In continuation of the discussions on the role of various participants in the system of safeguarding of “living heritage” in Serbia, the Center for Intangible Cultural Heritage of Serbia at the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade organized a discussion on the topic “The role of scientific research organizations and institutions of higher education in the system of safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage in Serbia” at the Ethnographic Museum on November 2nd, 2022. The conversation was guided toward determining the ways in which these institutions are included in the established system of safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage in Serbia, starting from the framework provided in 2003 by the UNESCO Convention and the Operational Directives for its implementation. Namely, the Convention encourages signatory countries to implement measures and policies aimed at teaching about intangible cultural heritage at universities and institutes, as well as at encouraging the development of interdisciplinary scientific and artistic studies and research methodologies in order to preserve the “living heritage”.
The developments in this field were presented by members of the National Committee for Intangible Cultural Heritage, Prof. Dr Danijel Sinani, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at University in Belgrade, Dr Danka Lajić Mihajlović, Scientific Advisor at the SASA Institute of Musicology, Dr Miloš Matić, Scientific Associate and Museum Advisor of the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade, and Danijela Filipović, Coordinator of the Center for the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Serbia. They pointed out that experts and researchers in scientific fields of ethnology, anthropology, ethnomusicology and ethnochoreology, have been actively participating in safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage. Reminding the audience that the Department of Ethnology and Anthropology at the Philosophy Faculty in Belgrade has included education on intangible cultural heritage in the programs of both formal and informal education, both through improvement of curriculum and through numerous seminars, workshops and round tables, Prof. Dr Danijel Sinani emphasized the importance of continuous education in this field. He stressed the fact that education is important not only for college students but also to already established experts, researchers and other participants, as well as the results of cooperation between this Department and the Network for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the positive experiences in organizing the field practice, where students work together with the communities and element bearers in recognizing the elements of “living heritage”. Dr Danka Lajić Mihajlović pointed out that within the system of safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage the scientists also adopt the role of mediators, who through their work support preservation of identity of local communities, initiating their new understanding of the importance of their heritage. She also emphasized the necessity of introducing the knowledge about intangible cultural heritage into the system of higher education, including the faculties studying traditional music and dance, both at bachelors’ and masters’ level, as well as the need of broader education on forms of work on safeguarding the “living practices”, including work with communities, culture and art associations, cultural centers etc. Reminding the audience that the field of intangible cultural heritage has opened up additional space for connecting science and culture, Dr Miloš Matić also pointed out that institutions for safeguarding cultural heritage used to focus mostly on safeguarding of cultural elements preserved from the past, but today they are also including the heritage that “we live today” in their scholarly and research work.
The discussion brought forth many ways in which the results of research work in scientific fields such as ethnology, anthropology, ethnomusicology, ethnochoreology, folklore studies, ethnolinguistics etc. may be used to improve the practice of safeguarding the recorded “living heritage” as well as to strengthen the capacities in creating the policies on safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage on national level. Starting from the fact that the communities are recognized as key factors in safeguarding their own heritage in all phases, from identifying and registering, to determining the safeguarding measures and understanding the threats to the changing heritage, the conclusions of the discussion have pointed out the need to determine the ways in which these results of science-research work may help communities in their future activities on safeguarding their heritage.
The participants in the discussion included ethnologists and anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, ethnochoreologists and linguists from diverse institutions of higher education and scientific research organizations - the Department of Ethnology and Anthropology and the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, the Department of Ethnomusicology of the Faculty of Music Arts in Belgrade, the Faculty of Political Science, the Institute of Ethnography of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Institute of Musicology of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Serbian Language Institute of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Belgrade Institute of Philosophy and Social Theory of the Belgrade Institute for the Study of Cultural Development, and the "Mokranjac" Music School.
Photographs by: Ivana Masniković Antić.
