Translated traditions: A comparative ethnography of traditional dance in the Irish and Croatian communities in Sydney, Australia

This comparative ethnography investigates the traditional dance practices of the Irish and Croatian communities in Sydney, Australia. Transnationalism theory affords the means through which to examine the multiple ways in which individuals and groups have forged, and continue to participate in, fields of engagement across national borders. The study situates the immigrant groups within the context of multicultural Australia, and additionally references the theoretical paradigms of cultural identity, diaspora studies, nostalgia theory and ethnochoreology. The research entailed detailed case studies of three dance groups from each of the immigrant communities under investigation. Data were gathered through ethnographic fieldwork conducted in dance classes and special events over two years and interviews with 100 participants. Emergent themes revealed participants’ agency in multiple transnational spaces including, at a personal level, cultural identity, emotional attachment and embodied signification. Themes relating to structural and functional fields were the global organisational frameworks, patterns of pedagogical practice and flows of material goods. The final theme was transnational representation through public performances of dance. The research revealed that participation in traditional dance was an important means through which immigrants may perpetuate links with their ancestral birthplace. Strong affective bonds with that former homeland were noted amongst the large majority of respondents. Dance was also identified as an important signifier of cultural belonging amongst members of both communities. Additionally, the study acknowledged that transnational engagements were not the sole province of immigrants, but also included those who have merely affiliated themselves with a traditional dance genre

Proceedings of the 2nd MoMoWo International Conference-Workshop.Research Centre of Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, France Stele Institute of Art History, 3–5 October 2016, Ljubljana

Il volume raccoglie 27 saggi esiti dal secondo convegno-workshop internazionale "Women Designers, Architects, Engineers between 1946 and 1968" organizzato dal progetto europeo “MoMoWo - Women's creativity since the Modern Movement” co-finanziato dal programma Europa Creativa dell’Unione Eurropea e capofilato dal Politecnico di Torino

Empowering vulnerable women by participatory design workshops

This contribution addresses the issue of homeless women’s empowerment through design workshops and according to the capability approach. The paper presents small, ordinary stories of women that experience being designers. Besides the professional label, being a designer means to approach reality from the transformative perspective of pursuing a positive change. It also translates in claiming the space for the expression of a personal vision of the world, within a cooperative environment. It enables to experiment innovative strategies to solve problems and to pursue self-determination in practical activities

Mapping reports of cultural heritage

Mapping reports of locally formed cultural heritage and the degree of difference between the particular heritage sites will be delivered for each consortium country by M14. This deliverable will map the heritage ‘offer’ in each country, by exploring the existing discourses and institutional practices that constitute the representation and use of cultural heritage in each geographical location of the CHIEF consortium. The chief purpose of this deliverable is to provide background information for the selection of specific heritage spaces/sites (two in each country) for case-studies in the second phase of this WP

Europe and the Black Sea Region

When the scientific study of the Black Sea Region began in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, initially commissioned by adjacent powers such as the Habsburg and the Russian empires, this terra incognita was not yet considered part of Europe. The eighteen chapters of this volume show a broad range of thematic foci and theoretical approaches - the result of the enormous richness of the European macrocosm and the BSR. The microcosms of the many different case studies under scrutiny, however, demonstrate the historical dimension of exchange between the allegedly opposite poles of `East' and `West' and underscore the importance of mutual influences in the development of Europe and the BSR

Other Modernism : underpinning the case of the history museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The thesis advances the understanding of the changing role of modern European history museums marked by engagement and outreach as modes of addressing contemporary and conflicting issues of public history. It contributes to the growing body of knowledge on the institutional uses of heritage, highlighting the case of unique and under-represented 20th-century architecture and public museum(s) of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Inspired by the communicative action concept, the research introduces a blended heritage discourse as a method to investigate the institutional role and architecture of the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, formerly known as the Museum of Revolution in Sarajevo. The transformations of the History Museum are observed through attitudes to architectural heritage and regional identity-shaping narratives, considering it as a case of embodied social energy at risk. The systematic analysis of previously inaccessible archival records on conception, construction and proposed interventions to the building, charts the field for further research, policy and practice of sustainable renovations. The research captures the key historic periods of modernisation of the urban environment in Bosnia and Herzegovina, focusing on the continuity of the contextual regionalism in the work of architects sensitive to the local vernacular and the sense of place, as a unique quality within the original architectural modernism in Central Europe. Thus, it supplements the revisions of modernist discourse in the English speaking academia, with an exhaustive inclusion of the sources written in Bosnian (Croatian, Serbian) languages. The research shows that the Museum in Sarajevo has an original contribution to museology and that it demonstrates remarkable adaptability and resilience, faced with societal differentiation and fragmentation. Among other, this is manifested by strategic deployment of the Museum’s status as architectural heritage, which acts as a pivotal place of resistance to the adverse impacts of systemic and governance changes, where the fragmented social narratives might be constructively reassembled.The thesis advances the understanding of the changing role of modern European history museums marked by engagement and outreach as modes of addressing contemporary and conflicting issues of public history. It contributes to the growing body of knowledge on the institutional uses of heritage, highlighting the case of unique and under-represented 20th-century architecture and public museum(s) of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Inspired by the communicative action concept, the research introduces a blended heritage discourse as a method to investigate the institutional role and architecture of the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, formerly known as the Museum of Revolution in Sarajevo. The transformations of the History Museum are observed through attitudes to architectural heritage and regional identity-shaping narratives, considering it as a case of embodied social energy at risk. The systematic analysis of previously inaccessible archival records on conception, construction and proposed interventions to the building, charts the field for further research, policy and practice of sustainable renovations. The research captures the key historic periods of modernisation of the urban environment in Bosnia and Herzegovina, focusing on the continuity of the contextual regionalism in the work of architects sensitive to the local vernacular and the sense of place, as a unique quality within the original architectural modernism in Central Europe. Thus, it supplements the revisions of modernist discourse in the English speaking academia, with an exhaustive inclusion of the sources written in Bosnian (Croatian, Serbian) languages. The research shows that the Museum in Sarajevo has an original contribution to museology and that it demonstrates remarkable adaptability and resilience, faced with societal differentiation and fragmentation. Among other, this is manifested by strategic deployment of the Museum’s status as architectural heritage, which acts as a pivotal place of resistance to the adverse impacts of systemic and governance changes, where the fragmented social narratives might be constructively reassembled

Europe and the Black Sea Region

When the scientific study of the Black Sea Region began in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, initially commissioned by adjacent powers such as the Habsburg and the Russian empires, this terra incognita was not yet considered part of Europe. The eighteen chapters of this volume show a broad range of thematic foci and theoretical approaches - the result of the enormous richness of the European macrocosm and the BSR. The microcosms of the many different case studies under scrutiny, however, demonstrate the historical dimension of exchange between the allegedly opposite poles of `East' and `West' and underscore the importance of mutual influences in the development of Europe and the BSR