ASTRA Multicultural (8th edition)
The main purpose of the ASTRA Multicultural event is to preserve multiethnic forms of traditional cultural expression that are specific to our country, such as traditional craftsmanship, customs, music and dances, by means of enacting them in the museum, documenting and disseminating them, promoting bearers of traditional skills and knowledge, encouraging audience participation and recording the processes. The event is structured in four major sequences: The Multiethnic Traditional Music and Dances Festival, The Fair of Craftspeople from Multicultural Communities, Multiethnic Cooking Marathon and ASTRA Multicultural International Conference.
The Multiethnic Traditional Music and Dances Festival fosters a musical and choreographic dialogue between the representatives of various communities from Romania and/ or Republic of Moldova that are invited: Romanians, Saxons, Hungarians, Lipovans, Roma, Greeks, Armenians, Bulgarians, Serbians etc., as well as their interactions with the visitors. All these artistic acts, which will be audio-visually recorded, are important not only in animating the museum, entertaining and informing its public, but they also have a great importance for the communities, which learn to appreciate their own traditions more and become proud to show their specificities to the other groups.
The Fair of Craftspeople from Multicultural Communities brings together bearers of different types of traditional craftsmanship. Thus, the fair becomes a place where values, knowledge, information, experiences can be interchanged between those practicing the crafts and those studying them. Through the practical part (demonstrations and cultural animations), the exhibited side will be combined with the educational and commercial ones. The intangible component – skills, knowledge and practice – will be recorded for later use and dissemination, while the tangible component – the products resulted – will be available for sale, fact that will motivate craftspeople to continue working and convince the public of the products’ esthetic and functional use.
During the Multiethnic Cooking Marathon various communities are invited to present their gastronomic heritage to the public, by means of interactive workshops and using traditional recipes, tools and local ingredients. Recipes will be collected and food preparation will be audio-visually recorded for further dissemination and use.
The ASTRA Multicultural International Workshop. Cultural Heritage. Values. Perspectives is an important component of the project, where cultural heritage specialists from different environments come together to discuss and learn about good practice cases and means of preserving traditional forms of cultural expressions in this new era. The workshop is shaped around two interconnected themes: The open air museums and their roles in the cohesion and development of the rural communities; Traditional arts and crafts.
All these activities will contribute to raising awareness regarding the social and cultural importance of perpetuating the traditional creation activities and to animate the open air museum by means of an attractive cultural program.
Text as provided by the organiser(s).
