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EDUCATION

Presenting and communicating cultural heritage has a huge role in its safeguarding. 

Through presentation, communication and outreach, a wider public - often unfamiliar with the practice or craft - is informed about cultural heritage and made accessible to a wider audience.

The toolbox 'Filming Living Heritage Toolbox' includes two types of presentation and communication activities, which, as safeguarding measures* under the UNESCO 2003 Convention, are very important for wide implementation:

 

This toolkit deals with the function 'Education' and relates to teaching and learning, both in formal and non-formal contexts. 


Education is vital for the development of societies as much as for the personal growth of each individual, especially children and young people/adults. Integrating living heritage in education provides children with a sense of identity, belonging and pride, which in return results in empowered, empathetic and responsible citizens. 

Education also has a critical role in assuring the viability of living heritage. Learning about the heritage that is practised and cherished in the communities, groups and contexts where you grew up, enhances the chances that it will be taken care of in the future.

Audiovisual documentation for educational purposes entails a film product that aims to reach a wider public and inform in a very clear and explanatory way about different characteristics of the craft or ICH.

HOW TO: EXPOSITORY DOCUMENTARY

To educate the wider public, you need a clear, general description of the craft/heritage. Therefore, you can work through an ‘expository documentary’ as an approach. 

This is a filming method characterised by proposing a specific point of view about a subject and a narrator often speaking directly to the viewer, explaining what is presented on-screen. 

The film will possibly also include a general introduction explaining the heritage, its functions, its history, as well as its contemporary significance and values related to it. In the case of living heritage, the voice-over, so typical for explanatory films, would ideally be replaced by voices of tradition bearers and the wider community.

 

TIP! New to filming? Take a look at our ‘step-by-step guide for filming’ to get started!

Step-by-step guide for filming living heritage

Tip!

Expository documentaries often include diverse footage in order to support their claims, so don’t forget to take advantage of archival material, and/or private or community-owned footage, in order to better present the history of the element or the relationship between its bearers.

Esmé Hofman works on wickerwork in her studio.
Esmé Hofman works on wickerwork in her studio. - © Femke den Hollander (2023)

VIDEOGRAPHER’S RECOMMENDATIONS

The following recommendations are based on the Focus Craftership experience where a professional videographer closely collaborated with heritage professionals and practitioners.

Such an intensive, collaborative filming process implies many working hours and a solid budget.

But of course, if you are not in such an ideal situation, considering the time and/or budget available, you can adjust the recommendations to your own context and possibilities.

01 PREPRODUCTION

Preliminary stage

  • Explore the craft/heritage practice and make a rough script draft idea of how you want to build up the contents of the expository documentary.
  • Find one or more representatives for each aspect of the craft/practice that you want to include.

 

Contact the practitioners and discuss the approach

  • Contact these representatives and introduce yourself and your intentions to capture the practice or craftership by educational means, investigate if they are the appropriate representatives for that specific aspect and whether they are willing to participate in the filming process.
  • Make a revised rough script idea based on the collected information as a starting point.
  • Invite all representatives to a production meeting at a location that has a connection with the craft/practice, discuss the rough script idea and collect feedback from everyone, make sure to jointly agree on the approach and to discuss practical arrangements.
  • Revise the rough script into a more defined version based on the input from the production meeting and give special attention to the voice-over of the bearers.
  • Send the script to everyone involved for final comments and feedback.

 

Plan the filming

  • Process the comments and start by translating the script into a shot list.
  • Analyse the shot list, reorder and group the shots into logical filming segments (scenes).
  • Try to combine and order the filming segments into a workable (rough) time schedule.
  • Communicate the shot list and rough time schedules with everyone involved and plan the filming.

Tip!

Be sure to contact archival institutions on time if you want to use archival footage, clearing rights and paying fees to use this material usually takes some time.

02 PRODUCTION

Before filming

  • Make a filming schedule and follow it as strictly as possible, but leave a margin for unexpected situations.
  • Discuss how the practitioners will work exactly and if there are repeated actions, in order to set up the filming material adequately (see further below).
  • Contact everyone involved some days before the actual shooting to confirm if everything can proceed as discussed.
  • Start early enough and leave a margin in your schedule for unexpected situations.

