Could UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible cultural heritage be harmful ?

Most people have heard of UNESCO’s list of World heritage sites – a list aiming at the protection and preservation of physical buildings, monuments and natural sites considered of interest to mankind all over the world – but, few have heard of the relatively new convention from the same organization on the protection of Intangible cultural heritage, or “living heritage”. The convention dates back to 2003, but entered into force in 2006. The reasoning behind the convention is that in an increasingly globalized world with uniformization policies, environmental degradation, and quick social transformations, intangible cultural heritage (such as: social practices, rituals, festive events, oral traditions, traditional performances/ craftmanship, knowledge about nature, etc. that provide people with a sense of identity and continuity) has become more vulnerable and fragile. These are traditions that are generally passed on from generation to generation, with only the human mind as the depository. The traditions are considered valuable, because they bring human beings closer together, ensure sustainable development, and serve as a source for cultural diversity and human creativity.

Sweden has not yet ratified the convention, although work is underway to do so. Some Swedish traditions and practices up for discussion to become world heritage are: the dancing around the maypole on Midsummer’s Eve, the Lucia celebration, and the special practice of tending to raindeer of the indigenous Same people in northern Sweden.

Although I think the intentions of the convention are very good, I can’t help but to wonder if some suggested measures may not be harmful to the very traditions they are set out to protect. Intangible cultural heritage is by its very nature dynamic – constantly developing and merging with other traditions as new generations take ownership of the heritage. The moment you try to define it by identifying and preserving specific practices, you may at the same time run the risk of killing or stomping the tradition. To a certain degree UNESCO recognizes this risk, and stresses that Intangible cultural heritage is traditional and living at the same time, and the convention states that it is constantly recreated by communities or groups in response to their history and environment. Yet, some of the safeguarding measures listed in the convention include: identification, and promotion / enhancement particularly through formal and non-formal education – all of which rest on the notion of “authenticity”, which in turn suggests something “static”. However, living heritage is everything but static, which becomes the dilemma.

I can see how the measures of the convention could be more effective for certain types of intangible cultural heritage, such as where the cultural practices are connected to the natural environment. In those cases, it’s straightforward. If there are no forests, plains, or pastures certain traditional ways of living simply cannot be practised. In such cases it is great that we now have a stronger international convention upon which we can argue protection of these spaces.  But what about “dancing around the maypole”? Should a tradition like that be defined and “taught” in a formal manner? How would the tradition be affected by that? And what about the delicate interplay between traditions and commercial interest? The latter can water down a tradition terribly rendering it phony, but it can also reinforce and maintain a tradition. For example, around this time in Sweden, there is a wonderful tradition of eating a very calorie-rich and delicious pastry, called “semla”. It should be devoured on or in close proximity to Mardi Gras, i.e. Shrove Tuesday.

The filling is comprised of almond paste and whipped cream, which would be considered the “authentic” filling, but in later years a lot of variations to this filling have popped up, ex. vanilla cream instead of the traditional almond paste, and even variations on the size and hence, the amount of whipped cream used. My initial reaction to these later versions of the bun was that they were not quite “real” semlor, but at the same time, perhaps without these alternatives fewer people, for reasons of health and taste, would eat them? What consequences would that have on the tradition some years down the road? And furthermore, at what point do the new elements of the tradition become accepted as part of the “old” tradition? Since traditions constantly evolve it is quite likely that such a point would be reached eventually.

Whether we like it or not, semlor with vanilla cream instead of almond paste is a result of creativity. Some creative developments we embrace, others we don’t, but that has to do with personal taste. As long as the creative developments have value for some people, they are, in a sense, innovative. Human creativity is not only a result of cultural diversity and traditions, but also constantly forms the traditions and the diversity, thus creating a circle where traditions and human creativity constantly inspire and nurture each other.

If people believe that rituals and traditions can be controlled through, for example, external sanctioning of certain developments and changes, but not of others, then the intangible cultural heritage may be headed down a slippery slope to a slow but sure death. Fragile as cultural traditions may be, they are ultimately best nurtured in the human mind and spirit, and not with authorities.

Sandra Ljung

I got a text from my good friend Peter Haas, the Executive Director of AIDG about the situation in Haiti. It is a critical piece that describes how things in very short order can get worse.

After 9-11 how much money did you have in your pocket? Could you have lived off of that for a week? What if you lived in LA and it was destroyed? The port gone, no airport, no electricity, no cellphones, no ATMs, no gas, banks closed, dozens of people you know are dead, over a million people making their way into the streets of your home town. How would you feel? How long until you would grow desperate? This is the current life in Haiti, in the big cities and the small towns, unaffected by the earth quake structurally but destroyed spiritually. Bit by bit, they are unraveling at a staggering rate. Without aid distribution points, without soldiers, and with supplies going to Port Au Prince and internally displaced people coming from Port Au Prince every day – this is life in Cap Haitien, Haiti’s second largest city.

