Project code: Z6-3226
Project type: Postdoctoral project
Project promoter: University of Primorska, Faculty of Humanities
Project leader: Assist. Prof. Neža Čebron Lipovec
Source of funding: Public Agency for Research of the Republic of Slovenia (ARRS)
Research Area (ARRS): 6.04 Humanities / Ethnology
Duration of the project: 01.10.2021–30.09.2023
Description:
The project addresses the need to explore the potential of classical and recent ethnographic methods for engaged approaches in conservation, especially in cases of contested heritage. The idea stems from the problems in the conservation of built heritage in the multicultural area of Northern Istria in Slovenia, especially in the city of Koper. Conflicting views characterize the heritage of the area, which has undergone major population changes since the Second World War, leading to a reversal of national discourses.
Although international policies have already stressed the crucial importance of community involvement in heritage, the shift from an authoritarian to an inclusive paradigm has not yet taken place in the field of conservation. Thus, the aim is to contribute to bridging the gap between authorized (in practice) and alternative (in theory) discourses in the field, and thus contribute to the development of contemporary, participatory practices in heritage evaluation and conservation. The primary focus is on fieldwork in Koper, which will be conducted first with classical ethnographic methods, then with contemporary participatory approaches and an upgraded version of ‘memory evenings’. A documentary and a series of radio programmes on the research will also be produced.
Connected activities:
- Group Memory Talk event in Bertoki/Bertocchi, 02.09.2022
As the first of a set of collaborative and community-based events, promoting the novel method of the “group memory talk”, the event in the Bertoki/Bertocchi in the suburban area of Koper/Capodistria, set off the fieldwork part of the research “The Potential of Ethnographic Methods in Conservation”. The event gathered over 50 local residents in three-hour group research of collective memories about the local post-war cooperative centre. The main aim represents a central research thread The UNESCO Chair in Interpretation and Education for Enhancing Integrated Heritage Approaches as it targets innovative and inclusive methodologies for an integrated significance assessment of the historic built environment prior to conservation intervention.
The international workshop gathered Master and PhD students from Slovenia, Croatia, Italy and France, under the mentorship of the lecturers Assist. Prof. Dr. Neža Čebron Lipovec and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Katja Hrobat Virloget (UP FHŠ), Saša Poljak Istenič (Science and Research Centre Academy of Science of Slovenia), Valentina Zrnić Gulin (Institute for folkloristics, Croatia) and emeritus professor Setha Low (City University of New York), leading anthropologist of space and place.
The workshop was centred on the contemporary theories in the anthropology of space and its link to issue in heritage conservation, and was complemented with intense fieldwork based on Setha Low’s TESS method, by focusing on the case of the Giardinetto Square in Koper. The scientifically designed workshop included various forms of interviews, participant observation and mapping. The results indicated what further memory collection clearly confirmed: the nameless, almost anonymous and seemingly unorganized public space has great significance for many locals.
A small, yet intensively followed exhibition, conceived by Assist. Prof. Dr. Neža Čebron Lipovec, was set up in the open-air street gallery Mala Loža and dedicated to the officially nameless square in the heart of Koper’s historic core, that is awaiting renewal. The exhibition was conceived as a participatory and evolving exhibition co-created by the local inhabitants whose photographs and comments were collected on a daily basis and integrated into the presentation. The aim of the initiative was to prompt participation in the collective research of the heritage values of the open space, as well as to raise awareness about this heritage but also about the community that identified with it. On research level, the approach was an integral part of the “group memory talk”, a novel method for an integrated attitude within the heritage conservation process.
The participatory exhibition ‘Small square around the corner – continuation’ was opened in the Koper Regional Archive. The event marks both the International Day for Monuments and Sites, which is celebrated on April 18 within the framework of the international organization ICOMOS and Days of Humanities at the UP FHŠ. It is an expanded version of the exhibition ‘Small square around the corner’, that was presented in November 2022 in Koper. The exhibition was designed by Assist. Prof. Dr. Neža Čebron Lipovec, in collaboration with Asst. Tim Mavrič and Andrej Preložnik (UP FHŠ). The purpose of the exhibition was to present the small, officially nameless square, that is known among residents by the popular name ‘Giardinet’, but which many residents of the city do not know. The aim of this ‘second edition’ of the exhibition was to present the past collaborative and community-based efforts to shed light on its history, while exploring lesser-known moments of its past together with the residents and to find out what meaning this space has for them, what memories bind them to it, and what are their wishes for the future of this space, since the square will be the subject of renovation in the near future.
This exhibition presents the results of the first exhibition in printed form, while memories, suggestions and images are still being collected. The expanded exhibition also presents the results of an international anthropological workshop that was held in Koper in September 2022 at the Faculty of Humanities, in collaboration with the world’s leading spatial anthropologist, Prof. Dr. Setha Low (City University New York, USA), the ZRC SAZU and the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore in Zagreb.
