TradiTion anew! PB 1 BIENNALE OF WESTERN by the theme of patterns, which initiated the BALKANS creation of large-scale installations (pavilions) in public space, for hosting community lead activities and fostering civic engagement. The programme The Biennale of Western Balkans (BoWB) is contained three exhibitions exploring concepts a biennial festival and year-round project, and practices linked to immaterial cultural forms and ephemeral traditions: the concept of myth and of Epirus-Northwestern Greece, in October collective narratives, the craft of weaving throughout 2018. It is an initiative of the History of Art history and community memory through sound; a Laboratory of the School of Fine Arts in series of three conferences with talks on intangible the University of Ioannina. Its vision is to cultural heritage, cultural ecology and the commons, link intangible cultural heritage with and educational workshops promoting open contemporary art in multivalent, collective experimentation with traditional craftsmanship and and affective ways, inspiring people to digital tools. experience tradition anew, in connection During the festival more than 100 scientists, artists, with technology. makers and cultural professionals were invited BoWB aims to develop inclusive to Ioannina, many of whom visited the city for participation in a wide range of social groups and foster a network of transnational and with universities, research institutions, cultural intersectional mobility in Greece and the organisations, communities and initiatives from Western Balkans. Its mission is to support Greece, Europe and the Western Balkans emerged, interdisciplinary projects that further explore while around 200 people signed up as volunteers. concepts as community practices, well- being, open technologies, cultural ecology and digital cultural heritage. 2 3 inTanGiBle CUlTUral HeriTaGe inTanGiBle CUlTUral HeriTaGe inTanGiBle CUlTUral HeriTaGe inTanGiBle CU4 lTUral HeriTaGe Ble CUlTUal inTanGi ar ons M - M o C GY nolo CH e HeriTaGe inTT an T GiBle ons MM o C - M o C GY nolo CH e T T CUlTUral Heriar TaGe MM o C GY GY GY nolo CH e T T ar ons MM o C GY o - nolo CH e T T ar ons 5 o C GY nolo - nol CH e T T ar ons MM - CH e T T ar ons MM o C GY nolo CH e T T T ar ons MM o C GY nolo CH e T T ar BowB eXPlores inTanGiBle THe new arTisTiC and CreaTiVe direCTions CUlTUral of inTanGiBle CUlTUral HeriTaGe, HeriTaGe ValUinG in ParTiCUlar Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) stands for the ConTriBUTions THaT collective cultural expressions of the everyday eXaMine lesser known culture, from small to expanded communities. It Bodies of knowledGe, raises awareness, ensures respect, safeguards and ColleCTiVe, promotes collective practices, representations, expressions, knowledge and techniques, ceremonies anonYMoUs and and performing arts, as well as tools, handicrafts non-TeXTUal works, and cultural sites associated with and recognized by feMinisT PraCTiCes, communities. Artefacts of intangible cultural heritage encompass UndisCoVered community values through collective creation. ColleCTions and They promote cooperative models of creation ProJeCTs THaT Make along the history of cultures (tradition, anonymous creation, copying practices), evolve over time and inTerConneCTions of appear afresh in the present, serving as a beacon of sMaller sCenes wiTH inspiration for the future. wider ones. 6 7 THe Biennale The Biennale of Western Balkans (BoWB) is a new cultural project, taking place for the frst time in the city of Ioannina, in The history of the concept “Western Balkans”, though relatively short-living, presents a typical Balkan complexity. The term emerged as a by- the region of Epirus in Northwestern Greece, on 5-20 October 2018. product of the ferce Yugoslav wars and was initially an exclusionary concept, in order to divide the region into countries worthy of acquiring The idea emerged from the need to take a fresh look at the notions of tradition, technology, contemporary art and the membership in the European Union (Romania, Bulgaria) and unworthy ones, as zones of confict, destabilization, etc., In other words, it audiences’ perspective under new circumstances. However, the original concept and the core of our action was not the refected the same stereotypical, orientalist interpretation that the term Balkans used to have in all its spectrum, as Bulgarian historian Maria creation of yet another Biennale of contemporary art focusing on visual arts, but instead a thematic Biennale that will Todorova has remarked in one of her insightful texts. encompass and support contemporary art in its association with the new input offered by open technologies and other However, as has often been the case in the history of concepts, time has changed its meaning, and in this respect it has acted in favor of forms of commons. reintroducing the term based on geographic defnition, to the point that Greece, an EU member, is considered part of the Western Balkans Moreover, our main concern is intangible cultural heritage, which