scholarly journals Oltre l’Adriatico

Author(s):  
Margherita Fochessati

Albania joined the International Art Exhibition in Venice only in 2005, twenty years later the collapse of the communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha. The building of a democratic state had consequences also on the expressive research of several artists who had to face a substantial change of their working environment. At the beginning of XXI century the artistic and cultural heritage of Socialist Realism was still the only relevant cultural reference for the construction of a new Albanian cultural identity. Reflecting on the troubled past of the their nation the new generation of artists focused their research on a intimate and personal elaboration concerned the current improvement of the Albanian society. The purpose of this essay is to illustrate the role that the Venice Biennale has been in the realization of the new Albanian artistic scene as landmark for the European and international contemporary cultural tendencies. All the exhibition settled in the Albanian Pavillion since 2005 reveal the different approaches to the national past and to the new cultural identity of the artist that have represented the Balkan country at the Venice Biennale during the last fifteen years.

Author(s):  
Marie-Sophie de Clippele

AbstractCultural heritage can offer tangible and intangible traces of the past. A past that shapes cultural identity, but also a past from which one sometimes wishes to detach oneself and which nevertheless needs to be remembered, even commemorated. These themes of memory, history and oblivion are examined by the philosopher Paul Ricoeur in his work La mémoire, l’histoire, l’oubli (2000). Inspired by these ideas, this paper analyses how they are closely linked to cultural heritage. Heritage serves as a support for memory, even if it can be mishandled, which in turn can affect heritage policies. Memory and heritage can be abused as a result of wounds from the past or for reasons of ideological manipulation or because of a political will to force people to remember. Furthermore, heritage, as a vehicule of memory, contributes to historical knowledge, but can remain marked by a certain form of subjectivism during the heritage and conservation operation, for which heritage professionals (representatives of the public authority or other experts) are responsible. Yet, the responsibility for conserving cultural heritage also implies the need to avoid any loss of heritage, and to fight against oblivion. Nonetheless, this struggle cannot become totalitarian, nor can it deprive the community of a sometimes salutary oblivion to its own identity construction. These theoretical and philosophical concepts shall be examined in the light of legal discourse, and in particular in Belgian legislation regarding cultural heritage. It is clear that the shift from monument to heritage broadens the legal scope and consequently raises the question of who gets to decide what is considered heritage according to the law, and whether there is something such as a collective human right to cultural heritage. Nonetheless, this broadening of the legislation extends the State intervention into cultural heritage, which in turn entails certain risks, as will be analysed with Belgium’s colonial heritage.


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-190
Author(s):  
Wah Kit

In this presentation Lee Kit's art installation at the Venice Biennale in 2013 is used as a case study of the ways in which artworks represent and help to construct representations of Hong Kong's challenge to and subversion of an aggressive and powerful rising China. In contrast with the explicit social critique and grandeur of artworks exhibited in the China Pavilion, Lee Kit's art installation - "an impressionistic house" - in the Hong Kong Pavilion appears not only abstract but mundane and even trivial. As the artist was handpicked by the organizer, without any prior public consultation, there has been heated public debate on the extent to which it is representative of Hongkongness. I argue that the apparently trivial and ordinary elements of Lee's work constitute rather than reflect the new generation of Hong Kong art. These elements may also be part of a strategy for negotiating the political identity inescapably imposed on Hong Kong by China. Hong Kong art now has the potential to distance itself from or express skepticism toward the grand narratives presented by China, to paraphrase the writing of art historian David Clarke (1997). I believe part of the aims of the international conference on "Hong Kong as Method" held at the University of Hong Kong in December 2014 is to use the ordinary to destabilize and challenge Hong Kong's taken-for-granted political identity and thereby promote diversity and inter-Asian cultural dynamics.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ngô Quang Sơn ◽  
Trần Văn Toàn

Ra-glai ethnic minorities make up a sizable proportion of the population in Ninh Thuan province in general and Bac Ai district in particular. Ra-glai ethnic minorities have a long-standing culture and have a unique ethnic identity. The tangible and intangible cultural identity of the Ra-glai ethnic minority is both closely associated with religious beliefs and widely popular, has great power to dominate all activities of Ra-glai ethnic minorities. The conservation and promotion of the tangible and intangible cultural heritages of the Ra-glai ethnic group in Bac Ai district, Ninh Thuan province in the process of building a new countryside is now becoming one of the issues authorized by the party committee, local authorities are very interested in implementing.Over the past years, with the investment of the State, the province, the district, the local organizations and individuals, the education to preserve and promote the ethnic cultural identity of the Ra-glai community In Bac Ai district, Ninh Thuan province has achieved some encouraging results. However, in the process of building a new countryside, the culture of the local Ra-glai ethnic minority has been gradually fading.The authors of the paper have deeply studied the current state of conservation education and promotion of the cultural heritage of Ra-glai ethnic minorities in Bac Ai district, Ninh Thuan province, then proposing solutions to building an educational model that conserves and promotes the cultural heritage of Ra-glai ethnic minorities in a sustainable way in the process of building a New Rural in Bac Ai district, Ninh Thuan province in the period of the current.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-28
Author(s):  
Rahman Abdullah ◽  
Aniza Arifin ◽  
Azlina Samsudin ◽  
Sabaianah Bachok ◽  
Harnizam Zahari

