Em Abril de 2011 estive no Quebeque para falar sobre o trabalho da Fundação INATEL no âmbito da salvaguarda do património cultural imaterial. Essas comunicações dessa Conferência estão agora em livro. Deixo-vos o texto, na sua versão original.
Dear Sirs,
Allow me to begin by thanking the Quebec Council for Living Heritage for the opportunity to come together, share our experiences and reflect on the themes that have been proposed.
This conference panel deals with the role of NGOs as promoters of development and, in particular, their action as active agents in a strategy of sustainable development that respects the traditional cultural expressions of peoples and regions.
To begin, I would like to introduce you the institution to which I belong and its importance in the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in Portugal.
The Inatel Foundation, established in 1935, initially began as a body corporate of the State and, as such, was a public institute. With the democratization of Portugal in 1974, this organization became a public institute that, in its essence, maintained a policy of support and enhancement of traditional and popular culture developed during the corporatist political system.
Only in 2008, with the transformation of the public institute into a private foundation serving public needs, did INATEL became a non-governmental organization with the mission of, among others, supporting and promoting traditional culture (folk dancing, philharmonic bands, choral groups and amateur theatre).
In 2009, the Inatel Foundation adopted its strategic plan for the cultural sphere, and clearly took on the role of a leading institution of traditional culture in Portugal. From an international standpoint, we sought out excellence in education and in the training of organizations (related associations and other entities) and individuals involved in amateur cultural practices in the identification, documentation, preservation and dissemination of Portuguese intangible cultural heritage; in the development of research and knowledge on associations and amateur cultural movements; in the creation and dissemination of traditional culture, particularly in ethnography and folklore, amateur theatre and music; and in the commitment to the personal and cultural development of workers.
In 2010, the Inatel Foundation was accredited by UNESCO as an NGO capable of providing advisory services to the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the first and only Portuguese institution with this status so far.
I have been a member of the Board of Directors of the Inatel Foundation since 2008, and I am responsible for the cultural sector nationwide. This includes the central management, based in Lisbon, and a regional structure with over 21 agencies having at least one working cultural assistant per agency. We are also responsible for managing and developing programs for a nineteenth-century theater – Teatro da Trindade – located in Chiado, in the city centre of Lisbon.
In this presentation, I will try to trace the evolution of the Inatel Foundation’s actions over the past 75 years. I will establish, whenever possible, a parallel with the dominant concepts of ethnology within each period. However, the most significant part of this presentation will be focused on our current work, presenting a sample of the programs and projects currently underway.
Finally, it is important to discuss the relationship between public institutions in Portugal, namely between the central government, municipal powers, and civil society institutions that pursue important public interest missions related to the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. This issue needs to be weighed from a legal standpoint, analyzing how the existing legislation addresses the issue, but also at the level of the informal relationships and the complicity between all the actors involved.
We hope that our example and experience will be a stimulus for other civil society institutions to pursue actions for the preservation and enhancement of the vast living intangible heritage present in human communities around the world. Without false modesty, we are sure that the path we have traveled throughout these seventy-five years, the difficulties met and overcome, and the new challenges that we face every day are a valuable asset that make the Inatel Foundation a global reference on the safeguarding of Portuguese intangible cultural heritage in Portugal and in the World.
As we have already mentioned, the Inatel Foundation was established in 1935 and celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary in 2010. From its origin until now, the promotion and enhancement of popular and traditional culture has always been an important part of the Foundation’s activities. Deeply imbued with the spirit of the age, with the corporatist ideals that were at its origin and that inspired and guided its action over several years, this institution has maintained, over time, a relatively coherent practice with regard to popular and traditional culture.
The concept of intangible cultural heritage is relatively recent and in 1935 we were still far from the ideals of UNESCO, born in 1945 with the aim of promoting world peace through education, science and culture. However, we can say that, at its essence, the cultural action of the Inatel Foundation was born and developed around the theme of intangible cultural heritage. Although the concept did not yet exist, the intervention and the cultural action of this institution took place within the areas it now covers.
As defined by UNESCO, “‘intangible cultural heritage’ means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage.”
ICH is manifested in the following domains:
• Oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of intangible cultural heritage;
• Performing arts;
• Social practices, rituals and festive events;
• Knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe;
• Traditional craftsmanship.
