International Training Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO

The Intangible Cultural Heritage and Museums Project (IMP) Presents its Joint Declaration

Source: ICHCAP

IMP Presents its Joint Declaration © icom.museum

Upon its concluding symposium hosted in Brussels on 26 February 2020, the Intangible Cultural Heritage and Museums Project (IMP) presented the Declaration on the Dynamic Engagement between a Multiplicity of Actors from the Field of Museums and Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Stating the achievements obtained by IMP in the period between 2017 and 2020, while also taking into consideration, among others, the standards and principles included in the ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums, the Declaration expresses insights and hopes in relation to safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage of communities, groups, and individuals through and together with museums.

Acknowledging the vital interest for museums in contextualizing and bringing together all aspects and types of cultural heritage, the Declaration urges all policy levels to support actions that bring together museums and communities, groups, and individuals engaged in practices of intangible cultural heritage.

The Outcomes of Imp

Alongside the joint Declaration, a book and a toolbox were presented in Brussels:

The IMP book was designed as an invitation to enrich heritage practices and provide support to everyone wishing to contribute to safeguarding intangible cultural heritage and is one of the many outcomes of the project. The IMP book is expected to serve as a companion to discover transformative heritage practices for the twenty-first century, seeking alternative ways towards a third space in the heritage sector. Executive summaries of the book are available in English, Dutch, Italian, German, and French.

The ICH and Museums toolkit provides museum professionals with inspirational and pragmatic methodological tools for engaging with safeguarding living heritage. Over the course of the project, in co-creation with the participants to its events, practical guidelines, recommendations, and brainstorm exercises were developed as part of the toolkit.

Intangible Cultural Heritage and Museums Project

Over the past three years, IMP explored the interaction of museum work and intangible heritage practices in a comparative European context, with partner organizations from Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Italy, and Switzerland. The project included the International Council of Museums (ICOM) as a member of the think tank and participated in the international conferences, expert meetings, and technical meetings for implementing the toolbox.

The project also collaborated with the ICH NGO Forum and the Network of European Museum Organizations (NEMO). IMP was among others supported by the European Commission’s Creative Europe Programme, the Flemish Government, and the Swiss Federal Office of Culture. The project’s five previous meetings, before its recent Concluding Symposium, featured in-depth theoretical contributions, workshops, artistic co-creations, numerous discussions and many inspirational testimonies from the fields of museums and intangible cultural heritage.