Sharjah Heritage Institute launches its third conference under the slogan: "Oral traditions in a changing world"

Sharjah, 4 July / WAM / Dr. Abdulaziz Al Musallam, President of the Sharjah Heritage Institute, stressed that oral traditions represent the pulse of the cultural identity of societies, and today they are in dire need of new tools to ensure their sustainability and transmission to future generations in light of an accelerating digital environment.

This came as the third session of the Heritage Conference, organized by the Institute from July 7 to 10, approaches, under the slogan “Oral Traditions in a Changing World: From Live Performance to Digital Media.”

Dr. Al Musallam explained that the conference, which witnesses the participation of an elite group of researchers, academics, experts and specialists from the UAE and a number of Arab countries, embodies the vision of the Sharjah Institute for Heritage in keeping pace with the global transformations taking place in the heritage sector while preserving its authenticity and identity.

He said: At the Institute, we believe that preserving oral traditions is not achieved through documentation alone, but rather by preserving their living contexts and empowering the communities that carry them, while benefiting from modern technologies and digital media as supportive tools for transferring this human heritage into the future.

The President of the Sharjah Institute for Heritage pointed out that the conference brings together this elite of experts with the aim of exchanging visions and experiences, and coming up with practical recommendations that contribute to developing policies for protecting intangible cultural heritage and enhancing its presence locally, Arably and internationally.

The conference is held in line with the Institute’s ongoing efforts to enhance the presence of intangible cultural heritage, develop mechanisms for preserving and preserving it, and anticipate the future of oral traditions in light of accelerating digital transformations, based on the fact that it is a living cultural system that produces and reproduces meaning across generations, and constitutes one of the most important tributaries of collective memory with the values, knowledge and inherited experiences it carries that derive its vitality from live performance and community circulation.

Over the course of three days, the conference discusses a group of scientific and intellectual issues through five main axes: It includes: oral traditions between theoretical rooting and digital transformation, oral traditions and intangible cultural heritage in terms of concept, function and problems of preservation, oral traditions and performance in the time of algorithms, and the preservation of oral traditions in the digital age and its institutional dimensions and global experiences, in addition to issues of legal protection and the rights of heritage-bearing communities.

The conference will also witness the organization of specialized scientific sessions that review the latest Arab and international studies and experiences in documenting and digitizing oral traditions, in addition to discussing the challenges facing intangible heritage in light of successive technical developments, and reviewing the best institutional practices in preserving cultural heritage.

The conference will constitute a prominent platform to celebrate the scientific production of the Institute, through the signing of 35 new publications covering various topics in the fields of heritage, popular culture, and specialized studies, reflecting the research and cognitive role played by the Institute in enriching the Arab library and enhancing the authorship and publishing movement.

In this context, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Musallam noted that the signing of 10 new publications on the sidelines of the conference confirms the Institute’s commitment to its scientific and cultural mission, and its keenness to support academic research and the production of specialized knowledge, which contributes to consolidating Sharjah’s position as a regional and international center for heritage studies and the preservation of intangible cultural heritage.

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