Make Heritage Fun! March 2017

BACKGROUND

Make Heritage Fun! initiative is a reflection of our belief- ‘heritage is for all’.  We want to challenge popular perception which views heritage as an entity limited to researchers, organizations, conservationists, academician or students on a class trip, to engage with.  We encourage laypersons from across the world to interpret their local- tangible or intangible heritage and make interaction with heritage fun! The element of ‘fun’ is sought, so as to bring positivity around heritage- which often is a topic of discussion for the larger audience when facing threat or is lost.

#makeheritagefun is a simple concept. It encourages people, around the world, to engage with their local heritage on the decided date and take photos and share it on various social media. Experiences from across the world are then collated and amplified through social media using the hashtag #makeheritagefun. Thus, this initiative encourages participants to engage in both online and offline conversation around heritage. The format is left open to what the participants find comfortable, even the type of heritage to explore is the participants’ decision. In addition to making the events stress-free, this allows participants to look at engaging with heritage of every kind – arts, culture, traditions and other intangible heritage.

PREPARATION

We released the Make Heritage Fun! 2017 Calendar in early February, listing out all the #Makeheritagefun campaigns falling in the year. With that we began spreading the word about the event among the GoUNESCO intern community, previous #makeheritagefun event coordinators as well as our partner organizations.

Our centralized registration form tracks volunteers, attendees and coordinators in the different cities around the world was in place.  Similar to the previous editions of the event, we encouraged coordinators to let their imaginations run free when planning the event though we did share with them a cookbook with suggestions on how to go about organizing an event, and promotional material they could use to publicize the event. Many created their own promotion material and in some instances translated our promotional material into their local languages.  This campaign received support and participation of organizations such as: National Museum of Egyptian Civilization,  Documentation Centre of Cultural and Natural Heritage (CULTNAT),  Heritage Walk Calcutta, Sahapedia, Istituto per gli Incontri Culturali Mitteleuropei, Il mondo di Mauro & Lisi, City of San Antonio’s World Heritage Office and YMCA  Of Greater San Antonio.

EVENT

#makeheritagefun saw an active participation from over 40 cities around the world. Reports from many are being published here. We are listing some of the select from a event to give you a glimpse of the global nature of the campaign. People used Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to are their experiences online. View this Tagboard link to view social media shares.

 

AFRICA

Cairo, Egypt: National Museum of Egyptian Civilization

Coordinator: Mohamed Badry

One of the regular participants of the #makeheritagefun campaign, Mohamed Badry in association with NMEC; Documentation Centre of Cultural and Natural Heritage (CULTNAT); and Museum for Us, organized a calligraphy workshop. Titled as  “Your Calligraphy, Your Heritage”, the workshop was conducted to raise awareness about Arabic calligraphy and also gave chance to the participants to try their hand at it.

Kigali, Rwanda: Natural History Museum (Kandt House)

Coordinator: Ndahimana Gilbert

Ndahimana Gilbert, is one of the most regular participant of #makeheritagefun campaign. Always organizing events at new sites in the city of Kigali, this time he along with his friends went to the Natural History Museum also know as the Kandt House.

Arbaminch, South Ethiopia: Nechser National Park

Coordinator: Miki Dowsing

Our GoUNESCO intern, Miki Dowsing, held the #makeheritagefun event at the Nechser National Park and celebrating the natural heritage of the region. Miki says, ‘There needs to be an understanding as to how natural heritage adds to the cultural treasures of a geographical area. Nechisar’s contribution to the cultural milieu of Africa stands testament to this notion.’

One of the many entrances to Nechisar.
Image Courtesy: Miki Dowsing

ASIA

Ahmedabad, India: Dada Hari Ni Vaav

Coordinator: Meghna Sheth

Meghna Sheth, organized a trip to an ancient stepwell, Dada Hari Ni Vaav, for kids and families. They discussed the history, significance of the site over tea with the participants at the site. This ‘chai pe charcha'(Hindi phrase for discussion over tea)  proved to be great engagement session for the participants to not only learn about the site but also mingle with fellow heritage enthusiasts.

Bengaluru, India

Coordinator: Urmila Santosh,Roshini Murali and Tanya Chandel

GoUNESCO in association with Sahapedia conducted a heritage walk looking at popular public spaces in Bengaluru and their history, architecture and significance.

Calcutta, India

Coordinator: Heritage Walk Calcutta

Tathagatha Neogi, founder of the Heritage Walk Calcutta, conducted a heritage walk for the hearing impaired students of the Ideal School for the Deaf. This was the first time the kids were taken on a heritage walk. Mr. Neogi truly looked into inclusivity, accessiblility and of course made heritage fun!

New Delhi, India: Ghalib ki Haveli

Coordinator: Alishah Ali and Amit Das

Ghalib is one of most celebrate Urdu poets in the Indian subcontinent. His haveli (house) has been converted into a museum and displays some of his works. Alishah and Amit paid homage to the poet by organizing an event which looked into history of Ghalib and his times, a discussion on his writing style, followed by a shayari (poem recital) session, which motivated the participants to put their creative juices to work. One could not do more justice to Ghalib’s Haveli!

San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines

Coordinator: Raizel Albano

GoUNESCO’s Regional Reporter, Raizel Albano, conducted a historic walking tour around San Fernando. She also arranged for the participants to learn how to write and read Baybayin, the Philippines’ traditional script.

EUROPE

Aquileia, Italy

Coordinator: Jessica Scodro

Jessica, GoUNESCO Internship Program’s Cluster Coordinator, organized a day trip to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Aquileia. The event comprised of a heritage walk and a photo competition.

Durham, UK: Finchale Priory

Coordinator: Donna Mitchenson, Culture for Kids

Our intern, Donna, also runs Culture for Kids, an initiative which engages children with heritage. She conducted a #makeheritagefun campaign at the Finchale Priory, Durham for her young heritage enthusiasts. The kids explored the site through a scavenger hunt.

 

 

Rome and Mantova: Various locations

Coordinator: Il mondo di Mauro & Lisi

Il mondo di Mauro & Lisi is a literary Italian saga focussed on the WorldHeritage written by Diletta Nicastro. Having participated in the campaign previously too, this time too Diletta Nicastro coordinated two events in Rome at the Piazza della Minerva and Pantheon and Mercati di Traiano and also in the city of Mantova.

NORTH AMERICA

San Antonio, USA

Coordinator: City of San Antonio’s World Heritage Office and YMCA  Of Greater San Antonio

City of San Antonio in coordination with our  YMCA  Of Greater San Antonio is hosting a Siclovia World Heritage event.  This event, was made up of multiple activities and took place along the World Heritage Trail- that is the official driving route to the World Heritage San Antonio Missions.

St Louis, USA

Coordinator: Mitchell Phelps

Mitchell, a GoUNESCO Internship Program’s Cluster Coordinator, combined his love for photography and culture through this event. His idea behind the  event was encourage photographers, models as well as their families to go out and explore the greater St. Louis area and interact with its heritage and culture.

 

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