Digital Intangible Heritage: Inventories, Virtual Learning and Participation

The paper draws on debates about digital heritage and further examines the implications in terms of safeguarding intangible cultural heritage. Taking i-Treasures, an EU-funded FP7 collaborative research project, as a case in point, it investigates ways in which new information and communication technologies have been used to serve heritage documentation and learning. The main argument unfolds along the themes of inventories, virtual learning and community participation. First, the paper looks at the concept of inventorying by examining digital repositories of cultural expressions and how they ascribe meaning and value to intangible heritage. It then explores how documentation recordings and data are used in virtual learning environments and create online engagements with heritage expressions. The third part examines how digital technologies inform relations between communities and intangible heritage. What are the implications in terms of access and participation to the heritage experience and how does this affect the uses and meanings of intangible heritage by (local and virtual) practicing communities and heritage professionals? By focusing on the i-Treasures web platform, the paper aims to raise questions about how intangible heritage is defined and performed digitally and how this relates to issues of participation in the safeguarding process.