 

During filming

  • Start early enough and leave a margin in your time schedule for unexpected situations.
  • Use the shot list and the rough time schedules to do all the recordings.
  • Give special attention to the recordings of voice-over (if including one) with one or more of the bearers, as these will be the glue in the editing process. If possible, use a wireless tie clip microphone and/or an external directional microphone for the recording of the voices.
  • Do not be afraid to ask the same questions again if you think the story has not been told clearly or clearly enough. Explain to the interviewee(s) that this is quite normal.

03 POSTPRODUCTION

Editing

  • Isolate all usable recordings of the voice-over by the tradition bearer on one timeline.
  • Place these shots/quotes in the order of the script.
  • Give each shot/quote some room before and after.
  • Build up the edit with all the other materials needed to illustrate what’s being said.
  • Refine the edit by cutting, adding and trimming shots.

 

Consulting and finalising

  • Export a preview file of the finished edit and consult with all parties involved to collect feedback before finishing the video.
  • Process the comments and finish the video by finalising the sound and image.
  • Be sure to mention all participants and the requested information when using archival material.

INSPIRING EXAMPLE

Just harvested Brussels ground chicory.
Just harvested Brussels ground chicory. - © Femke den Hollander (2023)

01 Cultivating Brussels ground chicory

Trajectory

CAG (Centre for Agrarian History), 't Grom (Belgian Vegetable Museum) and Bokrijk | Craftsmanship & Heritage worked together with a number of farmer-producers in the case study to document the craftership of crop selection with a view to raising awareness.

Within that trajectory, they worked with a film on education for the craftsmanship of crop selection, with a case study on Brussels ground chicory.

 

Context

Crop selection is about repeatedly sowing and using the trained eye of the farmer-producer to select the plants for seed for the desired traits. It really is a craft in its own right. Today, crop selection is almost entirely in the hands of large companies, but this is leading to a sharp decline in diversity. That is why the aforementioned partners set out to document, secure and give a sustainable future to this knowledge and expertise.

In doing so, the farmer-producers each have their own focus: some have a professional target audience while others aim at hobby gardeners and kitchen gardeners.

By visualising the craftership of crop selection together with, by and for the heritage community, they aim to increase the heritage awareness of the growers and of a broader interested public, such as kitchen gardeners.

Brussels ground chicory is a special example when it comes to crop selection: its selection and sowing is not just an afterthought, it is an essential component and even a requirement for cultivators to be able to speak of Brussels ground chicory and use the Protected Geographical Indication label. Every cultivator of Brussels ground chicory goes through this cycle from sowing to seed harvest. Each time with its own focus and points of attention, but always with the same objective: obtaining the most beautiful and tastiest head of chicory.

 

Approach

Preliminary stage

During a consultation as part of the follow-up to the safeguarding of soil chicory cultivation, an element that has been on the Flanders Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2013, chicory cultivators expressed great concern. There is a real fear that the Brussels ground chicory and seed cultivation would be lost among young cultivators. Few choose to grow their own seeds because of the extra work and often opt for hybrid seeds.

Participation in the Focus Craftership project and the making of a separate documentary on Brussels ground chicory seed cultivation and crop selection was immediately met with enthusiasm. Several eager cultivators were approached and expressed their commitment to participate.

A rough production plan was drawn up that followed the seasonal nature and different steps of this intangible heritage practice. 

 

Filmmaking process

Filming itself was done according to the seasons and rhythms of the community. This presented several challenges:

  • Practitioners have busy and seasonal schedules. As a result, they cannot agree on a definitive filming schedule in advance.
  • The seasonal factor: in order to document crop selection skills and practices, the seasonal progression of crops had to be tracked. The shooting days are then weeks apart.
  • Weather conditions. Rain or drought, weather affected schedules of the farmer-producers (at the last-minute). 
 

