Intangible Cultural Heritage and Heritage Week 2020:  Open Call for Applications to showcase Ireland’s Intangible Cultural Heritage

The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht is launching an open call for applications to showcase elements of Ireland’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), for inclusion in the wide programme of projects as part of National Heritage Week 2020, 15 to 23 August, which is coordinated by the Heritage Council.

Under the Heritage Week 2020 sub-theme – relearning skills from our heritage – the Department plans to showcase some of the diverse practices that are part of Ireland’s rich tapestry of intangible cultural heritage and invites practitioners to join with us to share information on and raise awareness of these practices and skills.

Ireland has much to celebrate in relation to our intangible cultural heritage with the recognition of Uilleann Piping, Hurling and Irish Harping by UNESCO and the launch in 2019 of Ireland’s National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which currently lists 30 practices. Full details on https://nationalinventoryich.chg.gov.ie/national-inventory/

We are now seeking to highlight cultural heritage practices and skills in our communities, embracing practices listed under Ireland’s National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage as well as communities of practitioners of other practices. The aim of this call is to widen interest and learning about the practices and practitioners, and the passing of their skills through the generations.

We invite you to apply if you are involved in a cultural heritage practice and have a proposal on how to showcase and raise awareness through sharing information about this practice. Proposals may include but are not restricted to:

• presentation of the practice in person or through streaming or recording for a public audience;
• online education module/s to learn the skills;
• an information tool kit on the practice and where to engage with it;
• interviews with practitioners by podcast, broadcast, publication.

Interested parties should complete the attached application form. The proposal should include detail on how it will ensure compliance with the public health guidelines in place where applicable. Applications will be assessed according to the quality of the proposal, anticipated public reach and the cost involved. Assessment will be carried out by a panel which will include experts on Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The Department will provide a bursary to the successful applicants where costs for showcasing are involved, up to a maximum of €1,000. An estimate of costs must be included in the application form.

If you are interested, please complete the attached application form setting out your proposal and email it to [email protected] no later than noon on 24 July. A decision on applications will be communicated by 30 July.

• Application Form: Heritage Week 2020 – Open Call

Selected practices must be ready to showcase as part of Heritage Week 2020 on 15-23 August. Where showcasing involves a pre-recorded podcast, video, education module, information toolkit etc., it must be sent to the Department by Monday 10 August at the latest for inclusion in Heritage Week events. It is a requirement that recorded material remains available for subsequent inclusion on the website of the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Where showcasing of the practice involves live streaming, physical demonstration, education module, workshop or other agreed form of physical delivery, the Department will liaise with the practitioner and the Heritage Council on dates and times for delivery.

Following the completion of the project during Heritage Week 2020, the practitioner will submit receipts for agreed expenditure incurred along with banking details in order to facilitate payment.