HERITΛGE Director Dr. Evangelos Kyriakidis was the keynote speaker at General Session “Living Heritage of Landscapes: The Role of Cultural Routes in Sustainable Cultural Development and Community Empowerment” during the 14th Advisory Forum of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe.

The Forum, themed “Cultural Routes and Landscapes: Advancing Heritage Protection through Cultural and Sustainable Tourism,” brought together experts, policymakers, and cultural practitioners from across Europe to discuss how cultural routes contribute to the safeguarding of heritage, the empowerment of local communities, and the promotion of sustainable tourism.

In his keynote, Dr. Kyriakidis emphasized the need to recognize local communities as experts, ensuring meaningful collaboration and co-creation of knowledge in heritage initiatives. He stressed the importance of making heritage relevant by adopting local practices and ways of thinking, and empowering locals as key stakeholders in protecting their own heritage. By strengthening awareness and pride, he noted, heritage can help communities combat social injustice both at home and in the diaspora, aligning with Sustainable Development Goal 10.3 on reducing inequalities.

Learn more about the Forum here.

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On Friday, July 18, The Heritage Management Organization (HERITΛGE) took another step forward in supporting The Gambia’s vibrant arts community by formalizing a partnership with the Visual Artist Association of The Gambia (VAAG) at the NCAC Pipeline Offices in Banjul.

Dr. Evangelos Kyriakidis, Director of HERITΛGE, led a master class called “Telling Heritage Stories Through Art” for VAAG members. The session explored how visual art can become a bridge between past and present, helping communities preserve their stories while making them relevant for new generations.

From VAAG exhibition during the HERITΛGE HerMaP Gambia Certificate Ceremony in February 2025

The gathering drew important voices from The Gambia’s cultural landscape, including Mr. Hassoum Ceesay, Director General of the National Centre for Arts and Culture (NCAC), who emphasized the value of bringing together local institutions with international partners to strengthen heritage education.

By the end of the day, Mr. Modou Lamin Jatta, Chairman of VAAG, and Dr. Kyriakidis had signed a Memorandum of Understanding that opens doors for ongoing collaboration. The partnership promises more training opportunities, exhibition development, and chances for Gambian artists to share their heritage-inspired work with international audiences.

From VAAG exhibition during the HERITΛGE HerMaP Gambia Certificate Ceremony in February 2025

The collaboration is already showing results. This past February, VAAG organized a visual art exhibition during the HerMaP Gambia Certificate Award Ceremony, which marked The Gambia’s 60th Independence Anniversary. The exhibition showcased how contemporary artists are interpreting their nation’s story and contributing to conversations about identity and cultural memory.

HERITΛGE looks forward to continuing this work with VAAG and other local partners, creating spaces where heritage and creativity intersect. Together, they’re building platforms for artists to explore their history, connect with their communities, and imagine new possibilities for the future.

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Bentley students in the thick of it! Thinking of the role of Heritage in Business and the role of Business in Heritage.

David Schwarzkopf and Marcus Aurelius in ancient Eleusis

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Siddhant Shah and students exploring the 3D Tactile Reproduction of Eric Bowen’s artwork
Photo Courtesy: DAG Modern

Their second favorite is the reproduction of J. Swaminathan’s, Bird, Mountain and Tree series, where they not only enjoyed touching and experiencing the artwork but also appreciated the element of smell in this reproduction.  Ishrat Jahan, who hails from Banaras, is the youngest member of this group who receives and undertakes training in areas of crafts, candle making, braille reading and other skills. She made a remarkably interesting observation with reference to burnt wood Tactile Aid for Jeram Patel’s Art work, commenting on how amazed she was to learn that creating something did not always involve sticking things together – but one could also burn to create something new.

Students exploring the 3D Tactile Reproduction of J. Swaminathan’s artwork
Photo Courtesy: DAG Modern

Siddhant Shah, who is the creator of ‘Abhas, a Tactile Experience’, feels that his work is successful when he hears comments like these. It fits the main aim of this initiative – allowing one to experience art with multiple senses  and being aware of the ideas and concepts that exist in the art-scape.  The students of CBWDS concluded the discussion with a round of chai or Indian tea, essentially with milk and sugar, while Gudiya made a parting statement, saying that sensing the various materials through touch, had helped her think about other unique ways of using paper, strings and sand for her handicraft training sessions.

