Building a multimedia database of original traditional cultural and artistic creators
The UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage served as one of the starting points for the development of this project. The construction of a multimedia database of original traditional cultural and artistic creators includes the digitization of materials from the former everyday life, which seeks to preserve the positive heritage of the national heritage from oblivion. This project digitizes materials on the work of original traditional folk cultural and artistic creators, whose work is based on the originality and authenticity of the region from which they come. Shorter audio and video clips with text descriptions and photos undergo reviews by renowned experts before publication. The digitized materials are adapted in form for the wider Internet population and professional audience as a multimedia card on the work and programs of the cultural and artistic creator.
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION HOLDER
The holder of the realization of this phase of the project is the Society for Digitization of Traditional Cultural Heritage (Society for DTKB) in cooperation with the Association of Croatian Amateur Cultural and Artistic Societies in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UHAKUD in BiH).
UHAKUD in BiH with its headquarters in Mostar was founded in 2001 with the aim of monitoring, professional guidance, promotion and deepening of international cooperation of its members with professionally and internationally verified events, creators and experts. He gathered close to a hundred amateur KUDs and traditional cultural and artistic creators from BiH, whose work he monitors and professionally directs. She is a co-organizer of several annual cultural events (Ljera diple outplayed - traditional Folklore Festival in Čapljina, Mowing Days in Kupres - International Festival of Folklore and Traditional Cultural Heritage in Kupres, Exhibition of Croatian Naive Art in BiH, Annual Festival of Original Folklore of Croats in BiH, etc.). . The Association of Croatian Naive Art in BiH also operates at UHAKUDBiH. The UHAKUDuBiH projects, which always have an indispensable multicultural dimension, include original cultural and artistic creators of various nations (from BiH and abroad).
UHAKUD in BiH became the official representative of BiH in CIOFF (Central Institution of Folklore - part of UNESCO that deals with folklore traditional cultural creativity) as well as one of the founders of SAKUD in BiH (Association of Amateur Cultural and Artistic Societies in Bosnia and Herzegovina ). In cooperation with SAKUDuBiH, UHAKUDuBiH also initiated the establishment of a section of CIOFF BiH.
UHAKUDuBiH has a professional board of internationally recognized folklorists who, based on the programs presented at the festivals, monitor the work of traditional cultural and artistic creators and provide professional guidance in the continuation of the work. The permanent members of the course are Miroslav Šilić, Vlado Marić and Ilija Brkić.
Much of UHAKUDuBiH's activities are based on the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. At the CIOFF Congress in Cyprus in May 2005, UHAKUDuBiH presented a broader project entitled Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Croats of BiH.
The project for the protection of the intangible cultural heritage of the Croats of BiH was declared the most complete project at the Congress in 2005 and received an invitation for a presentation at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. A multimedia presentation, in Paris, was held in October 2006. The project was presented with the Exhibition of Original Folk Costumes and Jewelry of Croats of BiH, Designed High Fashion Models Inspired by Folk Embroidery and Weaving, a presentation of traditional Exhibitions of Naive Art of Croats of BiH and the documentary Customs of Croats of BiH. The project received high marks.
In 2008, the members of UHAKUDuBiH initiated the establishment of the Society for DTKB with the intention of approaching the project of encouraging digitalization, creating a multimedia database and presenting the work of original cultural and artistic traditional creators via the Internet as well as possible.
The DTKB Company provides the necessary technical support for the digitization of materials and the construction of a central multimedia database with web access. The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Computing of the University of Mostar is also involved in the realization of this part of the project.
UHAKUDuBiH provides the necessary support for the review and selection of materials before digitization through a professional course in the field of originality and folklore.
DYNAMICS AND SCOPE OF THE PROJECT
The full implementation of this project has imposed guidelines for the processing of material on as many relevant original traditional cultural and artistic folk artists within a single geographical area, regardless of which nation it belongs to. In this way, the processed and presented materials are placed in a broader context and a more complete insight into the work of one creator is gained. As a logical direction, the placement of the project on the territory of the whole of BiH on the most important original traditional cultural and artistic creators was imposed. The project also includes participants of the CIOFF review in BiH who come from abroad.
The realization of the project takes place in parallel in two segments:
o Construction of a central server system with a software solution for storage and presentation of multimedia content,
o Field work with creators and digitization of materials.
The software development and implementation segment includes the development of:
o detailed technical specifications for the layout and structure of a multimedia relational database and web presentation
o software for storing materials in the central database of the Company for DTKB.
