Webinar: Heritage Institutions Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage: Perspectives from Armenia and Scotland

Emma Ramsay

Craft as Culture, Not Artefact:

An Analysis of the Role of Museums and Heritage Centres in Scotland in Heritage Craft Safeguarding

This presentation examines the role of museums and heritage centres in Scotland in the safeguarding of heritage crafts through two case studies: Historic Environment Scotland’s Engine Shed in Stirling and the Shetland Museum & Archives’ partnership with straw craft makers. Using interviews, content analysis, and observation, it examines the effectiveness of cultural institutions in transmitting heritage crafts and the best practices and challenges that emerge from their work with practitioners and communities. By documenting existing safeguarding initiatives following the UK’s ratification of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the study provides a timely examination of the current climate surrounding heritage crafts in Scotland.

Christine Abrell

Cross-Spatial Possibilities:

Dance Heritage Transmission in Gyumri, Armenia

In Armenia and across the diaspora, an ethnographic dance movement has been rapidly growing through largely informal networks and community groups. This presentation explores the role museums and heritage/cultural spaces within ethnographic dance heritage transmission, and how these spaces may better support community dance practice. Drawing on qualitative research centring around Hrayrk Traditional Dance Group and the Gyumri Museum of National Architecture and Urban Life, the study examines how practitioner-led initiatives might expand informal educational efforts through the use of museums and other cultural third spaces in innovative ways. In particular, it identifies how community-led events of practice, an increased sense of belonging for practitioners within these spaces, and the addition of cultural background context resources for dance ICH all emerge as promising avenues for expanding the collaboration between practitioners and cultural organisations.

This online lecture is part of CULTURALITY: Cultural Heritage in Rural Remote Areas for Creative Tourism and Sustainability (2024-2028). This project has received funding by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101132628.

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