Immaterieel Erfgoed en het museum: een casusstudie naar het Ambachten Lab van het Nederlands Openluchtmuseum

Abstract

This essay searches for an answer to the question on how museums can safeguard intangible cultural heritage. The museum as an institute has a long history. A history in which it developed itself as a knowledge centre for society. This service to society can be connected to intangible heritage. Intangible heritage is actively carried by a community. This community gives meaning to this heritage. It is part of their culture and identity. By involving communities more in a museum by letting them participate, a museum can be more than a knowledge centre. It can have an active role in safeguarding intangible. Safeguarding is more than just protecting. It means keeping the heritage alive by letting it evolve and give it the possibilities to pass it to next generations. Putting intangible heritage in a museum without the connection to the community or the possibility to evolve and be passed on, the heritage will not live on. Intangible heritage is preserved because it lives through people in everyday life. In this essay the focus is on crafts and craftsmanship. Via interviews with experts in the field of museums and intangible heritage I try to give a few possibilities on how museums can safeguard crafts. These models work with design, workshops and the museum as a network.