WEBVTT 00:00:05.412 --> 00:00:06.807 Hi, guys. 00:00:07.227 --> 00:00:12.646 Today I want to talk to you about ICH, intangible cultural heritage. 00:00:12.646 --> 00:00:15.146 It's a very unfortunate term. 00:00:15.146 --> 00:00:18.746 Intangible cultural heritage - what does that mean? 00:00:18.746 --> 00:00:22.596 In French it translates as "immaterial heritage," 00:00:22.596 --> 00:00:24.246 but is it immaterial? 00:00:24.246 --> 00:00:26.681 Well, yes, but no. 00:00:26.681 --> 00:00:31.017 I prefer to call it living culture or dynamic traditions. 00:00:31.017 --> 00:00:35.477 Now, my interest in ICH, I think came from my childhood. 00:00:35.477 --> 00:00:39.671 I grew up in a bilingual home, so my mother would speak Irish to me, 00:00:39.671 --> 00:00:41.737 but the rest of the family spoke English, 00:00:41.737 --> 00:00:45.638 so as a child, I was aware of different cultures and traditions. 00:00:46.098 --> 00:00:49.157 This was no help to me, though, in 1992, 00:00:49.157 --> 00:00:52.537 when I met my future German mother-in-law. 00:00:52.847 --> 00:00:56.484 She didn't speak English, and I didn't speak German. 00:00:56.484 --> 00:01:00.485 Imagine not being on speaking terms with your mother-in-law. 00:01:00.485 --> 00:01:02.728 I think most of you are too young for that, 00:01:02.728 --> 00:01:04.507 but believe you me, 00:01:04.507 --> 00:01:07.469 not being able to speak to your German mother-in-law 00:01:07.469 --> 00:01:10.458 is an incredibly difficult experience. 00:01:10.458 --> 00:01:14.889 And I soon realized that there is much more differences between us, 00:01:14.889 --> 00:01:18.057 even though we're near neighbors, in European terms, 00:01:18.057 --> 00:01:19.988 than simply language. 00:01:20.408 --> 00:01:22.723 Later on, when I went to work in Germany, 00:01:22.723 --> 00:01:24.950 I found even more problems. 00:01:24.950 --> 00:01:28.409 Um, marking time is one issue. 00:01:28.789 --> 00:01:31.970 If I make an appointment with you at 10:30, 00:01:31.970 --> 00:01:34.798 that is the time I expect you to turn up. 00:01:34.798 --> 00:01:36.495 However, in Germany, 00:01:36.495 --> 00:01:39.599 if you make an appointment with someone for halb zehn, 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:42.685 they will actually turn up an hour earlier. 00:01:42.685 --> 00:01:45.849 We mark time in terms of time that is gone past; 00:01:45.849 --> 00:01:49.895 they mark time in terms of time that is to come. 00:01:50.055 --> 00:01:54.265 My German husband and myself often disagree on colors. 00:01:54.815 --> 00:01:59.549 I come from a land that is often described as having 40 shades of green, 00:01:59.549 --> 00:02:03.610 and actually, in Irish Gaelic, we have two words for green: 00:02:03.610 --> 00:02:07.074 we have "glas" and we have "uaine." 00:02:07.074 --> 00:02:13.574 Now, glas is for a chilly morning, a gray horse, green grass, 00:02:13.574 --> 00:02:16.466 but we would use uaine for a bus. 00:02:16.466 --> 00:02:17.715 Now, you say to me, 00:02:17.715 --> 00:02:21.010 "What's the difference between the green bus and the green grass?" 00:02:21.010 --> 00:02:24.549 Well, actually, it's very hard to translate into English, 00:02:24.549 --> 00:02:30.060 but I suppose the best I could say is grass grows, therefore grass is glas; 00:02:30.060 --> 00:02:34.123 a bus does not grow, therefore the bus is uaine. 