Intangible Cultural Heritage in Scotland

In 2008, a team from Edinburgh Napier University, funded by Museums Galleries Scotland, undertook a scoping and mapping exercise in order to evaluate how a project to record Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in Scotland would look. The full report can be found here.

Edinburgh Napier University has been awarded a substantial Knowledge Transfer Fellowship grant from the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to bring the report's recommendations to fruition. The primary outcome of the project, funded primarily by the AHRC, and utilising the knowledge and expertise of Local Authorities across Scotland, will be the establishment of an online inventory of Scotland’s ICH, taking the form of a customised wiki.

This will record and preserve the aspects of Scotland’s culture that do not easily fit into museum collections. The data will be collected and inputted into the main database by teams across Scotland and will provide a valuable record of ICH, as it is currently practiced, and will be practiced in the future, across Scotland. The database is designed not to be a record of ICH at a given moment, but, rather, to be dynamic, in a way that mirrors its subject matter. ICH, on account of its nature, evolves in form over time, and the database must be of a form that is able to adequately capture this.

For more information, visit the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Scotland website at http://ichscotland.org.

ICON training bursaries

The Institute of Conservation is pleased to advertise the fourth year of its training bursaries scheme, with six 12-month internships starting this September as part of the four-year scheme supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Additionally, Icon is advertising two of its own Internships in partnership with other employers and funders. Venues include private and public sector conservation workshops across the UK, offering experience in the conservation of archives, metals, stone, textiles, stained glass and photographic materials.

Closing date is 1 June 2009. Information on all placements and details of eligibility can be found on the Icon website at www.icon.org.uk

Debate the threat to rural skills - 22 May 2009, 4pm

Join Emma Bridgewater, Hugh Peachey, Mike Moody and Daniel Butler at the Hay Festival for the 2009 Country Living Magazine discussion: 'Thatcher, Farrier, Cooper ... Call Centre Worker?'

Rural skills are under threat, and without training for a new generation of craftspeople, the traditions we treasure will exist only in tales of days gone by. Chaired by countryside writer Daniel Butler, who talks to Hugh Peachey, gypsy wagon restorer and stonemason, Mike Moody, chair of the National Heritage Training Group, and entrepreneur Emma Bridgewater.

Click here for more information and to book. Sponsored by The Balvenie.

If you plan on attending this event, please send your reviews or comments to us at info@heritagecrafts.org.uk.

Traditional craftspeople wanted in Gateshead - 12 September 2009

Gatehead Heritage @ St. Mary's is having a heritage craft open day on 12 September 2009 and is looking for traditional craftspeople who may be interested in demonstrate their craft on that day.

If you are interested in taking part, please email Eva Larsen at evalarsen@gateshead.gov.uk.

Click here for more information on Gateshead Heritage @ St. Mary's