The declaration signed on 20 May 2022 by 29 custodians from Bolesławiec and the surrounding area is the first step toward the ultimate goal of inscribing Bolesławiec ceramics on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
All artistic activities related to our stoneware contribute to the process of placing Bolesławiec ceramics on the list of intangible cultural heritage. This includes Glina Show, held for the past four years (a parade and artistic events associated with the Bolesławiec Ceramics Festival).
Glina Show: an event supporting the inscription of ceramics on the UNESCO list
The organizers (istotne.pl and the boleslawianie.eu association) invite everyone interested to participate in Glina Show, because building the brand of the city of ceramics is a major challenge and an open space welcoming everyone.
A meeting with ceramic artists who will join the organization of the fifth Glina Show this year took place in the conference room of the Winestone restaurant (Ibis Bolesławiec). The event, which brings the people of Bolesławiec together, will include: „Ceramika Artystyczna” Spółdzielnia Rękodzieła Artystycznego, which has co-created the event since its first edition, Ceramika Kaola, Ceramika Millena, Ceramika Galia and WR Ceramika.
The meeting was attended by the director of the Museum of Ceramics, Anna Bober-Tubaj, who emphasized the importance of joint activities for the benefit of the Bolesławiec clay brand, as well as Anna Krejci from Surrounding Polish Pottery, who promotes our ceramics and creatively develops its sales and recognition on the American market.
Bolesławiec ceramics on the UNESCO list – benefits
The colloquial and rather inelegant question is: what will we get out of UNESCO? The benefits of placing ceramics on the UNESCO list are obvious and highly attractive. From a tourism perspective, Bolesławiec and the surrounding area would join the top tier of places worth seeing in Europe.
Inscribing ceramics on the list gives us enormous promotional opportunities internationally. It offers the possibility of obtaining funding to create programs protecting this heritage, exchanging experience in caring for our handicrafts, documenting the tradition of hand-decorating ceramic vessels and developing it further.
Inscribing Bolesławiec ceramics on the UNESCO list means, above all, unlimited development opportunities for artists, craftspeople, creative people and enthusiasts, as well as excellent prospects for ordinary people living in Bolesławiec and the surrounding area.
Kraków with Wawel first on the UNESCO list
In September 1978, the UNESCO Committee in Washington, USA, created the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage List. Twelve sites were inscribed, including, as the first in the world, Kraków’s medieval city center with Wawel, Stradom and Kazimierz.
Until the beginning of the 21st century, the concept of cultural heritage was associated primarily with monuments. The list included, among others, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Palace of Westminster, Reims Cathedral, Würzburg Residence and the Taj Mahal. Today, this venerable list contains nearly 900 tangible sites.
Tradition and heritage are more than architecture
UNESCO’s protection of monuments did not fully reflect the idea of protecting cultural heritage. It did not protect spiritual tradition, oral history, traditional knowledge, music or language in this way. Without these elements, it is impossible to understand painting, architecture or sculpture.
This led to the term intangible cultural heritage (ICH). It was ultimately defined in 2003 at the 32nd session of the UNESCO General Conference5.
Intangible cultural heritage is defined as customs, representations, forms of expression, knowledge and skills—as well as the instruments, objects, artifacts and associated cultural spaces—that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. This intangible cultural heritage is transmitted from generation to generation and is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history. It provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thereby promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity. For the purposes of the Convention, only intangible cultural heritage that is compatible with existing international human-rights instruments, as well as with the requirements of mutual respect among communities, groups and individuals and the principle of sustainable development, is recognized.
Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, adopted on 17 October 2003 at the 32nd session of the UNESCO General Conference5. Article 2.
Intangible cultural heritage includes traditional craftsmanship, oral traditions and forms of expression, including language as a vehicle of intangible cultural heritage, performing arts, social customs, rituals and festive events. It also includes knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe.
(The article was based on the text: Intangible Cultural Heritage – Idea, Law, Practice by Hanna Schreiber-Jodełka)