K. DE GRAEVE, Adoptiefeesten, cultuur, liefdadigheid en gemeenschapsvorming bij Vlaams-Ethische adoptiegezinnen
Summary: Adoption feast
Culture, Charity and Community Building in Flemish-Ethiopian Adoptive Families
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews, this article analyses festive gatherings of Flemish parents with children adopted from Ethiopia as sites for community building, charity work and culture work. On the one hand, it reads the festive gatherings as ways of celebrating the non-normativity of adoptive families
and ways of aiming to contribute to a more inclusive citizenship. It argues that the adoptive parents’ organizations and gatherings can be seen as “intimacy groups” developing their own visible and positive cultures that can leak into broader public spheres and have the capacity to enhance the public recognition and normalization
of adoptive families in society at large. On the other hand, the article points to the risks of reifying and reproducing difference and inequality. It points to the problematic
entanglement of the festivities (and of adoption) with narratives of philanthropy and rescue, which risks to reinforce a neocolonialist imagery of white people saving black people.It also interrogates the way in which the parents’ “culture work” connects the black children to an alleged “birth culture” of which they often have no memories, a practice that seems to be motivated by essentialist discourses of race, identity and culture, and fits within a discourse that lacks a critical awareness of power inequalities and white privilege.
K. HANNES, H. VOETS, J. LEYSEN, P. VERSTRAETE, Circus als een artistiek en pedagogisch project – Een historische kijk op de totstandkoming van het Vlaamse Circusdecreet
Summary: Circus as an artistic and pedagogical project – A historic perspective on the development of the Flemish Circus decree
In 2008, the then appointed Flemish Minister for culture launched the Circus decree that regulates and finances both the artistic and educational component of the Flemish circus movement. It was preceded by intense discussions between policy makers and
actors from the artistic-pedagogical angle of the Flemish circus movement, addressing the role and educational functions of circus in our contemporary society. In this article we will describe a number of trends that have affected the current content and form of the Circus Decree. Our historical analysis is based on an in-depth study of the iterature, supplemented by insights from policy documents. We also selected three core stakeholders that were involved in creating the draft versions of the Decree for an interview, to fill in the knowledge gaps and increase our understanding of the process. Our study is guided by the following questions: (a) what was the reason for regulating the Flemish circus movement?; (b) what specific actions were undertaken in the runup
to the Circus Decree?; (c) to which structure and culture of financing the sector has the Decree eventually led? We also critically reflect on the question whether or not the Circus Decree has achieved its mission to support the Flemish circus movement as an
art and educational project.
Y. BOUSSAID, B. BOOM, Het “Broekzakarchied” – Delen is het nieuwe bewaren
Summary: Pocketarchive – Sharing is the new way of saving
This essay discusses the smartphone with its advanced applications as a ‘pocketarchive’. The term ‘pocketarchive’ was first introduced at Imagine
IC during the participatory gathering of the collection of the exhibition
‘Let’s Party’. This article considers the ‘pocketarchive’ as a documentation of
modern cultural intangible heritage. Primarily the users of the pocketarchive
are adolescents. They are the main generators of modern intangible heritage. Besides creating and ‘doing’ intangible heritage, they also collect the so called rituals, via
audio-, video- and tex-documentation. In the first place they are doing so because the specific ritual has a personal significance to them. But mostly collected items are meant to be shared via social media. Although adolescents share their collections. it has to be noted that not every item is meant to be shared, adolescents seem to make a strict distinction between private, and public material. By collecting and sharing items adolescents build up a dynamic, global accessible archive. Shared items are being saved in pocketarchives all over the world. Considering this dynamic process of data-sharing as modern ways of saving it comes clear that sharing is the new way of saving.
In traditional archives the actuary is responsible for the selection of the collection, and making it accessible for open public. Users of the pocketarchive have replaced the actuary and have become the curators of their own archives. These developments lead to new questions about preserving archives and making them accessible.
