Osmose program: overview of the activities in 2016 (workshops, publications…)

This post was originally published in French.

The Year 2017 represents a decisive year for the project, we have gathered a series of answers from our colleagues across the world and will be working on them during two workshops in September and November 2017. Nevertheless, a quick overview of the activities undertaken in 2016 is in order:

1.- Workshops :

Two international sessions were organized in 2016:

• June 28 and 29, 2016: Session in Paris and Cachan (Unesco et Ecole normale supérieure de Paris-Saclay)
• From December 2^nd to December 4^th 2016: Session in Riga (Académie de la Culture de Lettonie et Bibliothèque nationale de Lettonie)

A few pictures of the Riga sessions :

The main tasks accomplished during these sessions were the following:

• We shared the final versions of the questionnaires with our colleagues around the world. Some of the answers had been already gathered in December 2016. The goal is to receive most of the answers by the month of March 2017.
• Comparative analysis of the legal evolutions implemented in France and Latvia on intangible cultural heritage; notably the Latvian law of October 20^th 2016 on intangible cultural heritage, and the French law of July 7^th 2016 on freedom of creation, architecture and heritage (art. 55).
• Presentation of the project to the UNESCO office (Intangible Heritage Section, Tim Curtis and Susanne Schnuttgen) and discussion of a possible cooperation. The Office expressed its interest and support to cooperate in the realization of the comparative study. Notably, the results could be presented in June 2018 during the General Assembly of the State parties to the Convention on the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage.

2° Academic symposium :  

A symposium was organized on the 16^th of December 2016 at Quai Branly Museum. Entitled “intangible cultural heritage in the Law, what comes after?,” this symposium featured four participants:  Sara Gonzalez Cambeiro, Labrit Patrimoine, Espagne ; Christian Hottin, Institut national du patrimoine, France ; Anita Vaivade, the Latvian Academy of Culture ; Noé Wagener, Institut des sciences sociales du politique, France. The audience gathered approximately 60 people and was organized to round off the 20^th edition of the Festival de l’Imaginaire.

The goal of this symposium was to put in perspective the consequences of adopting the Latvian law of October 20 2016 on intangible cultural heritage and the French law of July 7 2016 on freedom of creation, architecture and heritage (notably art. 55 of this law that introduces intangible heritage in the French Heritage Code).

3° Ph.Ds :

Three Ph.D candidates actively participated to the study throughout 2016:

• Lily Martinet, “Traditional cultural expressions in international law”: Ph.D recently defended with great success and honours in June 2017 (University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne).
• Clea Hance, “Towards a new era in cultural heritage: defining the right of heritage bearers to participate in heritage preservation.” Ph.D supported by a scholarship, started in September 2016 (University Paris-Saclay).
• Emilie Terrier, “The role of local public authorities (collectivités publiques) in protecting and promoting intellectual works.” Ph.D in progress (University of Poitiers).

4° Publications :

The Osmose project was mentioned in three recent articles and one Ph.D publication:

• Christian Hottin and Sylvie Grenet, « Is intangible cultural heritage an anthropological topic ? Towards interdisciplinarity in France », in Michelle L. Stefano et Peter Davis (dir.), The Routledge Companion to Intangible Cultural Heritage, New York, Routledge, 2017, p. 65.
• Christian Hottin, “L’ethnologie, un métier du patrimoine ? Réflexions autour de la question du patrimoine culturel immatériel”, In Situ. Revue des patrimoines, n° 30, 2016, online : https://insitu.revues.org
• Anita Vaivade, Nemateriālā kultūras mantojuma konceptualizācija tiesībās (fr. « Le patrimoine culturel immatériel en droit international et droit letton », thesis published in Latvian, with a summary in English and French, Rīga, Latvijas Universitātes Literatūras, folkloras un mākslas institūts, 2016.
• Noé Wagener, « Le droit du patrimoine culturel : problématiques actuelles », Culture & Recherche, n° 133, été 2016, p. 77.

Some analyses on intangible cultural heritage drawn from the reflections shared within the Franco-Latvian collaboration framework were also introduced in several articles:

• Jérôme Fromageau et Noé Wagener, « L’Inventaire et la protection du patrimoine : approche de droit comparé », in Coll., Une aventure de l’esprit. L’Inventaire général du patrimoine culturel, Lyon, Lieux-dits, 2016, p. 141.
• Anita Vaivade, « Discursive Legacies of Folklore in International Law », in Dace Bula, Sandis Laime (Eds.). Mapping Disciplinary History: Centers, Borderlands and Shared Spaces, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, à paraître (2017).

5° Funding :

The December 2016 Symposium was supported by the French general office of cultural heritage patrimony of the ministry of culture and communication, as well as the French Center for intangible cultural heritage (Maison des Cultures du Monde).

Another funding from the French general office of cultural heritage patrimony was secured for the period of 2017-2018, allowing to expand the scope of the study to other countries than European countries.

The National Library of Latvia