Intangible Cultural Heritage and inventory process of the Lombardy region

Abstract

The article presents the experience of a regional state institution involved in the process of compiling the Regional Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Register in the spirit of the 2003 Convention. The Lombardy Region Ethnography and Social History Archive (Archivio di Etnografia e Storia Sociale, AESS) has been operating since the 1970s within the regional institution for the enhancement of the Lombardy Region’s traditional heritage. The Archive has since been used to promote fieldwork and ethnographic research projects and it has been supplemented with documents, photographs and audio-visual documentation. The Italian ratification of the 2003 UNESCO Convention was an opportunity to give continuity and consistency to the cultural activities that the Lombardy Region Ethnography and Social History Archive has been conducting since the 1970s. Regional Law no. 27 of 23 October 2008, “Enhancement of the intangible cultural heritage”, and the new Regional Law of Lombardy no. 25 of 7 October 2016 on “Regional policies on cultural matters — Regulatory reorganization” allowed a participatory inventory process and shaped the formation of pioneering legislative action in Italy. As a result of this new regional cultural policy, the Intangible Search Inventory was established, overseen by the AESS, which coordinates safeguarding measures, actions and projects. The Intangible Search Inventory is a community based inventory that adopts the 2003 Convention principles for the safeguarding of ICH and works to apply the key ideas of the Convention itself, including participation and communities in the identification and description of the ICH elements. The Archive is also in charge of the production, collection and enhancement of multimedia documentation on ICH. This extends to multimedia collections regarding rituals, social habits, traditional technical knowledge, oral expressions and traditional music. Some of this thematic fieldwork and multimedia materials can be further explored on www.intangiblesearch.eu.

Keywords:

regional law, living heritage, identifying, inventorying, communities, safeguarding, participative processes