L. DEPAUW, L. MESSIAEN, E. SEGERS, Feesten op de Inventaris Vlaanderen voor Immaterieel Cultureel Erfgoed – Reflecties uit de praktijk
Summary: Festive Events on the Inventory for Intangible Cultural Heritage in
Flanders – Reflections from the Field
This article discusses the evolution of the procedure of inscription of elements on the Inventory for Intangible Cultural Heritage in Flanders (Flemish Inventory). In 2006, Belgium ratified UNESCO’s Convention on Intangible Heritage. In 2008, the Flemish
Inventory was launched. LECA used the time between the ratification and the launch of the inventory to empower the practitioners of public events, processions, carnivals, parades and the like. As a result, many of these groups were ready to inscribe their tradition on the Flemish Inventory in 2008, which explains the current dominance of festive events. In the years that followed, the procedure became more strict in an attempt to preserve the spirit of the 2003 UNESCO convention. However, not all
communities benefit equally from the current policy. For some communities it is too high of a threshold to work over a year on a nomination. As a result, the Flemish Inventory consists of very traditional elements, that have been named as ‘typically Flemish’ for decades. While the Flemish society is evolving into a super divers society,
the Flemish Inventory reflects a false sense of uniformity and some would even argue nostalgia. Therefore, LECA proposes to simplify the nomination procedure for the Flemish Inventory and to introduce an additional List of Best Practices for those communities who want to play an exemplary role.
S. VAN OOSTVEEN, Feest tussen gemeenschap en gemeente – De noodzaak van een goede samenwerking
Summary: Feasts between community and city council The necessity of good cooperation. This article argues a good relation between ICH community and unicipality is of vital importance for the safeguarding of festive events and celebrations. A big part of the Dutch National Inventory of Intangible ultural Heritage consists of celebrations and festive events: 38 of the almost 100 elements on it can be placed in this domain. The Dutch Centre for Intangible Heritage has been appointed to be the competent body coordinating and composing the national inventory. In the Netherlands, the ICH communities draw up their own safeguarding plans with the help of the ICH consultants. Here, the most mentioned bottlenecks by the festive events are laws and regulations of all kinds: security, crowd management,
health and safety manners, environmental laws and regulations concerning building locations for example. In many cases the communities and municipalities record their agreements in security plans and covenants. Many communities feel the pressure
to grow bigger and bigger. But in many cases the bigger events get, the more rules, laws and regulations apply. Municipalities are in the end responsible for the safety of all people present. They decide to grant a permit for the event concerned or not. But intangible heritage and especially celebrations have also got a lot to offer a municipality, like a strong and social community, with a clear view on the future of their ICH. ICH connects people, it is beneficial for the local economy, it may attracts tourists and is a perfect way for a mayor to connect to the inhabitants.
