Frequently Asked Questions

STEP 1

As a first step, it is important to know why you want to film your intangible heritage. What is the purpose or function of the film(s)? What exactly are you going to use the footage for?

STEP 2

Once you know why you are going to film your craftership, you can use the filters ('tags') at the top of the toolkit overview page to decide which toolkit to use. After all, each goal or function requires a different methodology and approach.

There is also a drop-down list on the homepage that can help you decide.

STEP 3

Each toolkit contains a detailed overview of all the steps you can take within the documentation process. These steps were created from experiences gained within the 'Focus Craftership' project.

Are you new to film making? Then take a look at our 'Step-by-step guide for filming living heritage'. 

Documenting intangible heritage or craftership is an in-depth process. Therefore, it is always advisable to think carefully about the purpose and function of your film (material) beforehand.

This is because the film method depends on the chosen function of the film. Read the article on the different functions of documenting intangible heritage here.

Want to make tutorials? Show the process step by step to teach new people your craftership? Then choose the toolkit 'transmission' (transfer of knowledge and skills). Do you want to enthuse people and show your intangible heritage practice to the general public? Then choose the 'awareness raising' toolkit. And so on. 

Use the filters ('tags') at the top of the toolkit overview page to decide which toolkit to use. After all, each goal or function requires a different methodology and approach.

There is also a drop-down list on the homepage that can help you decide.

Are you new to film making? Then take a look at our 'Step-by-step guide for filming living heritage'. 

Filming and recording has never been more accessible and affordable than it is today: with the push of a button, smartphones can capture all sorts of footage in all different kinds of situations. 

However, when producing audiovisual documentation in the context of safeguarding living heritage, you must first decide why you want to film this heritage practice and craftership and what you will do with the footage.

If you are not sure what the purpose of your film is, go to the toolkit overview and filter by the function(s) of the footage.

If you like to get involved in filming your own craftership to pass on your knowledge and skills, you can get started with 'participatory filmmaking'. This method involves people filming their own reality.

'Participatory filmmaking' is the most comprehensive of all recording methods to document living heritage in line with the participatory spirit of safeguarding.

The explanation of this method, the corresponding roadmap and the practical example can be found in the 'transmission' toolkit. 

Note! Participatory working is a basic principle in working with practitioners of intangible heritage. It is therefore important that every function is done participatively.

Are you new to film making? Then take a look at our 'Step-by-step guide for filming living heritage'. 

A toolkit within the 'Toolbox Filming Living Heritage' is a specific manual for audiovisual documentation of intangible heritage based on one particular function. This function links directly to the goal you want to achieve with the film material.

A toolkit consists of:

- an explanation of a particular function

- the designated method

- recommendations from an experienced filmmaker within the participatory documentation process with heritage communities

- practical examples from the Focus Craftership project

Here you can find an overview of all toolkits.

Not sure about the function or goal of your film?

Read the article 'How to document living heritage addressing different goals?'. 

Not sure (yet) what the purpose of your film project is?

Answering the questionnaire on the homepage will help you better understand the final goal of your project and choose the right method. If you need additional support, you can contact heritage professionals in Flanders via the contact page. They will be happy to help you further develop your project.

Are you new to film making? Then take a look at our 'Step-by-step guide for filming living heritage'. 

This guide was prepared based on the experiences of an experienced filmmaker within the Focus Craftership project.

Intangible (cultural) heritage are customs, knowledge and practices of today that people have inherited and would like to pass on to future generations. Intangible heritage practices evolve over time and change with us.

Living heritage is intangible: it is in people's minds and hands. You grow up with it naturally or you consciously choose it at some point. Either way, it takes practice and, above all, a lot of doing.

And it includes other things too, of course: without costumes there is no parade, no craftsman without a workshop.

Intangible heritage comes in all shapes and sizes: it can be anything.

That is why it is often divided into subsets, so-called 'domains'. It can be practices related to storytelling and language belonging to music and performing arts, be rituals, celebrations or customs, fall under sports and games, belong to nature and agriculture, have something to do with food and drink, or be a craft, craftership or technique.

Or none of that. Or something of everything.

Living heritage is not something you do alone.

Whether you are in an association or working alone, intangible heritage lives in a group. In heritage terms, this is called a 'heritage community'.

The heritage community are the people who care about your heritage practice, participate in it or support it from the sidelines. Moreover, you pass on living heritage, to others or young people, because you all consider it important. For now and the future too.

Spontaneously, craftership (or also called mastership) may conjure up images of crafts like basket weaving, clog-making or hand weaving. But equally beekeeping, making kombucha, building giants or tap-dancing are examples of intangible heritage in which craftspeople are virtuosically at work. Intangible heritage is present in every part of society. It is heritage that lives in people's heads and hands.

In 2003, UNESCO convened a convention to highlight the international diversity of intangible heritage and its value for sustainable development. Together with the World Heritage Convention, the UNESCO 2003 Convention provides a good overview of humanity's heritage.

The UNESCO 2003 Convention focuses on safeguarding intangible heritage, placing at its heart the communities, groups and individuals who embody the heritage and pass it on to new generations.

Countries around the world can ratify this convention - as Belgium did in 2006 - and shape their heritage policies around it. They then base themselves, among other things, on the Operational Guidelines and Ethical Principles linked to the Convention. Member states can also nominate their intangible heritage practices for inclusion in the international lists linked to the UNESCO 2003 Convention.

You can consult the text of the Convention on UNESCO's website, where you will also find more information on the history of the Convention and the various procedures.

Safeguarding means (helping) to give intangible heritage a sustainable future. When you start safeguarding heritage, you take conscious action to ensure that people get to know and practice your heritage. This way, new generations will also get the desire to participate and, with sufficient knowledge, they can continue the practice and ensure the future of this intangible heritage.

This heritage care for intangible heritage can be tackled in different ways, for example by thoroughly documenting the practice and keeping the archive well, by communicating to a wider audience or by further researching the heritage. Whichever way you want to safeguard your heritage, it is essential that you always involve new people, so that your heritage can also live on thanks to them.

Caring for intangible or living heritage is also called safeguarding. 

An intangible heritage practice is one that lives within a heritage community, with practitioners and those directly involved. This practice may be a procession, a tradition, an artisanal technique, a craft ... It may also be part of a wider process.

The heritage care carried out by the heritage community involved - for example by documenting the practice, making it accessible, passing it on or teaching about it - is also part of intangible heritage.

A heritage professional, or an intangible heritage worker, is someone who works in a professional capacity for intangible heritage work at a cultural heritage organisation.

Think of national heritage service providers, documentation centers and many NPOs dedicated to safeguarding intangible heritage.

But also heritage workers in museums, archives, heritage libraries, ... often work around immaterial heritage: they do research, make exhibitions, work together with heritage communities, ...

The operation set up by an external, usually professional, heritage organisation or person to safeguard intangible heritage.

This may, for example, be an activity of a museum, archive, heritage cell or expertise centre on intangible heritage. An intangible heritage operation is best shaped in consultation with the heritage community. After all, participatory working with those involved in an immaterial heritage practice is a crucial principle within the care of this living heritage.