On June 2, 2023, a “group memory talk” event entitled “Memories of the Giardinet, proposals for its future” took place in the lobby of the Armeria in Koper, organized within the project “The potential of ethnographic methods in the conservation of built heritage in disputed sites, the case of Northern Istria”, led by Assist. Prof. Dr. Neža Čebron Lipovec.
The event aimed at collecting and sharing memories about the small square behind the Faculty of Humanities in Koper, as well as for interactive and collective reflection on its meaning and its tangible and intangible qualities that are worth preserving or restoring. The square Giardinet, which has changed several names and images though the centuries, proved to be a valuable space of memories and urban history, as well as an important open green public space, to be safeguarded and restored within the upcoming renewal project. On research level, the event brought and upgrading of the “group memory talk” method, aligning it with the needs of the conservation process procedures.
On September 28, 2023, University of Primorska hosted a round table discussion on Building Heritage Conservation and Public Engagement: Opportunities and Challenges.
The idea of this round table was to bring together for a discussion conservators in the field. The guests list included Etbin Tavčar, head of the Piran Regional Office of the Cultural Heritage and Heritage Commission, Minka Osojnik, art historian, conservator of sacral heritage at the Nova Gorica Regional Office of the Cultural Heritage and Heritage Commission; conservator-ethnologist Saša Roškar from the Kranj Regional Office of the Cultural Heritage and Heritage Commission, Dr. Alenka Di Battista, art historian – of profane heritage at the Nova Gorica Regional Office of the Cultural Heritage and Heritage Commission, Mateja Kavčič, architect-conservator from the Restoration Center of the Cultural Heritage and Heritage Commission; Dr. Tomaž Golob, sociologist and art historian, conservator from the Novo Mesto Regional Office; and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jasna Fakin Bajec, ethnologist and historian, the leading researcher on participation in the preservation of cultural heritage, especially intangible one.
The following questions were raised:
- Which type of heritage offers the most opportunities for inclusion of public?
- Who are the key stakeholders?
- What are effective approaches for community engagement? And what are the main obstacles in this process?
The discussion was moderated by Assist. Prof. Dr. Neža Čebron Lipovec (UP FHŠ). The roundtable is part of the scientific research postdoctoral project ‘The Potential of Ethnographic Methods for the Preservation of Architectural Heritage in Disputed Places, the Case of Northern Istria’, led by Assist. Prof. Dr. Neža Čebron Lipovec.
On 12 April, 2024, Assist. Prof. Dr. Neža Čebron Lipovec (UP FHŠ) visited Naples, where she a guest lecturer at the Course on History of Ethnic Conflicts and National Integration, led by Prof. Dr. Vanni D’Alessio. In her lecture entitled ‘Conservation of architectural heritage and attachment to place: a methodological question’, she introduced the students to the research field of heritage studies and its intersection with the field of conservation of the built environment. Using the example of Istria and its ongoing research on the potential of ethnographic methods for conservation, she presented the different methodologies of collaborative research and the new method she is introducing, the group memory talk. In this way, the Neapolitan students also learned about some of the history of Koper and Istria, such as the story of Giardinetto.
- Webinar Talking Towns: Urban Heritage, 18. 04. 2023
- https://ireland.architecturediary.org/event/ucd-centre-for-irish-towns-talking-towns-lunchtime-seminar-urban-heritage/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xpzvZ9Nd5A
On 18 April 2023 Assist. Prof. Dr. Neža Čebron Lipovec (UP FHŠ) participated in the webinar “Talking Towns”, a series of online lectures addressing urban conservation issues, that was focused this time on urban heritage and participatory approaches. The event was organized by the University College Dublin and the Centre for Irish Towns. Assist. Prof. Dr. Neža Čebron Lipovec presented her research on the introduction of participatory and collaborative methods, such as the “group memory talk”, into the conservation field in Slovenia.
On May 9, 2024, around 60 interested locals gathered for a “group memory walk” in Bošadraga neighbourhood, that was organized by Assist. Prof. Dr. Neža Čebron Lipovec and Mirella Baruca, both from the UP. Through the exchange of personal and shared memories of life in Bošadraga in the recent past, they built a bridge to more distant periods and historical knowledge of this old quarter of the town.
With great interest the participants listened to the historical overview of one of the most authentic and interesting quarters of Koper’s city centre, given by the author of Štorje sz škrinje, Mirella Baruca. The method of group memory talk developed by Dr. Neža Čebron Lipovec was used after an introductory historical framework at different point along the path. The focus was on living memories, and people were enthusiastic about sharing them. Such meetings are particularly interesting as they allow direct contact of the surroundings and the people, each of whom has their own story to share.
This group walk of remembrance was part of a larger international initiative, Jane’s Walk, aimed at community-based environmental research, which is taking place this week in several cities across Slovenia and the world. At the same time, the walk is part of the research within the project ‘Potential of Ethnographic Methods for the Conservation of Built Heritage in Contested Sites, the Case of Northern Istria’, led by Assist. Prof. Dr. Neža Čebron Lipovec and funded by the Slovenian Agency for Scientific Research and Innovation (ARIS).