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Inventorying-Ready!

Spirited discussions about our intangible cultural heritage (ICH) elements, pledges to unite in the cause of safeguarding, and, of course, newly certified ICH Superheroes!

These were the results of bringing together twenty-six (26) heritage experts and enthusiasts for a historic September 16-20 ICH Community-Inventorying Training Workshop.  

ICH SUPERHEROES equipped and ready to rescue and safeguard our ICH! With Global Facilitator, David Brown (sixth from left).

Day 5 of the Workshop

Location: Outside Copper & Lumber Store Hotel, Nelson’s Dockyard.

The recently concluded training workshop officially kicked the national UNESCO ICH Fund-sponsored ICH safeguarding project into high gear.   Participants included: tour guides, local historians, entrepreneurs, artisans, authors, and staff of the Department of Culture, the National Parks Authority, the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda, the National Archives, the Barbuda Council, and the Ministry of Creative Industries. 

Scenes from Days 1,2,&4 of the Workshop. Location: Dept. of Environment’s Conference Room. Calypso singing, debates over the ingredients of a “true” fungee, authors signing copies of their books, and more!

During the workshop, UNESCO Global Facilitator, Mr. David Brown delivered training on the ethics of inventorying, methods and techniques for extensive documentation, effective use of digital recorders and cameras for interviews, and information organisation, storage, and usage.  The final day of the workshop was devoted to practical exercises, allowing participants to test their grasp of the training material.

Day 5 at the Nelson’s Dockyard. Participants trial interviews of specially-invited holders of ICH knowledge.

 The specialised training received by participants is an important step in moving the nation towards its first-ever ICH inventory/database.

Cultural Advisor and the project’s manager, Dr. Hazra Medica expressed her gratitude for the diverse turnout, and the robust contributions of the participants.  She noted that a concerted effort to safeguard ICH has been a long time coming.  Addressing the gathering on the opening day of the workshop, she assured:

‘This is not just about inventorying or creating a national database that will sit on someone’s coffee table or look “nice” on a website. It is for the purpose of safeguarding and formulating an implementation plan that will ensure that.’

For his part, Secretary-General of the country’s National UNESCO Commission, and project co-lead, Dr. Reginald Murphy also stressed the importance of ICH and of establishing an inventory:

‘I have focused a lot of my life on the tangible side of culture, but we need the intangible. The intangible is what makes the tangible. That’s where the knowledge comes from and that is where it is stored. It is really important for us to get on board with this and I’m really excited.’

Photo courtesy National Parks Authority.

With the workshop concluded, the project will now move into the data-gathering phase.  Over the next two months, the newly trained group will collect data from communities. Data collected during this period will be used to create the first draft of the national inventory.  This will be followed by a further three months of data collection, using diverse methods and sources. This second data collection exercise will be used to record additional information for the national ICH inventory/database.

For more/background information on the Antigua and Barbuda ICH project, please see our previous posts below:

A&B’s ICH PROJECT

Safeguarding Activated!

Related: See the nation’s first-ever online map/directory of creatives hereA&B Map of Creatives.

ICH-Saving Ready, Set, GO!

This September 16-20, 2024, the country’s UNESCO ICH Fund-sponsored ICH safeguarding project will kick into high gear with a five-day capacity-building workshop. The workshop, open to thirty-two (32) participants, will accelerate the nation’s progress towards its first ever intangible cultural heritage (ICH) inventory. Of the thirty-two workshop participants, four spots will be reserved for participants from Barbuda. Travel and accommodation costs for Barbudan participants will be covered by the project’s funds.

Over the course of five days, workshop participants will be trained by the UNESCO Global Facilitator, Mr. David Browne, on:

  • The principles and methodologies for extensive documentation, with sessions on the use of audio-visual equipment;
  • The creation and tailoring of inventorying forms,;
  • The use of such forms in the field, and how to organize, store, and use data.

By the workshop’s end, participants will be equipped with the skills, methods, and expertise needed to formulate a national community-based inventorying implementation plan for data capture. The final day of the workshop will be devoted to a practice exercise in one of Antigua’s historic villages.

