Round Table “Between the Visible and the Invisible: The Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Museum”

Round Table “Between the Visible and the Invisible: The Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Museum”

On December 3, at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies with Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences was held a round table “Between the Visible and the Invisible: The Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Museum”. The event was organized by the Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-eastern Europe under the auspices of UNESCO and IEFSEM – BAS in cooperation with the Slovenian Ethnographic Museum. Experts from different institutions in Bulgaria, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania and Georgia took part in the forum. The focus of the presentations and discussions were the opportunities of the Museum to exhibit and present intangible cultural heritage, especially the role of open-air museums in this field. The participants outlined several problems and dilemmas faced by the museums such as revitalization, the trend towards attractiveness in order to widen the audience interest and the creation of new traditions. They also shared experience for the best practices in promotion of ICH in the region. Emphasis was placed on the role of the film as a main tool for documentation and presentation of ICH, and on the responsibility of the museums for the protection of information and documentation of the endangered elements. The participants estimated the importance of the topics discussed and suggested that the discussion shall be continued next year with a round table, which will be held in Slovenia and will focus on the problems of visual anthropology and revitalization of elements of ICH.