Click here for the piece: Haiti

Had a great Halloween. Our daughter Amara got to participate in her first dressed up like a “love bug”. Sandra Ljung reflects upon traditions and sends a longer post from Sweden on how celebrations morph at the Intersection of cultures:

It is interesting to observe how traditions travel around the globe and intersect with different cultures, and thus transform, and evolve. The influence constituted by an immigrating or imported tradition can also spark innovation and creativity within the new country or culture resulting in evolving modes of celebration. As such, the Swedish tradition of Lucia, for example, has evolved into something uniquely Swedish with celebrations which bear no resemblance to how the Sicilian Saint Lucia is celebrated in Italy. The same is true with Halloween.

Toward the end of the 90s the American tradition of Halloween suddenly appeared in Sweden. People were going to Halloween parties like never before, and the cheap orange and black paper and plastic items sold in the US around Halloween all of a sudden appeared in Swedish supermarkets.  People’s reactions ranged from excited about the new fun tradition to appalled at the introduction of a tradition on purely commercial grounds, because the truth is that Halloween actually was introduced as a commercial project by the Swedish business community. Businesses felt that it was a tradition that could “work” in Sweden and that there was lots of money to be made from it, and hence it was pushed through in almost over-night fashion in the year of 1997.

Although the initial Halloween frenzy does seem to have waned some, and although you would still be hard pressed to find anyone who knows why it is celebrated, i.e. the history behind the tradition, it still seems as if Halloween has come to Sweden to stay. An interesting observation is that as Halloween has gained ground while another Swedish tradition, very similar to Halloween, has slowly but surely lost ground.

Most Swedish holidays have pagan influences, and so does Easter. Long time ago, people believed that on the Thursday before Easter “the witches” went off to an imaginary destination called “Blåkulla” to dance, with the devil. Somewhere along the way, the tradition of dressing up as a witch developed and became an innocent activity for the kids on Easter Eve.  Hence, on Easter Eve, Swedish girls and boys would dress up as witches and witch-men, and walk around from door to door in their neighbourhoods with baskets asking for candy. In return you would often receive a hand-made Easter greeting card. Although the Easter witches can still be seen, they have become a rare sight compared to twenty years ago. It is quite striking how similar the practice of this Easter tradition is to Halloween.

The history of Halloween has lots of pagan influences as well, such as its connection to an ancient Celtic harvest festival, and the idea of keeping evil spirits at bay, but it was also eventually integrated into the celebrations around the religious holiday All Saint’s Eve/Day, which is also how its’ name came about. All Hallows’ Eve (old English meaning All Saints’ Eve) became “Halloween”. Finally, it developed into what we know today, characterized by the wearing of costumes, jack-o-lanterns, and candy. Originating from Ireland and integrated into America through the Irish immigrants, Halloween is also a tradition that was not American from the very beginning, although largely perceived as such now. So why does the American Halloween seem more “genuine” than the Swedish?  Isn’t it just the natural course of globalization for traditions to cross borders?

Well, I guess one could argue that perhaps people are more accepting of traditions that have evolved over time and become embedded in the culture in a natural way through the social fabric of the population, rather than as a commercial venture. I am inclined to believe that those traditions will be more long-lived. But, on the other hand, at some point a genuine emotional connection will be developed in a “natural” way toward a tradition, even in the case where the tradition in question has commercial origins, as children will not know of a time when it didn’t exist. At that point Halloween will indeed have become Swedish.

An incident from my own child-hood comes to mind as I write this. I could never quite understand why my grandpa, a very pious man, seemed a bit reserved toward the whole idea of the celebration of Lucia – a holiday perceived as very Swedish by people in my generation and which celebrates the Italian saint Lucia, but more importantly: the arrival of light in darkness and the arrival of Christmas.  My grandfather must have liked the fact that the Lucia celebration included Christian Christmas carols, but he always seemed more hesitant toward the songs dedicated to Lucia herself. I realized why when he once said, after I had recited the Lucia song, on piano: “We didn’t have Lucia when I was a child……..”

On September 24^th we had The Medici Experience in San Jose, CA. The event was a huge success, more so than I could have hoped for (see video below). This time the City of San Jose hosted the Medici Experience and some 140 people filled the room to the brink – there were people on a waiting list even.

Teams from companies, city departments, start-ups and non-profits joined us for an incredibly immersive innovation experience. The event is a mix of a live performance by me and exercises that scale beautifully…intense and tons of fun!  I start with a good 30 min or so of presenting the basic points of The Medici Effect. After that the teams had to create this effect for themselves.

First they mapped out their existing resources as a base for future innovation –it  is about using your assets in new combinations. After that they sought ideas from other industries, cultures, business models, products etc etc. Many teams developed more than 30 ideas and many of those ideas were very, very good.

But we forced them to choose one: greatest impact x easiest to execute. Then they had to connect with people in the room, over and over, making their team’s idea better. It was incredible to see the people connect with each other and in a matter of minutes completely add a whole new perspective on what they were working on. There! In one corner a librarian surprises a tech executive with how to develop their product – the executive would never have asked her, but here serendipity reigns. This happened hundreds of times as people sought out the Intersection.