Following the workshop, participants will engage in a two-month data collection period. The data collected will be used to create the nation’s first ever database of intangible cultural heritage elements. A modest stipend of US $75 will be paid per data collector per 24-hour week for 8 weeks.

Register your interest for the workshop by sending an email to cultural.infosystem@ab.gov.ag.

Register your interest for the workshop by sending an email to cultural.infosystem@ab.gov.ag.

The creation of the first version/iteration of the national ICH database will be followed by a three-month period of data collection, using diverse methods and sources. This second data collection exercise will be used to record additional information for the national ICH database.

What is ICH?

The “intangible cultural heritage” (ICH) means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. (2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.)

Photo courtesy of Mr. Trevor Simon (CN)

The following are examples of ICH “domains”/ types:

✓ oral traditions and expressions

✓ performing arts

✓ social practices, rituals and festive events

✓ knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe

✓ traditional craftsmanship

For more/background information on the Antigua and Barbuda ICH project, please see our previous posts below:

Safeguarding Activated!

Update- July 24,2024: Additional funds allocated to the Precision Centre’s ICH Book Project

“The 2003 UNESCO Convention for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage has now been activated!”

These were the words with which Antigua and Barbuda’s UNESCO National Commission’s Secretary-General, Dr. Reginald Murphy, greeted the June 20th handover of a cheque valued at EC 10,159.85 to the Precision Centre.

The funds will go towards the publication of the Precision Centre’s book on the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of Antigua and Barbuda. The book’s publication is being funded under Antigua and Barbuda’s UNESCO ICH Fund-sponsored project. The national project is being led by Cultural Advisor, Dr. Hazra Medica, with assistance from Dr. Murphy.

Smiles all around (and a bold foot forward) as Dr. Hazra Medica and Dr. Murphy present the EC 10,159.85 cheque to Administrator Mrs. Alicia Cornelius.

The Precision Centre, located in Piggotts, is a faith-based organisation with an excellent track record of ICH safeguarding initiatives at the community level— the most recognised being their production of thirteen (13) short documentaries on Antiguan cultural heritage; twelve (12) village-based, and one (1) general ICH documentary.

These documentaries form the basis of the Centre’s flagship venture, the “Antiguanization Project”. The planned book will be based on the contents of the Centre’s general ICH documentary.

Under the Antigua and Barbuda ICH project, the Centre will publish, and distribute 2,000 free copies of its ICH book to school libraries, the National Library, the National Archives, community centres, and other select institutions and individuals. 

A delighted Mrs. Alicia Cornelius, Administrator of the Precision Centre, received the cheque on the Centre’s behalf.

“Since we learnt of the availability of the funds last week, we began our initial conversations of putting things in place. We have since made contact with the possible publisher and have received a revised quotation from them,” Cornelius revealed. 

According to her, with funds now in hand, “the team will continue to collaborate and work towards completing the project within the time allotted”.

Project Manager, Dr. Medica, echoed Mrs. Cornelius’ delight noting that the presentation of the funds to the Precision Centre was a long time coming:

“In 2018, the Precision Centre submitted its compelling proposal to us for inclusion in the larger national ICH project. In 2020, the nation secured US$ 97,754, / EC$ 264,185.07 in funding from the highly competitive UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund for our 19-month-long project.

We suffered delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and there were even further delays due to circumstances beyond our control. But now, we are, happily, getting back on track, and this presentation of hard-fought-for funds to the Precision Centre is a part of that!”

For his part, Dr. Murphy asserted that the Centre’s book will be “a major contribution to the safeguarding and enrichment of our cultural heritage” and congratulated the Centre for “their dedication and commitment”.

Over the coming months, the public will be kept updated on the progress of both the Precision Centre’s book as well as the larger ICH project.

To learn more about the Precision Centre, click here. For a glimpse at the Centre’s “Antiguanization Project,” click here.

For details on Antigua and Barbuda’s ICH project, please click here.

 Next week, the first call will be posted for interested people to sign up to be a part of the project.