Living Heritage

This article focuses on the sanctuaries of the Rain God through time, paying particular attention to the devastations and the consequences that these sacred places suffered due to the colonization carried out by the Spaniards in 1521. The research refers to the cultural area of Mesoamerica, particularly the region of the Mixteca Alta in Oaxaca, Mexico. Vehe Savi (House of the Rain God) is the concept in mixtec language that refers to a sacred place where the indigenous communities perform rituals named ''Bringing the Rain''. As a result of the synergy between the Mesoamerican religion and the Christianity, the celebration of the ritual in the Vehe Savi (House of the Rain God) is part of the annual liturgical order of many communities in the Mixteca Alta. Records made by friars in colonial times tell us about the Houses of the Rain, from their perspective these sacred places were the houses of the demon, and they attached these with a negative symbolism. At the same time, interestingly, these colonial records show us the astonishment of the friars for these places that were uncommon for them. In such a way, this article integrates the knowledge and experiences of the Ñ uu Savi People, about the Vehe Savi (House of the Rain God), with descriptions that were written by the friars in colonial documents, and cultural manifestations from precolonial past such as ancient books (codices) and stone monuments, in order to talk about the historical depth of these sacred places and religious manifestations. The Vehe Savi and the ritual of Bringing the Rain are essential elements of the religion of the indigenous peoples in the Mixtec Highlands, but at the same time, the negative symbolism imposed during colonial period persists in many people with different background. For this reason, it is fundamental their recognition and respect as part of this multicultural world, where we belong as human beings.

Contemporary occupation of archaeological sites is fraught with challenges and conflicting priorities. While prevailing opinion on heritage management recognises the fluid and continuous nature of archaeological site formation, the role of present-day communities as agents of archaeological palimpsests is often not adequately acknowledged. Contemporary communities, often unrelated to the autochthonous inhabitants of the archaeological sites, occasionally use these sites and landscapes in similar or different ways to how they were used in the past. Their use of these sites, while potentially damaging to the archaeology, simultaneously adds to, and is part of, the life history of the site, of which the excavated material and rock art are but pictures in time. Squatters who appropriate archaeological heritage sites constitute ambiguous communities under current South African heritage legislation. Yet, their role as contributing agents to archaeological sites is no less real. This article presents the case study of Kruger Cave, a Later Stone Age hunter-gatherer rock art site in South Africa, currently occupied by a lay Christian pastor. We document how the pastor is using the site and offer some thoughts around the nuances of negotiating and reconciling archaeological preservation and living heritage management.

Sustaining cultural landscapes requires the conservation of socio-cultural characteristics as well as their physical manifestations. It is essential to document and conserve tangible and intangible elements of heritage in an integrated manner as cultural heritage consists of "both tangible and intangible works through which the creativity of a people finds expressions". These include but may not be limited to social practices, daily lives, rituals, traditional craftsmanship, know-how, techniques and skills, historic places, buildings, public spaces and objects. Finding the means of understanding and safeguarding intangible cultural heritage and its transmission to next generations is vital for the preservation of tangible heritage and its characteristics. This paper reviews the development of the concepts of intangible cultural heritage and cultural landscapes, and the interrelationship between tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Their interaction opens up new approaches to cultural heritage and its conservation. The case study focuses on the cultural landscape features of Kayseri's Northeast Valleys, Koramaz, Gesi and Derevenk, in terms of their tangible and intangible heritage elements and values. The methodology, therefore, proposes the integrated documentation and analysis of these tangible and intangible cultural heritage characteristics. The area had a multi-cultural, ethnic and religious social structure, which shaped its elements through human-nature interaction. However, demographic changes within the last century transformed daily-life practices. The research is based on in-depth interviews with local residents, analysis of archival sources and documentation of the physical remains in the field. The results highlight the traditional crafts and production techniques as daily-life practices; some of these are still continued at the present while others are not practiced anymore. Those practiced in the recent past are carried to our day through the remembrances and accounts of the elders. The documentation of these practices forms the first step for their revival and sustainability for the future and provide valuable tools for the development of principles and strategies with this purpose. Understanding the physical, natural and socio+ layers of tangible and intangible cultural heritage is essential in this context. Their promotion and the inclusion of local stakeholders in the conservation process is the only solution for the integrated conservation of these cultural landscapes in terms of a living heritage approach.

Prekogranična estetika: inovativne metodologije proučavanja žive baštine 1 Cross-border aesthetics: innovative methodologies of living heritage research  Abstract: This paper introduces the concept of "living”, cross-border heritage, connecting it to the concept of "cross-border aesthetics". Our first goal is in redefining the notion of heritage in times of globalization, cross-border migration, extremely strong physical and virtual mobility of artists and novel-technology-conditioned high levels of information availability. Our second goal ia in strengthening the importance of practice-based research in the design of innovation systems. This work promotes creative pedagogy and methodological innovation related to art-driven research, and discusses the STEAM curriculum of artistic-scientific "methodological mobility”. Our argument is that today we cannot address technology transfer without addressing issues connected to the innovative artistic research.
Sažetak: Ovim radom uvodimo i obrazlažemo koncept "žive baštine" i uz njega vezan pojam "prekogranične estetike" Nekoliko je ciljeva Prvo: ukazati na potrebu redefini-ranja pojma baštine u vremenu globalizacije, prekogranične migracije, izrazito snažne fizičke i virtualne mobilnosti umjetnika i novotehnološki uvjetovane visoke razine do-stupnosti informacija, pri čemu zagovaramo potrebu promišljanja koncepta "prekogra-nične baštine" i "prekogranične estetike" Drugo: pomoći u promjeni klime s ciljem da se osvijesti ulogu koju ima praksom vođeno istraživanje u osmišljavanju inovacijskih sustava Treće: uvođenjem pojma živa baština (kao procesa kreativnog "rada s" baštinskim mate-rijalom u praksi života u društvenoj zajednici, ali i života u "prekograničnom" stvarnom i virtualnom kretanju globaliziranim svijetom) preporuča se izlazak učenika iz učioni-ce u hibridni prostor takozvane "ljudske geografije" gdje više nije jednostavno odvojiti urbano, ekološko i digitalno Radom se promovira kreativna pedagogija i metodološke inovacije vezane uz istraživanje vođeno umjetničkom praksom Četvrto: raspravljamo o STEAM kurikulu umjetničko-znanstvene "metodološke mobilnosti", ali i argumenti-rano tvrdimo da danas ne možemo razmatrati pitanje transfera tehnologija odvojeno od inovativnih istraživanja u umjetnosti Ključne riječi: umjetničko-znanstveni kurikul, prekogranična estetika, kreativnost, živa baština, STEAM 1 Rad je poduprla Hrvatska zaklada za znanost projektom broj IP-2014-09-6963 https://doi org/10 31261/PN 3977 19