“Saving What Matters” is a cross Atlantic project that gathers university students from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United States of America around cultural heritage. The project aims to educate and inspire future young professionals about digital storytelling and the important role of cultural heritage in community development.
14 university students from both countries will participate from February to June 2018 in various activities within this project which will be implemented by the Foundation Cultural Heritage without Borders Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Cultural Heritage Alliance Maryland and the Faculty of Philosophy in Sarajevo.
Through virtual and in-person exchanges participants of the project will have an opportunity to explore and share with each other specific cultural heritage examples and their roles in the life of different communities. During the programme, students will collect oral history stories, explore the importance of cultural heritage and learn heritage preservation skills.
Students will visit each other’s communities where in the USA they will have hands-on workshop focused on unique USA maritime heritage in the Chesapeake Bay and the State of Maryland. Preservation of skills and stories in the Chesapeake Bay will serve as an example of good practice to B&H students.
The programme in B&H will be focused on production and restoration of a specific type of ceramics characteristic for the Višnjica village, central B&H. The Višnjica ceramics is considered as the most beautiful pottery in B&H that has not been well researched so far. As part of the programme, students will collect digital storytelling material about ceramics and the process of production.
The “Saving What Matters” project is one of the six cultural heritage projects funded by the U.S. Department of State and World Learning through Communities Connecting Heritage exchange program (CCH). CCH, a State Department initiative administered by World Learning, empowers youth to protect the cultural heritage of at-risk communities around the world.