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