Despite the relative newness of the concept of “intangible cultural heritage,” its use is due largely to anthropology and ethnography as it is “within these disciplines that a disciplinary field has been historically constituted where oral traditions, performing arts, rituals, social practices, knowledge, mythology, ‘technical knowledge’ - which then was not called so – constituted themselves as fundamental fields of identification, documentation, research, preservation, protection, promotion, enhancement.” In conclusion, “the intangible cultural heritage is a creation of ethnography and anthropology.” [LEAL, João 2009[1]]
It is precisely from this core of the cultural forms of intangible cultural heritage that the Inatel Foundation’s cultural policy developed, especially since the 40s of the last century.
n 1941 the First Survey to People’s Houses (Houses of Culture) was conducted, allowing a comprehensive identification and documentation of cultural activity in rural areas.
Questions were raised about the existence of choral, theater or dance groups and also about the existence of local, properly organized inventories. The following year, the creation of a rural issues library started, aiming to collect economic, ethnographic and folklore studies and papers dealing with rural Portugal. This concern with rural themes was not strange, since Portugal was a country where 40% of the population relied on farming.
This period, which lasted until the 70s, was marked by New State ethnography, where the promotion, enhancement and revitalization of “intangible cultural heritage” (called “popular culture”) was the New State’s main priority in its cultural policy. It is true that this period was also marked by alternative views of this New State commemorative ethnography, in which popular culture was presented as the expression of a certain cultural vanguard that, in the end, nobody really knows what it is.
The 40s saw the emergence of the cultural policy that indelibly marked all actions undertaken since then by the Inatel Foundation, which is truly distinctive from other Portuguese cultural institutions. From this period onward, associations and groups were promoted in companies, neighborhoods and “Casas do Povo” (rural cultural associations), which developed amateur and recreational cultural activities (these associations were also important centres of amateur sports practice). Through these groups, the actions of the Inatel Foundation were extended to the whole country.
In 1946, the Inatel Ethnography Office was created with the aim of "examining what gives character and cohesion to a people and distinguishes it from another; what in it is congenital and primitive; what became typical over time, and by taking on cultural influences from another people: the direct (immediate) and indirect (mediate) products of its psyche, spontaneous or judged to be." It is also in this period that promotion of the association of folklore groups began.
The need to know the Portuguese reality better, especially “know-how” related to rural and fishing communities, led to a new survey conducted through the “Casas do Povo” and the “Casas de Pescadores” (Fishermen’s Houses, centres related to maritime labor) in 1947. This survey, undertaken by the newly created Ethnography Office, was far more comprehensive than the one conducted five years before. Its objective was an exhaustive identification and documentation of existing cottage industries, folk art demonstrations, traditional costumes and furniture, culinary traditions, celebrations connected with work, traditional parades and traditional games. The aim was also to know existing performing or folkloric groups, their singing and dancing repertoires, the persons responsible for the ethnographic field collections for these repertoires and how they were made.
This concern with creating inventories of intangible cultural heritage indelibly marked every Inatel Foundation action after this date. Notwithstanding the updates that have been made to these inventories over the years, a new survey was conducted in 1997, giving rise to a computerized database that now constitutes an important work tool, which is regularly updated.
Nowadays, the need for creating inventories of intangible cultural heritage is seen as one of the main concerns with regard to safeguarding. The Inatel Foundation is a forerunner of this process and now holds a greater level of knowledge about the national reality than any other public or private institution.
The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage defines “safeguarding” as “measures aimed at ensuring the viability of the intangible cultural heritage, including the identification, documentation, research, preservation, protection, promotion, enhancement, transmission, particularly through formal and non-formal education, as well as the revitalization of the various aspects of such heritage.” The actions of the Inatel Foundation fit perfectly with this concept of "safeguarding," developing programs and projects which, each in their own way, cover the various components of a global program aiming to safeguard intangible cultural heritage.
Moreover, in the development of projects and programs in this specific area, the Inatel Foundation follows a work and intervention methodology that respects best practices in the sector. In fact, the projects supported are essentially focused on the performers, on people and on the communities who create, maintain and transmit this cultural heritage. This includes not only artistic products, but also the knowledge and values related to them, as well as the creative processes that enable the conception of these products. Finally, in all projects there is a concern with spreading knowledge to other groups and the wider community.
Although this is not an exhaustive list, I would like to share some examples of our activities:
1. Concertina Courses
The first example is the Concertina Courses.
During the 80s the technical and training visits conducted with folklore and ethnographic groups showed that the number of concertina players (traditional instrument in folk instrumental ensembles) was very low, which caused difficulties for many groups. In 1989, the Inatel Foundation created the 1st Concertina Players and Traditional Stringed Instruments Course.
The creation of this course came from a real need felt by people who wanted to preserve their musical and dance traditions. Over the years this course was conducted several times, always attracting great interest from participants. It trained hundreds of players that, nowadays, come together in a Concertina Players annual meeting with over three hundred participants. This has become a popular cultural event with a great public impact.
