A conference on heritage interpretation was held at the Faculty of Humanities between March 21 and 24, 2024. It was attended by more than 120 internationally recognized experts who highlighted the importance of heritage interpretation through various examples.
The conference was jointly organized by the Faculty of Humanities Koper, the UNESCO Chair in Interpretation and Education for the Promotion of Integrated Approaches and the European Association for Heritage Interpretation Interpret Europe, and was financially supported by the Slovenian National Commission for UNESCO. The conference brought together a number of renowned heritage experts from England, Austria, Brazil, Poland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Germany, Hungary, the United States of America, Turkey, South Korea, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia.
At the opening of the conference the participants were greeted by Prof. Dr. Irena Lazar, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Head of the UNESCO Chair, Prof. Dr. Klavdija Kutnar, Rector of the University of Primorska, Gašper Hrastelj, Director of the UNESCO Office and Secretary General of the Slovenian National Commission for UNESCO, Vesna Pajić, Advisor for Culture and International Projects at the Municipality of Koper, and Helena Vičič, Director of Interpret Europe. The introductory greetings were followed by a lecture by Špela Spanžel, art historian and Director General of the Directorate for Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.
Throughout the conference, in addition to interesting content from the field, the organizers also prepared a varied daily program. Each day began with keynote lectures by David Uzzel (University of Surrey), Sujeong Lee (UNESCO WHIPIC) and Lluis Bonet (University of Barcelona). After the lectures, participants could exchange views, delve deeper into the topics covered and listen to a variety of experts. Afternoons were devoted to excursions and visits to interesting sites in the surrounding area.
The first, second and third floor of the faculty also hosted two exhibitions: The Beauty of Stone Poetry, Istria, through which Romana Kačič, Barbara Škarja and Sara Mušič Žetko invite you into the world of stone buildings, and a photographic exhibition of the Mythic Park in Rodik. On 23 March, 2024 the exhibition In the Garden of the (In)Visibles was opened as a round-up of the UP Week, preceded by workshop, organized by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Katja Hrobat Virloget and Dr. Roberta Altin, that opened a critical reflection on the meaning of the common heritage of (in)visible migrations in the European context.