Finishing

After finishing the documentation process, the educational documentary 'Brussels ground chicory: home-grown seeds' was made up in context of the case study on Brussels ground chicory.

A pop-up exhibition 'Crop selection? A craft in its own right!' and an educational package will be developed with students in teacher training in the 2023-2024 academic year.

 

Filmmaker's experience 
 

"Agricultural professionals can usually be found in their fields or at work. This was the factor that made the filming process challenging. Time to film was limited as practitioners were incredibly busy. Planning the shooting days and sticking to this schedule was a challenge for all involved." (Alexander Kerkhof, filmmaker)

 

Filmmaker's tips

An educational documentary requires explanation and demonstration. Speaking in engaging language is threshold reducing for viewers, but often does not come naturally to practitioners.

After all, the role of educator is hard to impose. You have people who can naturally explain their process and mindset clearly, others are shy or forget that they are being filmed and focus on their task.

From the start, gauge who from the heritage community feels comfortable enough to speak (engagingly) on camera and can take on the role of educator. If this is not possible, you can work with a voice-over. 

 

Conclusion

Creating an educational or descriptive film requires professionals who carry out a practice, but also people who can explain what they are doing. Assigning the role of educator to the right person is an important step in the process, which is best decided at the start.

Working with seasonal practices requires sufficient flexibility from the accompanying heritage professionals and the filmmaker involved. Planning will often be subject to last-minute changes.

Documentary: 'Brussels ground chicory - Home-grown seeds' by Alexander Kerkhof (Feathers on Wings)

02 Wickerworking

Trajectory

Lieve De Saedeleer, the heritage professional from Bokrijk | Craftsmanship & Heritage, undertook, together with a working group of experienced braiders, a trajectory around the audiovisual documentation of the craftsmanship of wickerworking.

How do you grow and harvest willow? What is fine plaiting? And how do we showcase this craftership?

Starting from tradition, this casestudy takes a contemporary and future-oriented look at wickerwork. A story with a focus on ecology and the use of local materials.

 

Context

Initially, the municipality of Dilsen-Stokkem (Limburg, Belgium) was mainly in the picture for the audiovisual documentation of craftership. In this 'basket weaver town', there were more than enough inhabitants in the 1960s to earn a living from it.

But today there is no training or school for wickerwork in Flanders as there is in Germany, for instance. That is why the function of education was chosen.

In Dilsen-Stokkem, the volunteers and the board work well together to give the tradition of wickerwork a contemporary interpretation and bringing together a community around this once again. They also pay a lot of attention to ecology, as Dilsen-Stokkem is situated by the river Maas, which makes it an ideal place for willow to grow.

 

Approach

By mapping exactly who is doing wickerwork, the partners came up with a working group: Jeanny Bouwen and Jefke Geysels (De Ratelaar, Geel), Lydia Bamps (Cattelant), Ann Vrancken (De Ullewanne), Esmé Hofman and the community in Dilsen-Stokkem. The ultimate dream of the working group is to once again create a learning space for wickerwork in Flanders and to revive craftership again.

Jeanny Bouwen became the narrator/moderator in the documentation process. In 2023, she also won first prize in BKRK competition (innovation/craftership/entrepreneurship) with 'Wilgentroost'. After all the filming, Jeanny was interviewed as well.

At Lieve Lieckens' studio, we were also able to shoot a beautiful photo series of a giantess (made entirely of willow) that just left for Lichtenfels (Germany). We also worked with already existing images of an international 'weaving week' with François Desplanches, Dilsen-Stokkem, Geel and the Netherlands (Esmé Hofman).

 

Based on several meetings with the filmmaker, different parts were defined:

  1. History
  2. Ecology
  3. Tradition to innovation

 

The domain of 'De Ratelaar' allowed a lot of elements to be filmed on the same location:  

  • harvesting, barrelling and sorting willow
  • working on the BKRK competition
  • weaving week
  • fine weaving technique 
Trailer 'Wickerwork' by Alexander Kerkhof (Feathers on Wings)
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