The afternoon was spent on figuring out how to make the idea happen. The teams pursued this by defining their idea’s the smallest executable unit and thinking about how to reward mistakes – when few organizations would willingly allow that to happen. By the time people were designing an immediate execution plan they were getting on the phones.

I was exhausted; of course, it had been 12 non-stop hours since I woke up. Needed to eat…oh that adrenaline dissipating!

Both Trinidad and San Jose is actually a soft-launch for a world-wide tour of Medici Experiences so stay tuned as we will soon announce the next city! Check out the video below or here.

Here are some cool, recent intersectional ideas and stories that we have come across.

1. Butterfly wings and solar cells! Researchers have developed a technique that recreates biological structures on a nano scale. In nature, nano-sized structures give many insects their iridescent appearance, in which their colors appear metallic or seem to change depending on the viewing angle. http://tiny.cc/edXws

2. Piano + staircase…..Clever VW marketing campaign: http://bit.ly/QFAZv

3. Solar panes + roof tiles. Solar panes made out of glass…heats up an underlying sheet and easily integrates into a buildings standard energy solution. Very cool. http://www.soltechenergy.com/site/page.php?pg=78&menu=12

Wired has a great short piece on how the winning team of the Netflix $1 million challenge came up with their solution. The challenge was to improve Netflix’s search and rating system by 10% – something that took years (and he winners own by mere minutes, too). Several key Medici Effect rules stand out:

1. New ideas are generated when you combine existing ideas

“The top two teams beat the challenge by combining teams and their algorithms into more complex algorithms incorporating everybody’s work.”

2. But not all idea combinations are created equal – the more unusual or unlikely the combination the more likely that the idea is innovative

“But something else happened that wasn’t entirely expected: Teams that had it basically wrong — but for a few good ideas — made the difference when combined with teams which had it basically right, but couldn’t close the deal on their own.

…Ironically, the most outlying approaches — the ones farthest away from the mainstream way to solve a given problem — proved most helpful towards the end of the contest, as the teams neared the summit.”

3. The more ideas you come up with and decide to pursue (whether completely different ideas or even iterations of prototypes) the higher the likelihood that you will be innovative.

“The more people joined, the more the resulting team’s score would increase.”

Another 4^th rule that applies at the Intersection, that diverse teams come up with more ideas could not be gleaned from the piece but I have no doubt this was the case. Congratulations to the BellKor team!

Here is another post by Sandra Ljung in Sweden:

When I think of the Nordic region, leading companies and brand names, something intriguing strikes me. Finland has Nokia and Marimekko. Sweden has Volvo, Eriksson, Astra/Zeneca and lots of design labels ranging from crystal-ware to fashion. Denmark has the transportation giant Maersk, Bang & Olufsen, pharmaceutical industries, and a colossal design industry in fashion, jewellry, furniture, and home-ware. And Norway has…..well, not much comes up actually, when I think about Norway and brands.

These countries all have similar climates, are located in the same part of the world, and have similar social and political structures. Yet, Norway seems to stand in stark contrast to its’ neighbors when it comes to the area of brandnames. It stands in contrast to Sweden, Denmark and Finland in another important aspect as well. Norway has oil. Since the oil revenues are carefully saved, Norway has no national debt. It is reputedly one of the most expensive countries in the world with Oslo regularly finding itself among the top five on the list of the most expensive cities in the world to live in. This is Norway’s fundamental economic difference from her neighbors, and the question is:  does all this matter when it comes to innovation?

The concept called “the curse of natural resources” is an economic theory coined by Jeffrey Sachs that states, counter-intuitive as it may sound, that countries well-endowed with natural resources tend to not develop as much and as fast as countries which lack them. According to the theory this is due to the fact that people have a tendency to rely entirely on the resources for income, and lose focus of everything else. In many cases the existence of natural resources leads to disputes over ownership between different groups of people within  the same country, and sometimes even civil wars, all of which not only further distract from trying to find alternative income sources, but also drains countries in very serious ways. Many examples of this can be found in Africa where fights over oil and diamonds are common. Hence, the theory says, what should really have been a blessing for the country may turn out to be a “curse”.

If this theory holds true, then maybe it plays a role in the case of Norway as well? Norway is a well-established democracy with functioning state  institutions, and there is a plan in place for saving oil revenues in order to carry the country over when the oil runs out. But, has innovation been affected negatively during this long period of relative economic prosperity and certainty? Because it is really the latter that somehow constitutes the core of the curse of natural resources. Knowing that a certain income level can almost certainly be sustained for a quite long period of time may be nice and cushy, but it doesn’t exactly promote the risk-taking that is needed to start new businesses, and to innovate in general. My guess is that the sense of urgency will kick in at a later date in Norway resulting in more innovation, but as we know from the “Medici Effect” innovation doesn’t always happen over-night. It can be years and years of trials and failures preceding any one innovation, so it seems as if aiming for economic diversification is always a good thing regardless of what the current economic situation looks like.