This initiative safeguards an aspect of the unique cultural heritage of Portugal. Through non-formal education, it preserves, protects and promotes the transmission of a traditional art that accompanies the festivities and rituals of a people.
Concertina players take part in the instrumental ensembles of ethnographic and folkloric groups, but the concertina is also the accompanying instrument of a popular poetic improvisation singing demonstration – the “cantares ao desafio” (singing to challenge) – an oral tradition practice often associated with celebrations and social gatherings.
2. Philharmonic Bands
Our second example is Philharmonic Bands.
The first philharmonic societies arose in the early nineteenth century, but it was only from the early twentieth century onwards that they became fully integrated into popular culture.
The support given to philharmonic bands was sporadic until the late 50s. Since 1959, with the organization of the 1st Civil Bands Grand National Competition, this situation started changing gradually. The Civil Bands Grand National Competition became an important musical event that took place throughout the country and attracted hundreds of amateur musicians of all ages.
The promotion of musical activities and the fact that the philharmonic societies were important centers of musical education for young amateur musicians led the Inatel Foundation to develop, over the years, several programs and projects to support bands. The most important ones are the Amateur Conductors of Music Bands Courses, the Young Musicians Courses and the Music Grant Program.
The first Amateur Conductors of Music Bands Course took place in 1969 and ran for over 40 years. Nowadays, thanks to advances in music teaching and to the existence of professional music schools, it makes no sense to maintain this course, which was replaced by training and development courses in orchestra conducting.
The Music Grant Program promotes the publication of musical compositions for bands and we distribute thousands of sheet music titles and instruments. This program continues to this day and every year dozens of musical groups receive various grants for their activities.
3. Research, Promotion, Publication
I would also like to talk to you about our support for research and dissemination projects related to intangible cultural heritage, including our own publications and support to other publications.
Along with the courses and the different grant programs for amateur popular cultural groups, the Inatel Foundation remains interested in increasing knowledge about our cultural traditions and practices by supporting research, promoting seminars and discussions, and though its publications.
Throughout the years, the Inatel Foundation has promoted conferences and seminars on subjects such as folklore, popular music, amateur theater, oral traditions and celebrations. At these events the Inatel Foundation seeks to promote and deepen relations between the academic and scientific worlds on the one hand and, on the other hand, the holders of this cultural heritage, its performers and the involved communities.
With regard to publishing activities, the Inatel Foundation has published several ethnographic works for the general public. Some of these stand out: O Cante Alentejano (typical singing from Alentejo) and Tradições Populares (Popular Traditions) published in the 1990s and, more recently in 2010, A Origem do Fado (The Origin of Fado).
Inatel also promotes documentary filmmaking, and the ethnographic film Portuguese Dances stands out. The production of a film including several forms of Portuguese musical expression is currently underway; it will be titled Intangible Symphony and will be presented in Portugal next month.
4. Other grants and projects on the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage
Alongside its own programs, the Inatel Foundation supports other institutions. Through collaborative partnerships, Inatel has subsidized actions and projects considered relevant to the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage and to improve the training and performance of amateur artists at its member institutions. In this context, we hold regular meetings? with leading institutions from each of the following sectors: theater, music, cinema (especially documentary cinema), ethnography and anthropology. This allows us to develop a comprehensive program of scholarships and grants for training, seminars, thematic workshops and non-formal education training courses in different artistic fields.
Among our non-formal artistic training activities, those developed in the context of traditional decorative arts and visual arts associated with festivities and other popular manifestations are of particular importance.
As a final example, I want to talk to you about one of these courses, both for its importance in keeping a tradition alive and for its colorful results. These are the training courses on the art of producing the “Gigantones” and “Cabeçudos” (“Giants” and “Bigheads”) that take part in several popular celebrations in northern Portugal. They are notably involved in the “Giants and Bigheads Review” within the annual festivities honouring “Nossa Senhora da Agonia” (Our Lady of Agony) in Viana do Castelo. These courses made it possible to ensure that “Gigantones” and “Cabeçudos” continue to be produced through traditional processes.
The Inatel Foundation is committed to safeguarding, promoting and disseminating numerous traditional cultural manifestations and practices through multiple forms of intervention. Choosing these examples, believe me, was a difficult task. It implied leaving out many others that are equally important and relevant. I did not talk to you about Carnival traditions or about festivities associated with the celebration of Easter or Christmas. I also didn’t refer to some initiation rites like “boys parties,” which only remain active nowadays because girls also participate.
After this illustrative survey of our activities, we will now examine the Inatel Foundation’s position as an NGO within the context of Portugal’s formal and informal macrostructure dealing with the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage.