00:02:34.863 --> 00:02:35.904 So, 00:02:38.407 --> 00:02:44.830 many cultures have many different languages, expressions, traditions - 00:02:44.830 --> 00:02:49.181 all part of intangible cultural heritage, or ICH. 00:02:49.181 --> 00:02:52.077 Now, you may have seen in last week's newspapers 00:02:52.077 --> 00:02:55.420 how it has been discovered with the new thesaurus 00:02:55.420 --> 00:03:00.956 that there are 421 words in Scots for snow. 00:03:01.376 --> 00:03:03.256 That actually surprises me a bit. 00:03:03.256 --> 00:03:07.289 If you said to me it was 421 words for rain, 00:03:07.289 --> 00:03:09.120 I would expect that. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:13.891 But apparently, the Scots beat the Inuit for words for snow. 00:03:13.891 --> 00:03:17.271 The Inuit are supposed to have 50 words for snow, 00:03:17.271 --> 00:03:20.562 but actually that has since been described as a hoax. 00:03:20.562 --> 00:03:22.842 Okay, so what is the value of that? 00:03:22.842 --> 00:03:25.261 Well, I think the value of that is huge. 00:03:25.261 --> 00:03:30.900 First of all, local languages reflect the local biodiversity. 00:03:30.900 --> 00:03:34.568 They also create a sense of belonging and social cohesion, 00:03:34.568 --> 00:03:37.211 but also there's a whole industry about Scots. 00:03:37.211 --> 00:03:40.821 You can buy Gruffalo in Scots; you can buy loads of books in Scots. 00:03:40.832 --> 00:03:42.882 You know yourselves, you can buy tea towels, 00:03:42.882 --> 00:03:46.182 you can buy cups, you can buy baby T-shirts - 00:03:46.182 --> 00:03:48.932 all expressing the words in Scots. 00:03:48.932 --> 00:03:52.792 So there's a whole economic industry going on here as well. 00:03:52.952 --> 00:03:57.382 Now, oral traditions and expressions are just one part of ICH, 00:03:57.382 --> 00:03:59.368 but there are many others. 00:03:59.368 --> 00:04:00.774 Performing arts is another, 00:04:00.774 --> 00:04:02.181 and here I put up a picture 00:04:02.181 --> 00:04:06.463 of what we would call one of our local folk stars, Gary West. 00:04:06.463 --> 00:04:08.952 Now, Gary West is one of the many people 00:04:08.952 --> 00:04:11.729 that have played in the Celtic Connection festivals, 00:04:11.729 --> 00:04:14.583 which happens every January in Glasgow. 00:04:14.583 --> 00:04:19.120 Now, the Celtic Connections festival started in 1994, 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:23.243 and since then, it has grown year after year after year, 00:04:23.243 --> 00:04:26.419 and a study in 2007 found 00:04:26.419 --> 00:04:30.792 that for every pound invested in this festival, 00:04:30.792 --> 00:04:32.740 31 pounds came back, 00:04:32.740 --> 00:04:37.843 so ICH has strong economic potential. 00:04:38.453 --> 00:04:41.920 Performing arts is another example of ICH. 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:46.759 I don't know how many of you have enjoyed the Beltane Festival like I did, 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:52.903 but Beltane is one of the many rituals and social practices and festivals 00:04:52.903 --> 00:04:55.402 that takes place in Scotland every year. 00:04:55.402 --> 00:04:58.543 Now, rituals, social practices, and festivals 00:04:58.543 --> 00:05:01.834 are another very important part of ICH. 00:05:01.834 --> 00:05:03.232 And what are they good for? 00:05:03.232 --> 00:05:04.633 They're good for the economy. 00:05:04.633 --> 00:05:07.339 Think of all the tourists that come to see Beltane. 00:05:07.339 --> 00:05:09.983 They're good for our mental health and well-being. 00:05:09.983 --> 00:05:13.133 I mean, consider how good you feel at a fire festival. 00:05:13.133 --> 00:05:15.606 Basically, Beltane is a fire festival. 00:05:15.606 --> 00:05:19.741 They're also good for tourism and mixing with the locals 00:05:19.741 --> 00:05:24.573 and marking the seasons, so they create a sense of environment. 