Knowledge and Identities in Intangible Heritage and Film: Dry Stone Walling

The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and UN­ESCO’s safeguarding paradigm are rapidly transforming cultural practices into intangible cultural heritage. The author has explored the construction of knowl­edge and identities in cultural practices, intangible cultural heritage, as well as in the safeguarding processes, in theory and in an empirical case. UNESCO strongly promotes the mediatization of heritage: the members of the Evalua­tion Body do not get to know the heritage elements and their practitioners in the local environment, but only virtually – according to data in the nomination form, in photographs and in film. The construction of knowledge in the nomi­nation form is based on cognitive knowledge, describing the element, its bear­ers, the safeguarding measures in States Parties, and the expected outcomes of international recognition.The predominant illustrative films on the UNESCO website are word-and-sentence-based, to the detriment of the varied potentials of film, and produced top-down. In contrast, experiential films can transmit the skilled practices and views of practitioners in their native languages, together with their cultural identities. It is recommended that the bearers are included in all phases of film production, from the planning stage on.

This monograph was published by Srednja Europa d.o.o., University of Ljubljana Press and Slovene Ethnographic Museum.