Siddhant Shah, a Stavros Niarchos Scholar finished his MA in Heritage Management from the University of Kent (Athens Campus, Greece). His first degree is in Architecture with a Pg. Dip. Indian Aesthetics, and is an Access Management Consultant who specializes in bridging the gap between Cultural Heritage and Disability. He works with museums, art-events,  art galleries and cultural sites to make them more accessible through educational and multi-sensory experiential activities, focusing on kids and groups with special needs. He has designed books in Braille for cultural organizations in India and Pakistan along with Tactile Art & Heritage Walks. He has written and designed India and Pakistan’s 1^st Open Braille guide book with large script font and tactile plates. Shah consults national and international museums like National Museum, Jaipur City Palace Museum, State Bank of Pakistan Museum and other organizations like DAG Modern, Art1, India Art Fair amongst others. His is driven with a focus to either ‘Get a Person to the context or get the Context to the person’. 

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The plans were based on the premise that the security company could pay its staff much less than the Gallery in order to not only do things cheaper but also make a profit. Despite the declared industrial motion victory, the plans for outsourcing will go ahead.

Indeed, the Gallery was prepared for the industrial action and had already signed a contract with a security firm to man several of the rooms of the Gallery. They also had their ear to the ground and were improving on the PCS strikers complaints in the street: some of the replacement staff were getting progressively more educated on what they were guarding, and they were being increasingly more helpful towards the visitors.

The main premise of the PCS strikers was against the privatization of such a core function of the national Gallery, arguing that it had been a public institution for such a long time and that now was not the time to lose this public identity. Although this argument may not have been the most important one, it was possibly employed in order to sensitize the general public. And indeed, the public was sensitized. Mass support for the industrial action, demonstrations, and donations in support did come in.

The Gallery on the other hand, argued that since the government would be drastically phasing its funding out, the Gallery has to be able to make cuts across the board without changing the quality of services to its clients. And services to clients are already visibly deteriorating: information in each room was drastically poorer, computers with very rich content had disappeared, and this content was replaced by low-priced guided tours.

The disappearance of free content, however, seriously alters the free access status of the Gallery, whilst the recent successful move to outsource the front-line staff will make a mid-term perceptible difference in the services rendered to visitors, even if initially current front-line staff are employed with good terms by the security company.

National Gallery of London, current banner; found at: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/

Ultimately however, this whole issue highlights one enormous weakness of the National Gallery as an institution. Through this action, the Gallery concedes it is not efficient enough in managing the human resources that make it possible to display its art collection to the public, this being the Gallery’s raison d’être.

In other words, the top brass accepts that they are not able to run the Gallery by themselves. And this is a very grave acknowledgement.

Human resource management is one of the most important skills for the Gallery managers to have, yet it seems that the Gallery top brass prefers to outsource this key component to someone else than leave it to themselves. However, if the Gallery saves any money through this move, it could have saved even more by using the employment terms and efficiency of the company they are outsourcing things to.

Dr. Evangelos Kyriakidis is director of the Initiative for Heritage Conservation. The Initiative for Heritage Conservation promotes good practice in heritage management through education and research.

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The Archaeological Museum of Patras new modern architecture and reflective pool. Photo Credit: Ministry of Culture

Recently, I took a spontaneous day trip to Patras and came across the city’s new archaeological museum. The Archaeological Museum of Patras is housed in a sleek, marvelous, contemporary building specifically designed to accommodate large crowds of museum visitors without compromising its collections.
The museum is comprised of three large halls for the divided themes of the permanent exhibition- Private Life, Public Life and the Cemeteries. The exhibition covers the history of Patras as well as southern and western areas of Achaea from the period of 3000 B.C. to 4th c. A.D. Artifacts belonging to the Mycenaean and Roman periods are the most distinguished in the collection.

The Private Life hall houses artifacts pertaining to everyday life such as work tools, household decorations and toiletries. Highlights of the Private Life hall include the reconstructions of a private bath, a rural and an urban house, and the large mosaic floors.

The Public Life hall focuses on administrative and social organization, commercial activities, cults, Patras’ topography, and entertainment.