00:05:25.363 --> 00:05:31.475 I think one of the most underestimated contributions Scotland makes to ICH 00:05:31.475 --> 00:05:36.364 is in terms of knowledge and practices concerning the universe. 00:05:36.364 --> 00:05:39.212 And I just take as an example, John Muir. 00:05:39.212 --> 00:05:43.893 Now, John Muir was born in Dunbar, but spent a lot of time in America, 00:05:43.893 --> 00:05:48.465 and there he is known as the "Father of National Parks," 00:05:48.465 --> 00:05:51.554 because John Muir had a vision for nature, 00:05:51.554 --> 00:05:55.995 a vision that we should all enjoy our leisure in nature, 00:05:55.995 --> 00:05:58.206 that we should all feel good in nature, 00:05:58.206 --> 00:06:01.315 and that nature should be available to everybody. 00:06:01.315 --> 00:06:04.915 Well, it's not just about nature and mental health and well-being; 00:06:04.915 --> 00:06:06.925 it's also about the economy. 00:06:06.925 --> 00:06:10.175 So, we now have a new John Muir Way, 00:06:10.175 --> 00:06:15.992 a 130-mile-long route which is bound to bring in the nature tourists. 00:06:16.472 --> 00:06:21.402 Traditional skills is also a very important part of ICH, 00:06:21.982 --> 00:06:24.585 and I would like to point to just one example. 00:06:24.585 --> 00:06:27.486 In the photograph here, we have basket-making, 00:06:27.486 --> 00:06:30.065 but the example I would like to point to 00:06:30.065 --> 00:06:33.237 is a special example to me which is in government, 00:06:33.237 --> 00:06:35.485 and it's called the GalGael Trust. 00:06:35.485 --> 00:06:38.666 And the GalGael Trust was set up in the '90s 00:06:38.666 --> 00:06:43.736 with a desire to give people who had been marginalized 00:06:43.736 --> 00:06:46.340 or people who find life challenging, 00:06:46.340 --> 00:06:47.554 a new aim in life. 00:06:47.554 --> 00:06:52.657 They describe it as giving people a chisel with which to carve out the future. 00:06:52.657 --> 00:06:55.986 And they particularly focus on boat-building. 00:06:55.986 --> 00:06:57.284 Now, you may say, 00:06:57.284 --> 00:07:00.217 "What's the value of traditional craftsmanship?" 00:07:00.217 --> 00:07:03.203 But as you know, in this technological age, 00:07:03.203 --> 00:07:06.057 there is a great desire for people 00:07:06.057 --> 00:07:10.335 to purchase and engage with traditional crafts. 00:07:10.335 --> 00:07:12.732 That's, of course, also good for the environment 00:07:12.732 --> 00:07:16.944 because usually people like this don't exploit local resources, 00:07:16.944 --> 00:07:20.718 but think about what they can hand on for the next generation. 00:07:21.028 --> 00:07:23.086 Now, if all of that hasn't convinced you yet 00:07:23.086 --> 00:07:25.254 that ICH is really important, 00:07:25.254 --> 00:07:27.358 I'd like to take a few more examples. 00:07:27.358 --> 00:07:30.408 You may say to me, "Yeah, that's all old-fashioned stuff. 00:07:30.408 --> 00:07:33.155 It's all for old people; it's nothing to do with me." 00:07:33.155 --> 00:07:34.748 But actually, it isn't. 00:07:34.748 --> 00:07:40.678 Many of the tradition bearers of ICH are way ahead of us in technology. 00:07:40.678 --> 00:07:43.234 Consider, for example, the Samis. 00:07:43.234 --> 00:07:47.268 They, in the old days, would, with their reindeer husbandry, 00:07:47.268 --> 00:07:49.538 would gather the reindeer on sleighs. 00:07:49.538 --> 00:07:51.368 Do they do that now? No. 00:07:51.368 --> 00:07:53.298 They use snow scooters. 00:07:53.298 --> 00:07:58.143 Or here, I have an example of the Foxwoods Resort in Connecticut, 00:07:58.143 --> 00:08:04.010 a huge enterprise with casinos, spas, golf courses - 00:08:04.010 --> 00:08:05.437 a huge industry. 