People may be familiar with UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites (the Derwent Valley for example), but not many have heard of ‘Living Heritage’ or ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’, the phrases used by UNESCO to describe heritage that isn’t primarily a physical place. This is all due to change, because the UK government has ratified the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. This means that England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each have a register, on which communities can list things like ‘oral expressions’ (which could include sayings and nursery rhymes), ‘social practices’ (which could include anything from Bonfire Night to the Notting Hill Carnival) and crafts (which could include everything from basket weaving to pub sign writing). Matthew Cheeseman, Professor of Writing and Folklore at the University of Derby, will host a discussion on Living Heritage in the UK. This will cover how to list items to the national registers, but will also consider controversial aspects of folklore, such as fox-hunting, blackface morris and political heritage, such as Orange Marches.

Free Entry.