FG Interkulturalität
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The research introduces volunteering at World Heritage site as a potential civic engagement tool, which can increase communication between heritage property and local community. The first part of the study focuses on the concept of volunteering and on the role it plays in community involvement at World Heritage sites as well as on its benefits for social development in general.
The second part of the research intends to give practical recommendation on designing a volunteer program under conditions of the World Heritage site of the Palaces and Parks in Potsdam and Berlin. The author raises a question how a volunteering program can be organized to be effective and at the same time to respond to the UNESCO World Heritage Programme and to the newest UNESCO conservation concepts, such as Historic Urban Landscape approach.
The study aims to serve as a practical guide for museums and heritage organisations that intend to improve community involvement in their work.
This research investigates the role of audio-visual media in the representation of intangible cultural heritage and provides a theoretically and empirically grounded concept of the interrelation of media, ICH and representation. It identifies both the potentials and risks involved in media representation, as well as responding to the question regarding how audio-visual representations can foster the safeguarding of ICH, aiming at its sustained transmission and recreation. The study conceptualizes representation as a process in which meaning is produced and negotiated. It refers to discourse in Social/Cultural Anthropology, Heritage Studies and Cultural Studies, particularly making use of the circuit of culture model, Hall’s encoding/decoding model and Assmann’s concept of memory. As ICH is culturally contextualized, the analysis focuses on one specific heritage manifestation: the Kutiyattam Sanskrit theatre. It explores in detail Kutiyattam’s history, identity, performance practice and transformation, including after UNESCO’s proclamation. It analyses the processes and conditions of production, encoding, circulation, reception, utilization and regulation of audio-visual representation and demonstrates the extent to which these dynamic and manifold reciprocal processes influence Kutiyattam practices and practitioners. In the form of a thick description, the study exemplifies that media and modern technologies foster continuity in practice, revitalization, valorization and self-assertion, that they enable education, research, promotion and dissemination of ICH, and contribute to identity construction and the (re)creation of communities. It shows that audio-visual representations - when produced in collaboration with the practicing communities, thereby facilitating culture-specific coding and community use - constitute significant vehicles within safeguarding measures. Differentiating between horizontal and vertical transmission of ICH as well as micro and macro level consumption, the study further identifies numerous challenges involved in the mediatization and digitization of ICH. It addresses issues of access, participation, appropriation and intellectual property and the conflict-ridden processes of homogenization, fragmentation, commercialization and popularization, among others. It argues that rather than being innocent and neutral reflections of cultural practices, audio-visual representations are actively involved in meaning making and knowledge constitution processes and deeply enmeshed in power. It proves that representations shape memory, cultural identity and history and exercise influence on cultural expressions and communities. The study concludes with the provision of general recommendations, giving guidance regarding the utilization of media as well as the production, consumption and regulation of media work, targeting heritage professionals and media professionals alike.
Owing to its unique strategic position on the northern coast of the Black Sea, Crimea has, since Antiquity, been a highly diverse, multi-ethnic, multi-religious location. Throughout history, the peninsula’s landscapes were shaped and transformed under the influence of its ever-changing populations. In this process, religion played a crucial role. Nowadays, Crimea abounds in sacred sites in the same way as it abounds in culturally and religiously diverse inhabitants.
Rebirth in the 1990s of the religious and cultural life that had been repressed for over seventy years of the Soviet rule gave a powerful impetus to the revival of Crimea’s sacred landscapes and enabled the different ethno-religious groups residing in the peninsula to re-establish the bond with the home of their ancestors. The notion of landscape as a memoryscape became central in this context, since it is the landscape that records, as well as reflects, the events in history. The sites communally regarded as sacred unite the people as much as common memories transmitted from one generation to the other do.
The objectives of the theoretical part of this thesis are twofold. On the one hand, it aims to grasp the connection between religion, landscape and memory, whereby sacred sites are seen as landscapes of memory and anchors of people’s cultural and religious identity. On the other hand, it seeks to explore the specific issues pertinent to the Crimean socio-cultural context, such as the peninsula’s history and the evolving ethno-religious relationships among the diverse local population, which have impacted the development and protection of Crimea’s sacred sites overtime. Method employed is the comparative literature review, whereby for each chapter a selection of authors was made, whose contributions towards the discussion of the aforementioned issues have been particularly relevant.
Based on the theoretical background described above, the empirical section of the research targets two main groups of actors: the state on the one side, and the organizations representing local religious groups on the other. In relation to the state, the objective is to explore how the religious revival of the post-Soviet period correlates with Ukraine’s current policies towards the safeguarding of Crimea’s sacred landscapes, namely, to what extent they are being protected under the existing legislation, and which of the aspects are given most attention in the process. In relation to the organizations representing local religious groups, the task is to investigate to what degree the sacred sites under study remain relevant for various groups, and to establish how the knowledge about the local sacred places and their importance is being disseminated both within these groups and beyond.
In order to fulfill these tasks, the set of indicators has been developed, which takes into consideration the specific Crimean socio-cultural context, and a selection of case studies has been made, which in their totality reflect the viewpoints of Crimea’s prominent religious groups. The case studies are: (1) the Assumption Monastery, (2) the cave town of Chufut Kale with Balta Tiymez Karaite cemetery, and (3) the old town of Bakhchisaray with Salachiq historic district and Gazy Mansur cemetery. All of the three case studies are located on the territory of Bakhchisaray Historical and Cultural Preserve (BHCP).
The evaluation of the Ukrainian state’s policies with regards to safeguarding of the selected sacred sites revealed that while many of their elements are recognized as cultural heritage of high significance, protection activities are impeded by substantial obstacles of administrative nature, as well as by the lack general planning. Moreover, conservation and day-to-day management is carried out with little consideration for the opinions of the local people and with the insufficient involvement of the latter.
The indicator-based assessment of relevance of the selected sacred locations for various local religious groups and the ways, in which the knowledge about these sites is being spread exposed a number of clear tendencies, as well as highlighted the existing challenges and deficiencies which need to be urgently addressed, so as to ensure the safeguarding of the studied sites for the future generations.