#makeheritagefun June 2016 - Make Heritage Fun!

BACKGROUND

Conceived in June of 2015, #makeheritagefun turned one with our fifth edition, this year! Our very first campaign was held in 11 cities in Asia and Europe. Since then, more than 100 cities have engaged with the #makeheritagefun initiative.

#makeheritagefun is social media campaign occurring simultaneously around the world, designed to mobilize people and get them to EXPLORE their local heritage, DOCUMENT their experience and SHARE it on our global platform with the hashtag ‘makeheritagefun’. Therefore this inititiative creates online buzz and offline conversations.

PREPARATION

After the date was finalized, the word was spread through various social media platforms. Many individuals expressed interest in organizing a #makeheritagefun event in their city. While some were solo participants, some took up charge of coordinating the event aimed to involve the wider community through some fun activity. Many organizations expressed interest too, such as: Indian National Trust of Art and Cultural Heritage, the Childrens Civilization and Creativity Center (Child Museum), MAC Club, Instituto Municipal de Turismo, Maya Foundation, Friends Chile Project, Landmark Tourism.

EVENT

#makeheritagefun June 12th, took place in over 47 cities. People used Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to are their experiences online. View this Tagboard link to view social media shares. Following are the event reports from select few cities:

Africa

Cairo, Egypt

Coordinator: Mohamed Badry, Children’s Civilization and Creativity Center (Child Museum)

The museum conducted diverse activities to engage their young participants. The museum curator exposed the young people to the Egyptian world heritage site Giza Plateau using 2D art and augmented reality technology. The participants also further got introduction to UNESCO role of conserving Upper Egyptian cultural heritage specifically Abu Simple temple. Then, the kids learnt about the concepts of mummification and ancient Egyptian medicine using digital technology. The kids also engaged in practical excavation skills. Simultaneously, an art workshop was organized for much younger kids teaching them to draw Tanura, one of Egyptian intangible cultural heritage features, and explain them its historical origin

Kids having a go at excavation: #makeheritagefun Cairo

Nairobi, Kenya

Coordinator: Sheila Wangui

#makeheritagefun in Nairobi was organized at the Bomas of Kenya, which is an open air museum dedicated to preservation of Kenyan culture. The venue had plenty of fun activity but our volunteers narrowed down their experience to watching traditional dance performances and visiting the traditional villages/homesteads of various tribes of Kenya and appreciating their roots and cultural heritage.

Badagry, Nigeria

Coordinator: Kalu Kalu Kalu

Kalu Kalu Klau organized a day visit to Badagry, one of the first slave routes in the Western Africa. Our volunteers visited the museums and also interacted with staff to learn more about the infamous slave route and slave trade prevalent back in the days.

Asia

Alwar, India

Coordinator: Pragya Singh

The #makeheritagefun was organized at the Alwar City Palace. The event involved a fun scavenger hunt for the participants. The game provided a great opportunity to explore and appreciate the site.

Pune, India

Coordinator: Rutuja Patil

Rutuja, our coordinator for #makeheritagefun Pune, organized a heritage walk to the Pataleshwar caves for the participants

Kolkata, India

Coordinators: Indian Museum: Kamal Banerjee

Kolkata Maidan: Abhimanyu Sengupta

There were two #makeheritagefun events in Kolkata. One event was organized by INTACH Kolkata and Maya Foundation, for a group of 10-15 year underprivileged girls to the Indian Museum, Kolkata. The tour was conducted by Sayan Bhattacharyay and Swati Mukherjee from the Indian Museum. The girls were taken around to Zoological section, Evolution gallery, Egyptian antiquity. They were also shown sculptures from diverse religions to instil the idea of ‘unity in diversity’. The girls throughly enjoyed the trip.

Abhimanyu, and a few participants went around the Kolkata Maidan in order to celebrate #makeheritagefun. The Maidan is a popular sports arena in Kolkata and is an integral part of the city’s history. They not only covered the site but also spoke to people in and around the site and collected interviews.

Hyderabad

Coordinators: Charminar: INTACH Hyderabad

Golconda Fort: Madhukar

Hyderabad too hosted two #makeheritagefun events. One was organized by INTACH Hyderabad and Hyderabad Weekend Shoot which was a photowalk around Charminar. The results of the photo walk was amazing.

The second event was at the Golconda Fort. Madhukar, the coordinator, invited his friends and their families and they all walked around the fort and had a picnic and made a day out of it.

Solapur

Coordinator: INTACH Solapur

INTACH Solapur organized a #makeheritagefun at the European cemetery at Motibaug. The event was attended by the INTACH members.

Europe

Prague, Czech Republic

Landmark Tourism arranged for a scavenger hunt around the city of Prague. The game was designed so that the participants got to see the heritage of Prague while playing the game.

Vienna, Austria

Coordinator: Jonathan J. Benirschke

Jonathan took up the charge of conducting a tour of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Historic Centre of Vienna. The tour started at the University of Vienna, proceeded to the famous Parish Church of Schottenkirche. and then to the Church of St. Stephen where they stopped at a popular ice cream parlour and then went on to visit the massive Imperial Palace.

North America

City: San Antonio

Coordinator: Kathleen Desormeaux

Kathleen coordinated the #makeheritagefun event at the San Antonio Missions, which is a recently inscribed UNESCO World Heritage Site.

#makeheritagefun at San Antonio Missions

Puebla, Mexico

The city of Puebla is celebrating its 485th anniversary this year. The Puebla Tourism Institute coupled the anniversary with #makeheritagefun event and promoted it extensively. The end result was absolutely great. The whole city came out in support of their local heritage and actively took to social media to celebrate the campaign.