28-31 May 2014
20th Forum of the Mediterranean Maritime Heritage
Living Culture and its Musealisation: Environment, Migrations, Diet and Languages.
What is the image of the Mediterranean today? Vines and olive trees which border the blue sea line, earth scorched by strong sun and hard wind, bare rocks and high mountains, small green patches of land with fruit and vegetable gardens. This is a space of extremes and contrasts.
The lands of the Mediterranean, like the islands, were isolated from one another, but people always intermingled by virtue of trade, war, adventure or immigration. Each region struggled to preserve its own flavour and character in the midst of an extraordinary mixture of races, religions, customs and civilisations. On top of it all was the climate; the climate determined the harvest, and the harvest determined the life.
Clifford A. Wright, Climate, Harvest and Seasons in the Mediterranean
AMMM museums have for some years now worked on safeguarding both tangible and intangible heritage. This year’s Forum will centre on maritime living culture, and very particularly in environment, migration, diet and languages. All these topics will be seen through the eyes of museums practice and their response towards historical heritage, as well as the challenges of today.
Working in a museum and dealing with heritage is not only about dealing with past, it is also to give answers to current social problems and needs of society, caring for and promoting its identity. When we talk about maritime heritage, to which extent are we aware of a specific Mediterranean environment? To which extent traditional economy and maritime affairs were in accordance with natural landscape and shaped a specific Mediterranean cultural landscape? Has the abandonment of large maritime industry (shipbuilding) brought changes in our cultural landscape?
Migrations are a huge problem in the Mediterranean today but they were also present in the past. To what extent have migrations changed the cultural map of the Mediterranean? How do museums respond to this problem? What is the relationship between maritime heritage and migrations?
When we talk about food we think of a specific Mediterranean diet. UNESCO proclaimed Mediterranean diet Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity because it implies more than food. It is about a way of living. The Mediterranean diet constitutes a set of skills, knowledge, practices and traditions ranging from the landscape to the table, including the crops, harvesting, fishing, conservation, processing, preparation and, particularly, consumption of food. How are these aspects presented in museum practice? Can museums work on general public awareness of the importance of good nutrition based in tradition?
Mixture of cultures and ethnicities in the Mediterranean resulted in richness of languages and dialects. However different people have found a common language or a lingua franca. What is a lingua franca? Do languages of maritime affairs exist? How do languages help create a common Mediterranean heritage?
Our Forum will also be connected to the 1st Festival of the Mediterranean Maritime Heritage, an event that will give us the opportunity to present museums’ work and actions in favour of our tangible and intangible maritime heritage to a wide audience in the city of Rijeka.
Rijeka, Croatia
Go to website
Program Foruma-table of applicants (3).doc
|