00:08:05.437 --> 00:08:09.868 Now, that huge industry is owned by one of the Native American people, 00:08:09.868 --> 00:08:13.778 who use the income from that for their tribal reservations. 00:08:13.778 --> 00:08:19.659 So again, the economic dimension of ICH is extremely important. 00:08:19.979 --> 00:08:24.427 Another example would be the Amazon Indians who use Google Earth. 00:08:24.427 --> 00:08:26.330 Now, let me tell you how this happened. 00:08:26.330 --> 00:08:28.059 It happened very simply. 00:08:28.059 --> 00:08:33.029 One day, the local chief went into an internet café. 00:08:33.029 --> 00:08:34.939 He saw Google Earth 00:08:34.939 --> 00:08:38.946 and quickly realized the potential it would have for his people. 00:08:38.946 --> 00:08:40.979 So he invited Google Earth in, 00:08:40.979 --> 00:08:42.278 and they came, 00:08:42.278 --> 00:08:44.278 and they trained the tribespeople 00:08:44.278 --> 00:08:48.386 to make YouTubes of their elders recording their stories, 00:08:48.386 --> 00:08:52.170 how to tag their stories, and put them up on the internet. 00:08:52.170 --> 00:08:55.089 Later on, they came back, 00:08:55.089 --> 00:08:58.125 and they trained these people how to use mobile phones 00:08:58.125 --> 00:09:01.700 because one of the problems the Amazon Indians have 00:09:01.700 --> 00:09:06.950 is illegal logging or illegal deforestation of their lands. 00:09:06.950 --> 00:09:10.059 So now what they do is, if somebody's up to something, 00:09:10.059 --> 00:09:13.179 they take photographs and put it up on Google Earth. 00:09:13.179 --> 00:09:14.890 So that is a perfect example 00:09:14.890 --> 00:09:19.655 of traditional wisdom with modern technology. 00:09:19.655 --> 00:09:22.109 But of course, there's more. 00:09:22.669 --> 00:09:27.867 ICH, intangible cultural heritage, is all about social inclusion, 00:09:27.867 --> 00:09:29.319 and here I have an example. 00:09:29.319 --> 00:09:32.730 I was with guests last Saturday night, and they were telling me 00:09:32.730 --> 00:09:38.548 about this festival from Bengali which celebrates the goddess Durga, 00:09:38.548 --> 00:09:41.938 and it's about gathering clay from the homes of prostitutes 00:09:41.938 --> 00:09:46.339 to make the icon of this goddess every year. 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:48.709 All the activities around this festival 00:09:48.709 --> 00:09:52.956 place a very strong emphasis on social inclusion. 00:09:52.956 --> 00:09:57.691 Another example I would like to take is one called Art for India, 00:09:57.691 --> 00:10:03.158 and this was an initiative which looked at traditional art forms 00:10:03.158 --> 00:10:05.047 and discovered they were dying, 00:10:05.047 --> 00:10:07.752 and they were dying - it was a bit of a catch-22 - 00:10:07.752 --> 00:10:12.092 they were dying, there was no opportunities for artists to perform, 00:10:12.092 --> 00:10:14.252 there was no income coming from it, 00:10:14.252 --> 00:10:18.238 so they generated a whole new revival of these arts, 00:10:18.238 --> 00:10:22.418 created opportunities for the artists to showcase their art, 00:10:22.418 --> 00:10:24.023 and created networks. 00:10:24.023 --> 00:10:28.862 So here we've another example of traditional crafts plus the economy - 00:10:28.862 --> 00:10:30.522 everybody gains. 00:10:31.242 --> 00:10:36.382 Now, if all that doesn't convince you that ICH is worth being passionate about, 00:10:36.382 --> 00:10:41.574 I would like to turn finally to the notion of ICH being used 00:10:41.574 --> 00:10:46.552 as a tool of reconciliation or conflict amelioration. 