D. M. DE TURCK, Serving Masters – An AnthropolContemporary Processions in Honour of Eligius
Samenvatting: Dienende meesters – Een antropologisch perspectief over
de uitvinding, heruitvinding en het ontzien van tradities in hedendaagse processies ter ere van de Heilige Eligius
‘Deze bijdrage is een bondige etnografisch-historiografische analyse van de hedendaagse processies ter ere van de Heilige Eligius, die door leken georganiseerd worden in Béthune,Parijs en Bouillon. De etnografischantropologische beschrijvingen van de processies worden zowel theoretisch geïnterpreteerd als door de deelnemers individueel verklaard. De processies worden gelinkt aan de oermythe van de heilige zoals deze te vinden is in de Vaticaanse bibliotheek. Het artikel is geschreven rond enkele van de meest in het oog springende invullingen die gegeven worden aan de heilige. Vooreerst wordt de rol van Eligius als eerlijke goudsmid en zijn functie als
patroonheilige van metaalbewerkers behandeld aan de hand van de Société Royale Ouvrière St Eloi de Bouillon, met vervolgens een korte beschrijving van het spatiale aspect van de processie te Bouillon. In een tweede hoofdstuk komt de interpretatie van Eligius als geldslager aan bod en hoe deze symboliek ingevuld is door de Doyen van
het Parijse broederschap Confrèrie de Saint Eloi à Paris. De motivering van de Doyen die het broederschap oprichtte en de symboliek van Eligius heruitvond wordt uitgebreid onder de loep genomen en theoretisch geanalyseerd. Aansluitend komt Eligius als
Charitable aan bod. De liefdadigheid van de heilige en de communitas die dit inspireren is ontleed aan de hand van enkele zeventiende-eeuwse broederschappen in Nederland, aangevuld met de hedendaagse interpretatie van hetzelfde ritueel. Als aatste komt het mirakel van Eligius aan bod, dat herdacht wordt door de broederschappen van Béthune en Beuvry: met speciale aandacht voor de belevingen van de Confrèrie des Charitables de Béthune en hoe dit broederschap caritas toepast
sinds 1188 door het processioneel begraven van doden. Het artikel probeert de lezer mee te voeren naar de wereld van broederschappen en processies en de individuele
motiveringen van de broeders die hiervan deel uitmaken en als leken eeuwenoude christelijke tradities vandaag de dag levend houden.
J. WILLEMSEN, Een lokale identiteit met vreemde gezichten – De Brielse Maskarade tussen 1927 en 1969
Summary: A Local Identity with Strange Faces
The Brielle Masquerade between 1927 and 1969
On January 26, 2016, the Dutch Centre for Popular Culture and Intangible Heritage presented the inhabitants of the city of Brielle with a certificate, stating that the “Brielle Masquerade”had become part of the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Like many European local festivities, the masquerade is regarded to play a vital role in the construction and representation of a local identity.This article shows that this was indeed the case in the period 1927-1969, but that there was also a striking dissimilarity
in comparison to other local festivities in the Netherlands. At first, market-oriented thinking and the urge to civilize the population, were the main driving forces behind the masquerade. In time, the festival turned out to be suitable for reinforcing social cohesion and to express the local balance of power.These features are not unique to Brielle, but characterize local festivals throughout Europe. However, unlike similar festivals in other Dutch villages, the Brielle masquerade made no clear distinction between local people and outsiders: organizers, participants and the local press highlighted the typical local character of the festival, but were enthusiastic about the
presence of large numbers of visitors as well. The Brielle case shows that localism does not necessarily have to be an inward directed and xenophobic phenomenon, but can also willingly be opened to outsiders.
M. VERDIJK, D. HOEBINK, Paarden, vrijgezellen en gender – Traditie en vernieuwing in de Boxmeerse Metworstrennen
Summary: Horses, Bachelors and Gender – Tradition and Renewal in the Boxmeer ‘Sausage races’ This essay explores how the relationship
between the continuity and dynamics of a tradition manifests itself in a local Dutch tradition called the “Metworstrennen” (Sausage races). Localised at the Dutch town of Boxmeer, the “Metworstrennen” is a tradition that takes place during the carnaval celebrations. Its main part is a horse race in which only male bachelors, born and raised in Boxmeer, may take part, as prescribed by its myth of origin. Although the races are still very popular in Boxmeer and its surroundings, the number of participants
has been slowly decreasing in the last decades. Throughout its history the meaning
and purpose of the “Metworstrennen” have been adapted to new developments
in society, which explains its success. What once started as a fertility rite de passage transformed into a political satire in the 19th century, which, on its turn, evolved into the
semi-professional sporting event we know today. Smaller adaptations, like extra protective measures, have been included as well. Letting female bachelors compete in the races would be the necessary next step, in order to keep the “Metworstrennen” a living and socially representative tradition. This statement is backed up by the
argument that nowadays bachelorhood is as much a female as a male phenomenon. Female participation would be a confirmation of the new social freedom many women enjoy nowadays.