cultural heritage of the older Convention on equal footing. This initially led to a polarization of two conceptions of cultural heritage that were treated as opposites. Now in its 20th year of existence and already looking back on a diverse and inspiring debate, the ICH convention is expanding the understanding of cultural heritage by emphasizing the interplay of materiality and immateriality. In light of the intellectual imaginings of music, the knowledge underlying its performative practices, and artistic-musical practice itself, this paper argues for an all-embracing single conception of cultural heritage. Unlike almost all other cultural manifestations, music illustrates, in its historical and contemporary practices, the integration of the material and the intangible in the conception of heritage, both on the local and global level.

Safeguarding the Future: Cultural Heritage and the Intangible Past

doi 10.14361/zkmm-2023-0202

• Abstract

  The UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage 2003 not only brought the necessity of preserving intangible cultural heritage into the collective consciousness, but at the same time raises the question of maintaining the dynamic of this cultural heritage and thus the question of sustainable cultural development. In this context, intangible cultural heritage is often conceived as a stock of customs, representations, forms of expression, etc. that can be inventoried and identified as worthy of preservation, and that seems to be transmissible in the sense of a unidirectional transfer. Such a substantialist approach does not take into account that neither the intangible cultural heritage per se nor the practices that produce the intangible cultural heritage and their references can be presupposed as unchanging and inherently existing. In contrast, a relational-theoretical approach opens up the potential to view intangible cultural heritage as constantly in transformation and re-actualization. This essay attempts such a (re-)perspectivization by means of the Relational Reframe method and the example of the Bayreuth Festival.

Safeguarding the Future: Cultural Heritage and the Intangible Past

10.14361/zkmm-2023-0203

• Abstract

  The Pantanal is a large and biodiverse seasonally pulsing wetland area in South America. Two elements of the musical culture of the Brazilian area of this ecoregion are the orally and mimetically transmitted music genres cururu and siriri. This article argues that these musical genres are embedded in the physical environment of the regional ecosystem and, through the use of qualitative field research, verifies the hypothesis that the wetland ecosystem of the Brazilian Pantanal and the holistic music system of the cururu and the siriri create a common network which can be described as an ecomusicosystem. The analysis demonstrates that the ecosystem and the music culture reciprocally shape each other. By understanding both ecosystem and music culture as heritage worthy of protection and safeguarding, the article suggests that the Pantanal ecomusicosystem constitutes a common, shared natural musical heritage. Finally, it concludes that both the environmentally and culturally sustainable development of the Brazilian Pantanal are of mutual importance for the safeguarding of the ecomusicosystem.

Safeguarding the Future: Cultural Heritage and the Intangible Past

10.14361/zkmm-2023-0204

• Abstract

  The box-resonated, pentatonic marimba, once called “Kizaramo Marimba” by Graham Hyslop, which can be found along the coastal area in Tanzania is a good example of living heritage in the African xylophone landscape. At first glance it may appear unspectacular, but when seeing it being produced, or in action, or when tracing its history and development, one experiences a dimension in which the intangible and the tangible merge and influence each other. The modifications made on this instrument over the last 60 years are an expression of human beings’ demand for continuity, on the one hand, and their openness to innovation, which pays attention to new situations, and availability of materials on the other hand. Musical instruments, as will be shown, not only produce sounds, but—as is normal for man-made objects—have biographies and stories to tell.

Safeguarding the Future: Cultural Heritage and the Intangible Past

10.14361/zkmm-2023-0205

• Abstract

  African blackwood (Dalbergia melanoxylon Guill. & Perr.) is the preferred raw material for woodwind instruments, such as clarinets, oboes, and bagpipes, as well as for East African traditional carvings. This cultural flagship species grows to commercially viable tree sizes only in East Africa, mainly in the fragmented East African coastal forests, a global biodiversity hotspot, and in the Miombo woodlands. International trade regulations and the threat of the species have led to cross-arching challenges in the biophysical, socioeconomic and cultural dimensions. This cross-continental interconnection between European and African intangible cultural heritage and the African blackwood with its natural habitat requires a holistic perspective. Applying a complex telecoupled cultural-ecological system’s approach enables the analysis of a case study focusing on the role of African blackwood for local livelihoods in five communities in Tanzania and on missing linkages to telecoupled music cultures.

Safeguarding the Future: Cultural Heritage and the Intangible Past

10.14361/zkmm-2023-0206

• Abstract

  A formative role of intangible cultural heritage emerges from the understanding of social sustainability as a question of the good life. The Entlebuch in Central Switzerland is considered a model region for sustainable development in the interplay of environment and social development and is home to performing and craft traditions that are conspicuous for their strong participation. Based on typical regional traditions in the Entlebuch, strong references to social sustainability can be seen and these also offer explanatory approaches for the high measured quality of life in areas related to social sustainability according to surveys. On the basis of and through contextualization of interviews with representatives of the cultural center Entlebucherhaus, the charcoal burning and hunting music, a model of the dynamics of social sustainability is constructed, which shows effects of the traditional practice internally and externally, under aspects of interaction and cultural participation.

Safeguarding the Future: Cultural Heritage and the Intangible Past

10.14361/zkmm-2023-0207

• Abstract

  Mass tourism in Florence deeply impacted on the lives of citizens, resulting in a general fragmentation of Florentine social life and in ever-shrinking spaces for civil society. Such a phenomenon is reflected also at the level of the third sector. In fact, while Florence is characterized by an extraordinarily rich presence of civil society organizations, a number of structural and operational flaws limit both their inclusiveness and their potentiality to become drivers of social, cultural, and political change. This paper aims to investigate the resources and strategies that third-sector organizations can mobilize to promote sustainable projects for community revitalization in Florence where art plays a central role. In particular, I am interested in presenting and discussing different models of development of such projects, identifying some worthy examples that may have the potential to provide new paths for social engagement, and which can be followed and reproduced by others.

Safeguarding the Future: Cultural Heritage and the Intangible Past

10.14361/zkmm-2023-0208

• Abstract

  The corona-pandemic has led to a reduction of cultural participation in the general population as is shown in nationwide general population surveys in Germany from 2016 and 2023. The cultural institutions with especially old visitors (like opera or classical concert) have usually not been affected more by this development than those with a younger one (like cinema). Moreover the older visitors have not been affected more than the younger ones. Their greater cultural involvement might have compensated for their greater reluctance in connection with Corona risks.

Safeguarding the Future: Cultural Heritage and the Intangible Past

10.14361/zkmm-2023-0209

Safeguarding the Future: Cultural Heritage and the Intangible Past

10.14361/zkmm-2023-0210

Safeguarding the Future: Cultural Heritage and the Intangible Past

10.14361/zkmm-2023-0211