Delve into the research

This marks the commencement of our endeavor. Explore our research initiatives and discover our unwavering commitment to conducting high-quality scientific investigations.  We appreciate your interest in becoming part of our mission.

Research Focus

The research delves into several key aspects of intangible religious heritage:

  1. Legal Perspective: Studying and analyzing intangible religious heritage through a legal lens, highlighting its unique characteristics and mapping relevant legal instruments at national, European, and global levels.
  2. Intrinsic Dignity: Scientifically underpinning the framework for intangible religious heritage, recognizing its inherent value beyond its connection to tangible elements.
  3. Multifaceted Uses: Shedding light on the diverse political, cultural, legal, social, art historical, folkloristic, and religious uses of cultural heritage.
  4. Policy Interaction: Establishing an interaction between legal guarantees, policies for intangible religious heritage protection, religious freedom, and the circumstances in which it emerges.
  5. Stakeholder Engagement: Fostering collaboration between policymakers, the scientific community, and intangible religious heritage promoters, including religious groups and minorities.

Why Intangible Religious Heritage Matters?

Intangible religious heritage, encompassing beliefs, practices, rituals, mythology, music, dance, and folklore, is a vital part of cultural heritage. It has shaped exquisite artifacts and monuments over centuries. The research acknowledges the sensitivity of the topic from diverse perspectives and aims to address critical challenges.

What sets the work apart is its comprehensive and comparative perspective on intangible religious heritage. Unlike existing studies, it addresses critical issues in sensitive areas, including:

  • Political instrumentalization
  • Institutional neglect
  • State-religious group relations
  • Implementation of preservation policies

The relationship between tangible and intangible religious heritage, religious groups, institutional approaches, and stakeholders is examined with the aim to foster meaningful interaction between law, art history, religion, politics, and heritage management.

Case Studies and Legal Frameworks

The analysis begins with an examination of UNESCO and EU's legal texts on intangible heritage, alongside national/European legislation dealing with religious heritage.  The interaction between intangible and tangible cultural heritage and gaps in the protection system are examined. It takes into account religious groups, institutions, various disciplines, and religious jurisdictions.

Case studies include:

  • Italy and Germany: Examining secularization and the loss of religious traditions, including case studies of decontextualized religious sites.
  • Romania and Poland: Investigating the instrumentalization of intangible religious heritage in contexts with difficult political and cultural realities, including the listing of religious  heritage by UNESCO and the influence of political elements and cultural policies.

These case studies provide valuable insights into the complex dynamics of intangible heritage preservation and the challenges faced by religious communities and governments.

"A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree with no roots"

Marcus Garvey