has been the subject of much discussion lately, and internationally. Of course, much remains to be done until it becomes a zone of economic, trading, touristic and certainly cultural exchange. In which we want to explore in depth and from a particular angle. After all, works of intangible cultural heritage can inspire this sense, the concept of “Western Balkans” is a futuristic concept, a concept under construction. new artistic expressions and new conjunctions as a source of creativity for the future. The position of Ioannina in the northwestern part of Greece and its historical past as a vibrant multicultural trading, administrative and Finally, our main objective is to create a new model of management for intangible cultural heritage, through a platform intellectual center, assign a critical role to the city in the cultivation of multiple links with the rest of the Western Balkans. The vision of the and network that will bring tradition’s lesser known works to the forefront, as well as put emphasis on interdisciplinary Biennale is to explore, nurture and stimulate these links, on an arts and cultural level. research in the feld of cultural heritage and on the creation of a dialogue zone in the region of the Western Balkans, and beyond. Ioannis Papadimitriou The BoWB’s tagline is “Tradition anew!” and concerns the way we nowadays perceive tradition and, more specifcally, the Associate Coordinator, Biennale of Western Balkans elements one of intangible cultural heritage. We want to explore new attitudes towards tradition’s most conventional corpus and to give new perspectives to its use and reuse. Tradition obviously constitutes a feld in need of a new approach, one that would be beyond any aesthetic or nationalistic views. We have to look at it as a living element of everyday culture, not as a relic put on display at festivals and fairs. There are artistic, academic and local forces inspired by tradition, revisiting it with an innovative view and giving it new perspectives. This is the purpose behind the tagline: to discuss, to refect on these issues and to propose new collaborative, artistic and aesthetic axes of development. The issue of intangible cultural heritage has become an imperative question for international organisations and it is, of course, a hot topic, both due to the establishment of a new feld with unclear boundaries, and to the prospect of developing new cultural policies. We focus, however, on this concept because it offers many opportunities to revisit neglected subjects, to see their new possibilities through interconnecting with communities, developing and reviving patterns that are worth conserving and evolving with new perspectives. The notion of tradition has generally been abused both through modernist attitudes and through nationalistic connotations and, as a result, everyone gives a different defnition to this concept and to what we now call “the intangible cultural heritage”. We therefore want to discuss, illuminate and promote the intangible cultural heritage as a new venture with great prospects, and do that in an ambiance of solidarity, cooperation and interrelation. The sense of a common identity is present throughout the Balkans. The Western Balkans constitute a distinctive geopolitical entity, and it remains to be seen if they also form a special cultural entity. This is one of the topics to be examined as part of the Biennale. Let us not forget, however, that identities are now considered as hybrid, composite, constantly evolving constructions; something that is actually quite evident if we think of the Balkans. Epirus is the region with the smallest number of festivals in Greece, and one of the most affected by the economic crisis, with particularly low access to cultural goods. These elements highlight the need to develop such institutions. The city of Ioannina, as well as the entire region, has an exceptionally rich tradition of intangible cultural heritage, thanks to its key location within the Western Balkans, to the University of Ioannina which includes a recently established School of Fine Arts, to the 25 thousand students who bring youth to the project, to its rapidly growing tourism industry. It is important to stress that we have a good cooperation between the Ministry of Culture -which endorsed the project from the start- the university, the Municipality of Ioannina, the Regional Administration and the local authorities, including the Historical Archive of Epirus, the Municipal and Regional Theatre of Ioannina and the Ephorate of Antiquities of Ioannina, which all THe embraced and supported the frst Biennale of Western Balkans. Our objective, however, is to engage the community in the project. We are interested in bottom-up initiatives that will inspire new actions and practices for the future, instead of oreword a top-down approach from the so-called high art world. Our vision is to create a new feld of artistic and technological expression that focuses on folk culture in its multiple aspects and its interconnection with new open technologies.