The Formentera Council's Office of Patrimony has announced that on November 18 and 19 the centre for regional studies in the Balearics (IEB) will hold the first ever Jornades d'Estudis Històrics Locals away from its normal home base on Mallorca. The round of seminars, which focuses on recent research concerning local history, is hosted by the IEB and the Formentera Council and is part of a broader programme known as Novembre Folk. The talks, now their 34th year, will take place Friday and Saturday in the Council's plenary hall (sala de Plens) and the conference room of the CiF Office of Culture.
The project coordinator this year is Andreu Ramis, chair of the Balearic Islands' advisory council on popular and traditional culture. Growing concern for preserving intangible heritage in the archipelago has made certain issues —appropriately up-to-date ideas and policy framework— increasingly pressing. Using its time-tested model of conferences and publications by specialists and researchers, IEB (or Institut d'Estudis Baleàrics) has decided to use this year's programme to tackle intangible heritage from a land standpoint, split into four subsections.
First, participants will address the work of documenting, inventory making and cataloguing such intangible heritage. Jaume Mascaró of Institut Menorquí d'Estudis will speak about Menorca's intangible cultural heritage as an opportunity for what he calls “sociocultural dynamics”. Another seminar, by Joan Vallès of Universitat de Barcelona, will centre on the interrelation between plants and mankind, a field known as ethnobotany.
Language as an expression of heritage (understood as ethnopoetry and ethnoliterature) will also be discussed, in this case by Jaume Guiscafrè of Universitat de les Illes Balears. Guiscafrè will focus his discussion on folklore, ethnopoetry and the heritage process”. Finally, Josep Martí of Institut Milà i Fontanals and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, will lead a seminar where underlying concepts of stagnation and transformation inform discussions of intangible heritage.
Crowning the lecture series, a round table talk also turning on the topic of stagnation and change will provide grounds for a debate between guest experts, public administration officials in Balears and Catalunya, lecturers and seminar attendees.
Heritage site visits
Participants are invited to take part in a visit of la Mola's landmark windmill, el molí Vell. For the twenty-plus individuals visiting from locations further afield, the Formentera Council has made accommodation available at Sant Francesc's Casa de Colònies.
Registration
All those interested in being a part of this free series can sign up before Tuesday November 15 by sending an email to publicacions@iebalearics.org.