Page 45 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

6. the attitudes, feelings, values, and be-haviour that characterize and inform society asa whole or any social group within it7. the cultivation of plants, esp by scienti c meth- ods designed to improve stock or to produce new ones8. stockbreeding the rearing and breeding of animals, esp with a view to improving the strain9. the act or practice of tilling or cultivating the soil 10. biologya. the experimental growth of microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, in a nutrient substance (culture medium), usually under controlled condi- tions. See also culture mediumb. a group of microorganisms grown in this way verb (transitive)11. to cultivate (plants or animals)12. to grow (microorganisms) in a culture mediumUNESCO hosted the World Conference on Cultural Policies in 1982 in Mexico, producing the following statement from the international community3:“The conference agrees that in its widest sense, culture may now be said to be the whole complex of distinctive spiritual material, and intellectual and emotional features that characterize a society or social group. It includes not only the arts and let- ters, but also modes of life, the fundamental rights of the human being, value systems, traditions and beliefs; that it is culture that gives man the ability to re ect upon himself. It is culture that makesus speci cally human, rational beings, endowed with a critical judgment and a sense of moral commitment. It is through culture that we discern values and make choices. It is through culture that man expresses himself, becomes aware of himself, recognizes his incompleteness, questions his own achievements, seeks untiringly for new meanings and creates works through which he transcends his limitations.And what is cultural heritage and intangible cultural assets?Since the Convention for the Safeguardingof the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 20034, intangible cultural assets are to be understood as heritage that needs safeguarding, consisting of “the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to gen- eration, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity.”As it is de ned in the Convention, the intangible cultural heritage is particularly evident in the following circumstances:• Oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle for intangible cultural heritage.• Performance art.• Social practices, rituals and festivaltraditions.• Skills and practices related to nature and the universe.• Traditional ancestral skills. Storytelling as part of theintangible cultural heritageAlthough the aim of this article is to explain how storytelling can aid cultural di usion, the author deems it relevant to mention that the discipline is considered an asset in itself; so much so, in fact, that UNESCO includes four examples of this art in its lists of intangible cultural heritage5:AC/E DIGITAL CULTURE ANNUAL REPORT 201745Smart culture. Analysis of digital trends