On 10th March, the forum ‘Living heritage: between politics and identity’ took place in Sofia and it was organized on the occasion of the new issue of the Living Heritage journal of the Regional Centre Sofia-UNESCO.
The event was attended by Ms. Irena Todorova, executive director of the Regional Centre Sofia-UNESCO, assoc. prof. Irena Bokova, editor-in-chief of the ‘Living Heritage’ journal, prof. Nikolay Nenov, Director of the Regional Museum of History in Russe, assoc. assoc. prof. Todor Chobanov, Deputy Minister of Culture, assoc. prof. Mihail Gruev and assoc. prof. Zhivko Lefterov, and Mr. Dimitar Ganev, PhD. The Deputy Minister of Culture, Mr. Kalin Veliov, was also a guest at the forum.
‘Culture must be in the public focus, not only in the context of conflicts. A positive and constructive dialogue is needed for its preservation and transmission through generations, as well as for effective policies. The Regional Centre Sofia-UNESCO has always strived to raise awareness about the main challenges in the field. This is the reason why we are organizing this forum – to examine culture through politics, history, archaeology and thus to direct public attention to its importance,” commented Ms. Irena Todorova, executive director of the Regional Centre Sofia-UNESCO.
The event focused on living heritage as part of the contemporary way of life, its interpretation and political use, its perception and co-existence at local, regional, and international levels. The participants also discussed the role of intangible cultural heritage for the identity of communities and their sustainability.
Bulgaria could develop a successful cultural tourism based on intangible cultural heritage only when it is well preserved. Living heritage is crucial for country’s identity and cultural image. This was one of the conclusions during the discussion.
The event was organized on the occasion of the new issue of the ‘Living Heritage’ journal. Its focus is on cultural policies in some of the Centre’s Member Sates – Republic of Moldova, Slovenia, and Türkiye, as well as the countries’ response to climate change.