00:10:47.062 --> 00:10:50.842 We're all familiar with examples from ISIS recently, 00:10:50.842 --> 00:10:56.311 destroying heritage sites - tangible heritage - as acts of war. 00:10:56.311 --> 00:11:01.750 Well, ICH can be harnessed to ameliorate those acts of war. 00:11:02.070 --> 00:11:03.560 Um, here, um - 00:11:03.560 --> 00:11:06.713 another example of intangible heritage that I should refer to first 00:11:06.713 --> 00:11:07.952 is the Mostar Bridge, 00:11:07.952 --> 00:11:10.177 which was really destroyed 00:11:10.177 --> 00:11:14.952 to destroy the memory of peoples working together. 00:11:14.952 --> 00:11:17.659 In this case, it was the Bosnians and the Croats. 00:11:17.659 --> 00:11:21.803 So destroy the tangible heritage, destroy the memory. 00:11:21.803 --> 00:11:24.832 And of course, ICH is all about memory, 00:11:24.832 --> 00:11:29.123 and lots of wars are about memory and about the past. 00:11:29.123 --> 00:11:30.900 The problem is that these wars 00:11:30.900 --> 00:11:34.143 are not necessarily about the facts of the past; 00:11:34.143 --> 00:11:37.370 they are about the interpretation of the past. 00:11:37.370 --> 00:11:39.279 And very often war is caused 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:43.134 because different people interpret the past differently, 00:11:43.134 --> 00:11:45.594 and they're often in conflict with one another. 00:11:45.594 --> 00:11:47.832 And here's where ICH can come in, 00:11:47.832 --> 00:11:51.453 because ICH can be used to sit down, 00:11:51.453 --> 00:11:54.943 get people to talk about their understandings of the past, 00:11:54.943 --> 00:11:56.233 and at least - 00:11:56.233 --> 00:11:59.185 even if one doesn't agree with the other side - 00:11:59.185 --> 00:12:02.263 at least come into dialogue with them. 00:12:02.263 --> 00:12:05.464 A very good example of that happened in Northern Ireland, 00:12:05.464 --> 00:12:08.604 where they called it "healing through remembering," 00:12:08.604 --> 00:12:12.191 and basically they set up conversation workshops 00:12:12.191 --> 00:12:16.534 for people who had different and conflicting interpretations of the past 00:12:16.534 --> 00:12:19.345 so that at least they could come to an understanding 00:12:19.345 --> 00:12:21.855 of what the other side thought. 00:12:22.395 --> 00:12:25.074 And so it was with great pleasure, actually, 00:12:25.074 --> 00:12:28.273 that I attended Derry / Londonderry 00:12:28.273 --> 00:12:32.803 celebrating its first UK City of Culture in 2013. 00:12:32.803 --> 00:12:36.396 Hopefully you recognize the character of Nessie here. 00:12:36.396 --> 00:12:39.705 This was a big pageant about the character Columba, 00:12:39.705 --> 00:12:44.436 who in the past had divided communities known as Columba or Colmcille, 00:12:44.436 --> 00:12:46.985 but with the UK City of Culture, 00:12:46.985 --> 00:12:48.395 they sat down, 00:12:48.395 --> 00:12:51.187 reconciled their memories, told a new story - 00:12:51.187 --> 00:12:55.452 a new story which harnessed ICH, 00:12:55.452 --> 00:12:58.257 or intangible cultural heritage, 00:12:58.257 --> 00:13:01.981 to create a new common shared heritage for the city 00:13:01.981 --> 00:13:05.795 with a view to economic benefit for all. 00:13:06.015 --> 00:13:08.095 So hopefully by now I've convinced you 00:13:08.095 --> 00:13:10.968 that ICH is something worth thinking about. 00:13:10.968 --> 00:13:14.107 It's not just about the past; it's about the future. 00:13:14.107 --> 00:13:15.947 It's about social inclusion. 00:13:15.947 --> 00:13:17.606 It's about the economy. 00:13:17.606 --> 00:13:20.115 It's about caring for our environment. 00:13:20.115 --> 00:13:22.407 It's about me; it's about you; 00:13:22.407 --> 00:13:24.253 it's about future generations. 00:13:24.253 --> 00:13:26.158 Go raibh maith agat. 00:13:26.158 --> 00:13:28.708 (Applause)