CULT – RURAL Promotion of a Cultural Area Common to European Rural Communities PRISMA Centre for Development Studies Euracademy Association Fouli Papageorgiou Louiza Karapidaki Aphrodite Sorotou

Co-organisers & associate partners PRISMA Centre for Development Studies Euracademy Association Museum of Cretan Ethnology Folklore museum of Komotini alex.eled.duth.gr/laografiko/mu.htm Other Greek ethnographic museums are also potential associate partners

Concepts

Conceptual triangle CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL CAPITAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT RURAL CULTURAL HERITAGE

Culture “the totality of the knowledge and practices both intellectual and material of each of the particular groups of a society, and of a society itself as a whole.” Guillaumin (1988) Lifestyles Beliefs Ethics and aesthetics Use of land and its natural resources Habits and customs Architecture Arts (Fine, applied, performing) Songs Myths Rituals Festivities

Rural areas participate in global culture and keep their distinct character or Rural areas are gradually losing their identities and distinctiveness due to national, global and other pressures

Cultural heritage & sustainable development Cultural heritage Source of identity Input to contemporary rural culture Sustainable development Resource which: Brings economic benefits Capitalises on the lessons that rural heritage brings to comunities rural heritage represents a driving force for sustainable development

Background Rural is: a stretch of inland or coastal countryside, including small towns and villages, where the main part of the area is used for: agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries, economic and cultural activities of country- dwellers (crafts, industry, services, etc), non-urban recreation and leisure areas [or natural reserves], other purposes, such as for housing. Council of Europe Cultural heritage aspects depend on the type of human activities practised in an area Greece is rich in rural cultural heritage values Existence of over 60 ethnographical museums in the country

Themes

Traditional bio-climatic architecture

Gesture and speech: everyday communication in rural areas Everyday relations Trade relations Gift exchanges Marriage and baptism expressions and gestures Dances Songs Fairy tales Body movement Games

Rural cultural landscapes and water: from the aesthetics to the function The rural landscape is a vast and complex cultural object fashioned by humankind and nature over the centuries. Rural landscape and the element of water Water has movement, it experiences seasonal changes and affects all living entities Water as inspiration and as a source for living

Rural routes: a cultural dimension Tendency to approach rural cultural heritage from a a multidimensional perspective Choose a specific rural activity that relates to movement from one place to the other: stock-breeding trade travelling and pilgrimage Greek examples: Travelling pottery maker (Crete), resin agriculture (Euboia), fishermen (moving fishermen of Prespa), tradesmen, stock-breeders, woodcutters, hunters, sponge collectors, painters, carriage driver etc

Inside - Outside Life and activities inside the house Life and activities outside the house

Methodology Desktop study Fieldwork / in-situ research Evaluation and interpretation