Slovenski etnografski muzej

In addition to the instrumentalisation of culture with the aim of forging European connections, the main goal of the ECC mega-project is to encourage the tertiary sector as well as urban renovation and revitalisation of cities. In spite of all the promises and grand plans, there remains the impression that the Maribor 2012 project left nothing behind. But nonetheless, since 2012 a number of lively venues for grassrots cultural production have sprung up.

The article addresses Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route and the associated pilgrimage center of Santiago de Compostela which is situated in the northwest of modern-day Spain. The author deals with the historical changes to which the pilgrimage route was subjected with different intensity throughout its existence and focuses on its heritagisation in the frame of European cultural policy. Namely, the latter initiated the transformation of this ancient Roman Catholic tradition into one of the most promising identifiers of political and cultural space in contemporary Europe.

Experts and the general public were recently surprised by Pavle Medvešček’s discovery that a few decades ago a secret community of “Ancient Faith” believers was still living in Posočje. Four ethnologists reinterpreted Medvešček’s material in the light of their own expert knowledge and gave it the legitimacy of an ethnographic source.

The concept of smart villages is connected with rural areas in the European Union and elsewhere around the world, and refers to a complex of environmental, social, economic and other related issues. The article emphasises primarily the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in the understanding of the concept of smart villages and particularly to its applied use. Through selected local examples, it shows the value of different perspectives in the treatment of the relationship between people and the (natural, social, economic, cultural) environment.

Voluntary work within associations can make a significant contribution to the development of an inclusive society, balanced development and knowledge transfer. These are also the main starting points of the Cultural Heritage Strategy 2020-2023 where, among other things, particular importance in integrated conservation is given to the inclusion of community practices.

The article talks about the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage from 2003 and its influence on the activities of museums. A number of museum practices relating to intangible heritage are presented, which had been present before, but the Convention placed an even greater emphasis on them. The way intangible heritage is included in museum activities is illustrated with the example of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum as a national museum and as the national Coordinator for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

In this article, the author presents a particular way of spending free time: joining an amateur drama group. On the basis of field work carried out among different amateur drama groups around Slovenia, the following are discussed: why individuals decide to spend their free time on this activity; what they expect to gain from taking part in it; and what this participation means and makes possible.

Taking as examples simply wandering around and the TikTok social network, the article analyses children’s free time in relation to production and consumerism, with which the issue of moral discourse and social control can be connected. In the case of TikTok, the author shows how the borderlines between production and consumerism, as well as between free time and work, are erased. By contrast, wandering around is presented as an activity that until recently was part of the quotidian beyond social control.