With regard to the academic work developed by anthropologists, there is a significant difference of approach that goes beyond the fact that the Inatel Foundation intervenes directly, with direct consequences on how cultural heritage is manifested. This difference is conceptual, and results from the fact that modern anthropology is focused on addressing more extensive social and cultural contexts, while we are focused on rituals and "know-how". Moreover, while anthropology has incorporated social phenomena such as migration and migrants, consumption, and tourism into its field of study, we remain confined to the traditional practices that manifest "Portugality." Of course this approach is not free of criticism, but it is, in our view, the best way of remaining focused on the core of our statutory mission without losing ourselves. It is particularly relevant in these times when financial, human and technical resources are scarce. There are also advantages, since we maintain a certain "authenticity" toward the object of our action, which contrasts with a certain hybridity that often infects approaches to contemporary cultural phenomena.
However, we are not indifferent to the commodification and “touristification” of traditional culture (of which “Fado” is a paradigmatic example). In this sense we actively defend intangible cultural heritage manifestations, especially those related to performing arts and handicrafts, as well as manifestations of oral traditions. We defend the idea that we are dealing with true artistic creations that are alive, dynamic, in a continuous process of recreation and reconstruction and, in this sense, protected by copyright and intellectual property laws. In other words, the place of traditional and popular artistic creation is not, nor can it be, a minor form of culture deprived of rights and recognition.
Another aspect that deserves our consideration is the scope and extent of our relationship with public institutions that, at the central and regional government levels, have competencies regarding the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage.
Portugal ratified the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in March 2008 and the Decree-Law on the Safeguard of the Intangible Cultural Heritage was published in June 2009. Under this law, a commission for the intangible cultural heritage is established. This commission has a broad range of competencies in making inventories of intangible cultural heritage as well as in preparing reports and projects on relevant issues concerning the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. This Commission is a purely public structure, composed by members appointed by the government and by Portuguese municipalities. It is chaired by the Director of the Institute of Museums and Conservation. These committee members were only recently appointed in January 2011, so it is not yet possible to assess their work. However, we can’t avoid criticizing the approach of Portuguese legislators, as it contrasts with the Convention’s recommendations and ignores the existence of non-governmental organizations. In fact, it is difficult to justify why organizations and civil society associations that have been the true active agents in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage over the years have been left out of the committee.
Despite the absence of a formal basis for relationships between the Inatel Foundation, or any other civil society organization, with this Commission, there are informal contacts with the Institute of Museums and Conservation. This Institute chairs the committee and is responsible for the management of the intangible cultural heritage inventory database.
Public policy measures relating to intangible cultural heritage are still relatively recent and confined to aspects of legal regulations, development of the inventory database and installation of the Commission. Alongside these initiatives, the Institute of Museums and Conservation has promoted awareness and discussion around these very important themes. The Inatel Foundation has closely followed the work done so far, pointing out aspects that must be taken into account, notably those related to the inventory.
The museums within the national network of museums have important assets with regard to intangible cultural heritage, but we must not forget the ethnographic museums developed by local groups and associations who, often with Inatel support, organized important collections of local practices and traditions and also possess valuable assets.
Moreover, the Inatel Foundation has an extensive experience in identifying, documenting and creating inventories of intangible cultural heritage, being the only Portuguese institution to possess a database with intangible cultural heritage resources, such as repertoires, costumes, traditions, festivities, ethnographic resources, folklore groups, popular music and theater.
Dear Sirs,
It is with great pleasure that we are here talking to you about the Inatel Foundation. We sincerely hope that this intervention has been useful in providing an overview, however brief, of our work for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage over the past 75 years, but especially on our current projects and programs.
At the Inatel Foundation we are aware that there is a vast intangible cultural heritage that expresses our identity. Our mission is to know, protect, enhance and promote it.
Throughout the years we have made every effort to further our mission by adopting the methodologies and programs that we consider appropriate at the given time.
As heirs to a unique experience in the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage, the Inatel Foundation develops innovative programs, adopting new methodological and work approaches that make it a unique institution among all others in Portugal.
The Inatel Foundation is an institution with a great networking experience, which develops its activity through the establishment of partnerships and trust relationships with the people and communities that are the real holders of intangible cultural heritage. By always seeking to meet real needs in terms of safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, the Inatel Foundation constantly adapts its programs and activities by taking into account the requests received and its own assessment of the realities presented.
Thank you.
[1] LEAL, João (2009) ‘O Património Imaterial e a Antropologia Portuguesa: uma perspectiva histórica’, in COSTA, Paulo F. (coord.) Museus e Património Imaterial: agentes, fronteiras, identidades. 1st Edition. Lisbon: Instituto dos Museus e da Conservação and Softlimits, S.A.
