Intangible Cultural Heritage, Ethnomusicology, and the Sustainable Future of Hunting Horn Music in Flanders (original) (raw)

ICTM World Annual Conference, 2019

Abstract

Two criteria are crucial to acquire a place on the Flemish Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage: first, the entire community should be involved in the application process and, second, they should demonstrate their engagement to safeguard the tradition. Recent research has shown that a lack of community involvement may cause a disconnect between heritage policies and the people to whom the heritage belong, leading to confusion as their values are not reflected in the process. Instead, safeguarding ICH should happen independently of such recognition or policies, starting “on the ground” so that the heritage can be safeguarded on the community’s own terms to ensure the tradition’s sustainability for future generations. How this can be done most effectively, and the way in which heritage professionals should help, remain two much discussed issues in the heritage sector. By presenting the interaction between a heritage worker and the hunting horn community in Flanders (Belgium) during their application process for the Flemish Inventory for ICH, this paper examines the importance of ethnomusicological research in ICH work to solve the issue. Inspired by the “Sustainable Futures for Music Cultures” project and the “Music Vitality and Endangerment Framework”, I developed a tool for short-term, multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork, consisting of individual interviews, group interviews, observations during rehearsals and performance, and a questionnaire. In this way, it was possible to involve a large range of people who are connected to hunting horn music. Musicians, their families, audiences, and people who organise performance opportunities alike had the chance to express the ways in which they value the music and identify the tradition’s threats and opportunities. By bringing their opinions together, appropriate actions could be determined to safeguard the sustainable future of hunting horn players.

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