Data organization in both subsystems is based on MySQL and the web portal is based on LAMP (Linux, Apach, MySQL, PHP, HTML)
The fieldwork segment with creators and material processing and placement includes:
o Submission of pre-processed materials in the field by the creator,
o Members of the UHAKUDuBiH professional board go out to the field with each creator,
o Review of material by the professional course
o Complete digital processing
o Place materials in the database.
The original traditional cultural and artistic creators involved in the project are:
o Organized groups (original cultural and artistic societies, groups that nurture the original song and melody)
o Masters of making traditional instruments,
o Masters for making original folk costumes,
o Masters for making traditional objects from the former everyday life and original souvenirs,
o Smotre izvornog folklornog stvaralaštva,
o Collections of original antiquities.
The data collected on traditional original cultural and artistic creators are:
o program orientation,
o a brief description of the place of origin,
o start date,
o membership (number of members, sections, age structure),
o section description,
about performances,
about the running program,
o costume description (men's, women's, children's),
o description of the instrument,
o contact (president, e-mail, web, phone, address),
o artistic director (artistic director),
o digital photography (costumes, performances),
o short sound recordings (song, gig),
about short videos (song, gig, dance, performances, short performances of the former everyday life),
o Old stories and legends (which served as inspiration for the emergence of traditional cultural and artistic creation).
PRACTICAL PRESENTATION OF PROCESSED MATERIALS
This chapter provides an example of a summary of processed materials for a cultural and artistic society. In a concrete example, materials about HKD Vrila from Široki Brijeg are presented.
Name: CROATIAN CULTURAL SOCIETY VRILA FROM MOSTARSKI GRADAC PARISH - ŠIROKI BRIJEG (abbreviated HKD VRILA)
Place: HKD VRILA consists of residents of the Mostarski Gradac Parish, which is located on the north side of Mostarski Blato. It includes six Široki Brijeg villages Dobrič, Donji Gradac, Gornji Gradac, Gostuša, Grabova Draga and Provo.
Contact address: Dobrič bb, Široki Brijeg
Getting started: It has its roots in the middle of the last century. The work of the society is based on the great enthusiasm and commitment of the members who, with their volunteer work after the break, due to the war events, continued to work in 1998.
President of the Society: Mladen Marić
Artistic director: Vlado Marić, prof.
Membership, sections, program orientation: The society has approximately 120 members. It nurtures the original cultural tradition of Western Herzegovina in the Široki Brijeg locality. It has a dance, singing, instrumental and acting section.
Performances: HKD Vrila performed at various cultural events in BiH, Croatia and Hungary (Đakovo Bindings, Vinkovci Autumns, Brodsko kolo, Miss Croatia pageant in folk costume, Folklore Festival in Pécs, Brijeg Folklore Evenings - BRIJEŠKA ZVONA, V , VI, VII and VIII Folklore Festival of Croats in BiH, Tavelić Days in Tomislavgrad, Queen Catherine's Days in Kakanj, Zlatna Soplea - Poreč, INTERNATIONAL FOLKLORE FESTIVAL in Velika Gorica, European Heritage Days 2009-Sarajevo, etc.)Description of the costume - men's: White shirt and over it a black vest decorated with braids. Around the dogs is woven a multicolored cloth under which are blue bruises. On his feet are sandals with white knitted woolen socks up to the knees.
Costume description - women's: On the head a dark red half-cap decorated with silver coins and a white scarf. White linen embellished dress. Necklaces on chest. Woven dog with buckles. Decorated vest. Narrow woven apron with short fringes. Woolen black socks with terlucs. Opanci oputaši.
Traditional instruments: diple, doubles, flute, fiddle
Traditional dances: trusa, taraban, kolanje, trojanac
Traditional songs: ganga (male and female), bećarac, brojkavica, putnička pjesma
Perform a stage performance of a custom: YES
The most famous stage performances of customs: Vučari, Briješko silo, Games and dances at the party
Collaboration: Miroslav Šilić, Ilija Brkić, Branko Šegović
In the photos that follow, there are members of HKD Vrila from which one can get a pictorial representation of their work.
Click on a single image to view it in full size!
CONCLUSION
Preserving the positive heritage of the original traditional cultural heritage represents great potential for a community. When unique and original material is collected and processed according to generally accepted international recommendations and standards (UNESCO, CIOFF) and made available to a wide audience, then it becomes a universal world heritage.
With this project, Bosnia and Herzegovina further promotes the creativity of caregivers and promoters of the original traditional cultural heritage in the international arena.