The traditional food of a culture in a society is continuously inherited from the old generation to the new generation. The traditional element is an in-depth understanding of the function of each material, techniques of preparation, and the practice in our daily cooking. This understanding in the form of preparation, meal preparation, tips, use of certain equipment, and raw materials are mysteries difficult to be unravelled. The Malay cultural heritage food is an integral asset among Malaysians in general and the Malay race in particular. Malay cuisine is one of the special and unique blended of many traditions from around the region. However, when Malay culture and cuisine are introduced to other countries, they faced certain hurdles and challenges. This study investigates the issues and challenges faced by Malay cuisine in the foreign market. The points in question are, 1) Why are Malay cuisine difficult to be exported to other countries 2) Why Malay cuisine is less popular than cuisines from other countries? 3) What are the factors that make foods from a country of origin can be successfully exported? These issues and challenges will be parsed and discussed based on the existing written collection. Recommendations will be made on the mechanisms that enable the success of Malay cuisine food to be commercialized abroad, as well as future research examining the success factors of traditional food exported abroad.  


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-78
Author(s):  
Tadeusz Paleczny

Cultural Heritage of Local Communities in Oral History. The Base of Constructing the Social Memory  Local communities construct their own cultural heritage on the base of speaking traditions means as oral history. Each small community protects its own set of symbols and elements of tradition, including belief, dialect and private stories and anecdotes. The oral history performs a function of a part of social memory and sustains close social bonds among members of small communities. The article concerns the oral history’s role in preserving the cultural identity of small local communities.


1971 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 616
Author(s):  
John F. Howes ◽  
K. B. Pyle

Author(s):  
Helena Cantone

Afewerk Tekle was Ethiopia’s leading modern artist, famously known for introducing Western techniques of painting and sculpture to Ethiopia, and for his government commissions under Haile Selassie I and the infamous Derg regime of Mengistu. A prolific artist, Afewerk Tekle worked on Pan-African and Christian themes in particular, using diverse media from drawings, paintings, murals, mosaics, stained-glass windows, and sculpture, as well as designs for stamps, playing cards, posters, flags and national ceremonial dresses. His work was strongly influenced by Pan-African ideals and the optimism of the 1950s at the height of liberation movements sweeping across Africa. Afewerk Tekle first went to England to study engineering in 1947, and was later helped by British Suffragette Rita Pankhurst (1882–1960) with his artistic career and training at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and the Slade in London. Tekle returned to Addis Ababa in 1954, where he held his first solo show at the Municipality Hall, the first significant modern art exhibition in Ethiopia, which brought international attention to a new generation of modern Ethiopian artists.


2018 ◽  
Vol 94 (1116) ◽  
pp. 571-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha J Doran ◽  
Rob Bethune ◽  
Joanne Watson ◽  
Katherine Finucane ◽  
Andrew Carson-Stevens

AimTo explore how the South-West Foundation Doctor Quality Improvement programme affected foundation year 1 (F1) doctors’ attitudes and ability to implement change in healthcare.MethodsTwenty-two qualitative interviews were carried out with two cohorts of doctors. The first F1 group before and after their participation in the QI programme; the second group comprised those who had completed the programme between 1 and 5 years earlier. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis techniques.Results Prior to taking part in the QI programme, junior doctors’ attitudes towards QI were mixed. Although there was agreement on the importance of QI in terms of patient safety, not all shared enthusiasm for engaging in QI, while some were sceptical that they could bring about any change. Following participation in the programme, attitudes towards QI and the ability to effect change were significantly transformed. Whether their projects were considered a success or not, all juniors reported that they valued the skills learnt and the overall experience they gained through carrying out QI projects. Participants reported feeling more empowered in their role as junior doctors, with several describing how they felt ‘listened to’ and able to ‘have a voice’, that they were beginning to see things ‘at systems level’ and learning to ‘engage more critically’ in their working environment.Conclusions Junior doctors are ideally placed to engage in QI. Training in QI at the start of their medical careers may enable a new generation of doctors to acquire the skills necessary to improve patient safety and quality of care.


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