Call for Presentations: International conference Urban cultures, Superdiversity & Intangible Heritage

In large conurbations, creativity and a broad variety of cultural and economic activities emanate. They serve as a strong pull factor for many people. Due to processes of migration, these cities are both “melting pot” and “salad bowl” with a great variety of cultural and social backgrounds and futures, and diverse ethnicities. These large urban agglomerations often struggle with social and economic challenges and volatilities due to high unemployment and sometimes also high crime rates. Projects for urban improvement usually focus on social welfare and on improving living conditions in general. This international conference will instead focus on the intangible heritage in contemporary urban contexts, discussing case studies with different approaches of how intangible heritage is practiced and used as a source fostering social cohesion and cherishing diversity in the city.

Session proposals should be submitted by 30 May 2017 and should present a specific case taking a superdiverse city in Europe as a starting point. The two-day conference will be held in Utrecht, February 2018. Interested scholars and heritage workers are invited to submit an abstract (500 words) to Albert van der Zeijden (a.t.vanderzeijden@uu.nl) before May 30, 2017. Decisions will be announced on July 1, 2017, at the latest. For more information see: http://www.unesco.de/en/kultur/2017/call-for-papers-urban-cultures-superdiversity-and-intangible-heritage.html

Conference organized by the Dutch Centre for Intangible Heritage, tapis plein – Expertise Center for intangible Heritage in Flanders, FARO. Flemish Interface Center for Cultural Heritage, German Commission for UNESCO, and in cooperation with the University of Utrecht and the Free University of Brussels UNESCO Chair on critical heritage studies and safeguarding ICH, and the National Commissions for UNESCO in Belgium and the Netherlands.