The Cemeteries hall displays the finds in a manner that emphasizes the wealth and assortment of grave offerings, mortuary procedures as well as funerary architecture. Grave offerings were displayed in a mock in situ way to show how they were laid amongst the bodies. The dead were also displayed in this same manner giving a sense that we as the visitors are in fact opening the crypts for the first time

Overall the permanent exhibition was expertly laid out; each hall guided the visitor through the exhibition chronologically and typologically. There are numerous large panels with plenty of interesting information regarding the artifacts made easy to understand for non-experts. Extensive information is provided in both Greek and in English. The museum is equipped with a small but friendly staff. The museum closes at 3pm, so plan according to allow plenty of time to enjoy all of the ancient artifacts. Patras tends to be overlooked by people passing to and from the ferry station, but the archaeological museum is a hidden gem and well worth the visit.

Sabrina Nieblas is currently a student of the innovative MA in Heritage Management 2013. During her undergraduate career, she studied museum practices and public relations. Sabrina seeks to utilize her skill set in the expanding field of sustainable tourism, specifically in the region of Mesoamerica.

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Tattooed wife from Lašvanske Valley, Bosnia. Photo Credit: Traditional Croatian Tattoos

My interest in this topic started as a quite personal thing. As a tribute to my grandmother who passed away two years ago. I remember that I was impressed that my grandmother had a tattoo, and more over, that she gotten it when she was a young girl, about 9 years old. The story goes like this…

The Greek historian Strabo (1st century BC) mentions tattooing as a custom of inhabitants of the area corresponding to present day Bosnia and Herzegovina. He said, “they are poor, and they have tattoos as other Illyrian tribes.”

However, this phenomenon became widespread among the Roman Catholic population of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Ottoman rule of their lands (1463 – 1878), and lasted up until 20th century, more precisely until 1938. With the creation of communist Yugoslavia, which part Bosnia and Herzegovina became after World War II, this practice of tattooing was not as desirable and it faced a sharp decline. The last recorded example of a person who had the traditional tattoo done with a traditional method is from the 1984.

Bosnian Catholics would tattoo their children hoping that it would save them from Ottoman’s practice of taking young boys and sending them to Istanbul to become soldiers and convert them to Islam. This was done so even if that happened, their children would have a permanent reminder of who they were and where they came from. The practice was even more common among young girls. Their parents hoped that tattoos of a cross or other Christian symbols would prevent Turkish men from taking them as their wives.

Rose Zadrić, born in 1937 in Rama village Dobroš, Sicana. Photo Credit: Traditional Croatian Tattoos

Bosnian Catholic Croats used to tattoo their hands, chest, wrists or even forehead with the Christian symbols (like small cross), but also many other motifs are present. There were special days during the year when tattooing would take place (usually the time before Easter). They used natural materials to prepare a mixture, such as honey, carbon, and mother’s milk.

Even today in Bosnia and Herzegovina you can find a lot of women who have these tattoos, but they were all born around the 1930s and they are the last living generation to wear this impressive evidence of the fight that their ancestors undertook to protect their faith and origins. However, some great work on this subject has been done, like the book from the prominent archaeologist and historian Ćiro Truhelka, who did research on this subject in late 19th century. There were also some workshops for tattoo artists and also a work of young researcher Tea Turalija, who is trying to document as much as possible cases of women who are still alive, to record their stories and to take photos of their tattoos. You can follow her work on
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Traditional-CroatiaTattoo/222413247770680?ref=profile

In the end, the goal for us who see this tradition as something unique and beautiful, is to bring it to the UNESCO list of Intangible Heritage. Hope you will find it fascinating as I do.

Close-up of Rose Zadrić’s tattoos from 1947, when she was 10 years old. Photo Credit: Traditional Croatian Tattoos

Photo Credit: Traditional Croatian Tattoos

Marija Kamber finished the MA in Heritage Management in 2013 and also has a Masters in Tourism Management. With 5 years experience in marketing, she tries to combine the knowledge of those Masters into her projects. Marija plans to start work on a PhD in September in the area of cultural heritage and human rights. Her interests involve painful heritage, dark tourism, the role of heritage in conflicts and multiethnic societies, as well as the connection between heritage and human rights.

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