Of all the recent years in which we need a deeper understanding of place, space and history, its been here and now. With global wars and conversations of borders, identity and a right to home is at the forefront of all political and social discourse, as it should. And it should be examined thoughtfully, universally and, in concert with others. This year, Nuart Abderdeen's 2024 edition will examine "Living Heritage," or as they note, Intangible Cultural Heritage. Martyn Reed, Nuart's founder, clarifies, "We’re not certain that adding 'intangible cultural heritage' is any clearer than the term 'living heritage' but chose to employ it in order to sound a little less like a chain of middle class chintzy furniture stores." Below is the Festivals' 2024 statemet of intent, as it were. —Juxtapoz
Living heritage is the dynamic side of cultural heritage: heritage which is continuously transformed, interpreted, shaped and transmitted from generation to generation. It also represents the participatory, co-creative dimension of cultural heritage, and is characterised by its transient, non-stationary and hard-to-grasp qualities. This concept is often assimilated to that of ‘intangible heritage’ or ‘living culture’, referring to cultural practices, representations, knowledge, and skills transmitted intergenerationally inside a cultural system. Though these terms are often used interchangeably, ‘living heritage’ is used to convey and stress the role of living generations in engaging with, defining, interpreting, changing, and co-creating the heritage transmitted from past generations.
Living heritage incorporates the parts of our shared past that live in our present – everyday rituals and practices, cultural expressions, shared memories, celebrations, festivals, stories, songs, and craft skills that help to define who we are. These don’t have to be as old as time – ICH is a form of heritage that lives in the present, where we often incorporate elements of older traditions and cultural expressions in our contemporary practices.
The ephemeral nature of much of the culture we work with and produce in Aberdeen could itself be regarded as intangible cultural heritage, as the loss of first large scale mural from Herakut produced on the old Market back in 2017 would attest. Something many will be happy to hear we’ll be revisiting this year.
We look forward to contributing to the city’s increasing reputation for this growing culture and hope to be both excavating and producing memories that live significantly longer than some of the works. —Martyn Reed
NUART 2024 ARTISTS: Addam Yekutieli aka Know Hope (IL/ PS), Bahia Shehab (LB/EG), Case Maclaim (DE), CBloxx (UK), Hera (DE/PK), KMG (SC - UK), Mahn Kloix (FR), Millo (IT), Molly Hankinson, Niels Shoe Meulman and Wasted Rita (PT)
