Interview with Velika Stojkova-Serafimovska

Interview with Velika Stojkova-Serafimovska

Facilitator for the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage

R.C.: What are the key messages of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage that have remained fully relevant to this day?

V.S.: As an ICH expert, ethnomusicologist and folklorist I have been following the implementation and the development of the 2003 Convention on national and regional level since 2008. Being continuously involved in the process of raising the public awareness of the importance of ICH on local and national level and having the possibility to visit different European countries and witness different safeguarding mechanisms in various local and national context, I can confirm that the key messages of the Convention have remained fully relevant. The 2003 Convention is developing and growing being enriched in broader aspect of recognizing and promoting ICH as an excellent platform for sustainable development among the communities concerned per se.

R.C.: Would you identify such trends in the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage as relate to the use of formal and non-formal education and are the result of educational policies and practices?

V.S.: Learning and teaching with ICH is an excellent mechanism of introducing, promoting and implementing the ICH Convention’s key messages, yet it is connected with formal national educational policies and strategy that demands more time for training of teachers and educators involved with the formal education. As a safeguarding mechanism, so far this trend is more implementable in the non-formal education, which can be an excellent starting point of sharing the benefits of introducing the importance of ICH among the children, the youth, but also among the adults. As a teacher, I strongly believe that this approach is a key point in providing an inclusive way of learning with and about cultural heritage and its inevitable connection with nature and sustainable way of healthy live and living environment.

R.C.: Which are the highlights in marking the 20th Anniversary of the signing of the 2003 Convention and how do they relate to the dynamic changes in the political, cultural, social and economic contexts of the present day?

V.S.: There are many activities planned and prepared for marking the 20^th Anniversary of the 2003 Convention, yet I personally found the launching of the global campaign Wiki Loves Living Heritage to be most visible and promotional activity. This participatory, community-driven initiative calling on heritage practitioners, Wikimedia volunteers and cultural institutions around the world will provide for excellent way of presenting, promoting and sharing different ICH elements on global level and celebrate living heritage as a comprehensive platform for better understanding and respect toward different communities and cultural expressions around the globe.

R.C.: In what direction do you anticipate the future development of Regional Category 2 Centres in terms of the safeguarding, conservation and evolution of the living heritages?

V.S.: The Regional Category 2 Centres are an important part of the UNESCO network in many aspects. Since its establishment, the Sofia Centre has created an excellent and very active network among experts and institutions in the South-East European countries that provided a transparent platform for sharing policies, mechanisms as well as various approaches toward safeguarding ICH in the given region. My anticipation for the future development of the Centres, more precisely the Sofia Centre, is toward connecting the concerned communities and developing a network among ICH bearers and practitioners that share similar ICH elements in the South-East European region.

R.C.: How your personal experience in communicating with intangible cultural heritage has affected your professional growth?

V.S.: Being an ICH expert has expended the scope of my field-work researching whereby I found the community to be most important and central subject of not just researching, but also mediating. Although we, as researchers and ICH experts, found our self in a specific meta-position, which is being in position to introduce, interpret and implement the ICH Convention between the communities and stakeholders concerned, the gained experience in the field of ICH has also largely complemented and enriched my personal views as an Ethnomusicologist and Folklorist. This affected by personal attitude and contributed in developing a different approach in my work as a teacher in formal and non-formal education, as well as a researcher of traditional music and dance ICH forms. The possibility to learn and exchange different mechanisms and methodologies in safeguarding ICH on international level has enriched me personally, but also inspired me in using more applied methodology sharing my gained knowledge and experience in more productive and useful way on local and national level.