WANTED: MORE INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

Collections Corner | Carly Hall

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I’ve been reflecting on what really excites me about museums. As a Classicist, I’ve always been interested in the art and architecture of past civilizations; but mostly I was drawn to the stories and artistic processes. With my first year as an MMSt student ending, one thing has become clear: I want a future in intangible cultural heritage. I might even go so far as to place intangible cultural heritage above material culture; without the ability to pass down knowledge (language, ideologies, technical skills, etc.), I wouldn't be able to type out this blog post. 

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What interests me most about intangible cultural heritage is its vitality. We create using past experiences, knowledges and techniques, and transmit these to the next generation. When cultural beliefs or technologies change, we establish new processes of expression and convey them to our descendants/successors. Since intangible cultural heritage can be understood as living heritage, it raises issues on how institutions can display this ever-changing heritage while maintaining past cultural knowledges. An obvious risk of presenting intangible heritage in institutions is that it can render such cultural knowledge as static. To say that museums have a bad habit of fixing cultures in the past is an understatement. So, how do we include intangible heritage in our collections without placing cultures or cultural practices in the past?

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This is where the Intangible Cultural Heritage and Museums Project (IMP) comes in. Established in 2017, this initiative considers different approaches, interactions and practices of intangible cultural heritage in museums. To achieve this, IMP focuses on interdisciplinary learning, developing professional skills, and creating international networking opportunities to discuss best practices. IMP believes intangible heritage is integral to the tangible collections we encounter in museums; therefore, institutions have a responsibility to protect cultural knowledges and educate publics on the intangibility of our museum objects. Currently, IMP is developing a toolbox to inspire and inform museums on how to protect intangible heritage, using cases from various museums in Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, and France. In each case, curators and exhibition planners collaborate with source communities, and using both tangible and intangible cultural heritage to create a more complete understanding of cultural practices.

Projects like IMP have the potential to completely change the way publics perceive and interact with collections. Historically, museums have bestowed vast importance on the objects themselves. However, all objects possess an inherently intangible element. It is one thing to view a woven basket behind glass; but to experience the process of making the basket, the various styles, techniques, patterns of weaving (and understanding the importance of the act itself), is something totally different. Expanding our collections to include intangible cultural heritage will allow us to fill the gaps between cultural practices and material culture.