Intangible cultural heritage through a Jersey lens 🇯🇪
Intangible cultural heritage can cover a dizzying array of elements including
- stories and songs
- music and dances
- sports and games
- festivals and performances
- social practices and rituals
- traditional crafts and skills
- as well as knowledge of nature and the universe
combined with its own lexicon of terminology and description. This can make even a seemingly straight forward task such as making an inventory, somewhat challenging. Where to start and what might be included or valued locally inside those diverse and far-reaching categories?
Introducing ICH in Jersey
In the context of Jersey, local voices outlined that the best place to begin explaining what ICH might look like on the island, would be to shine a light on a small cluster of examples or cases. Taking this good advice in hand, Touch TD, along with the energetic Jersey Heritage team coordinated a launch event this summer. The aim was to raise awareness about ICH more generally and what might be including in an inventory of ICH in Jersey, through the showcasing of three local expressions. As it turned out, these cases perfectly demonstrated that ICH is extremely relevant and vibrant in this corner of the Channel Islands.
Local demonstration cases
To capture and bring a neat summary of each expression, we find the key is to have those messages delivered not by outside ‘experts’, but through direct ‘bearers’ of each practice. With just a small piece of research an initial ICH in Jersey trinity,
- Jersey cow breeding
- Maritime navigation around Jersey using transit marks
- Jersey surfing scene
emerged very rapidly. Equally, a knowledgeable and enthusiastic ‘ambassador’ for each expression, was instantly identifiable and more than happy to place their ICH practice in the public eye.
On the day at the Société Jersiaise Members’ Room, inspiring presentations were delivered by Arlene Maltman (surfing pioneer), James Godfrey (fount of knowledge on the Jersey breed) and Paul Chambers (navigator of Jersey’s unpredictable waters), who acted as lightning rods for the wider communities around each ICH case. Arlene, James and Paul also outlining their personal connection and how they became immersed in practices that they now recognise as being an aspect of ICH.
In the media spotlight
Beyond the well-attended event, interest was stimulated through further media coverage. Touch TD contributed by introducing the ICH in Jersey project through interviews with local ITV news and BBC radio Jersey. Most importantly we outlined that the three expressions showcased here, are just the beginning in a campaign to uncover a much fuller inventory.
Next steps
The next step in the programme will be an invitation for the wider Jersey public to participate in an Autumn series of drop-in ICH cafés. The first of these will be hosted around the annual Faîs’sie d’Cidre event at Hamptonne later in October. The main function of the café activities is to stimulate residents to think about other possible examples and outline the core details of these, captured in an ‘expression of interest’ one-sider.
Throughout the coming period, Jersey Heritage is keeping the doors wide open with,
landing webpage of information: https://www.jerseyheritage.org/research-and-collections/research-ich/
dedicated contact email for ICH queries: ich@jerseyheritage.org
Keep an eye on the Touch TD website, as more stories will emerge as we follow the trail of this practical approach to acknowledging ICH in Jersey!