Unfolding Cultural Heritage is an international cooperation project between the region of the Greater Accra (Ghana) and Salento (Italy). It provides for residencies and exchanges, training and co-design workshops, activities between experts of culture and artists, institutions, network and local communities focusing on the re-emergence of non-material and oral heritage and on new narratives through the arts.
It represents the first piece of the collaboration between the society of artistic production and social promotion of Ramdom APS, with its head office being KORA – Contemporary Arts Center, in Castrignano de’ Greci (LE); Artlife Matters LGB, a Ghana-based organization in Accra, which promotes art as the tool of social, cultural and economic development; and the Library and Museum Centre of Lecce, headquartered at the Castromediano Museum and Bernardini Library in Lecce. The protocol of intent aims to foster cooperation and intercultural dialogue through joint planning, with a focus on strengthening the skills of professionals working in museums and libraries to enable continuous exchanges. The arts and various forms of expression will serve as tools for interpreting both tangible and intangible heritage, and for promoting sustainability values. The project ultimately aims to raise public awareness of civic responsibility, international solidarity, respect for nature, peace, and the goals of the 2030 Agenda.
Training and Networking (May – November 2025)
The first phase is dedicated to capacity building, networking, and co-design, carried out through online meetings addressed to public and private organisations, cultural and creative professionals and cultural operators active in cultural planning, international cooperation and social innovation.
- Museums and Libraries in the 2030 Agenda;
- Arts and New Languages for the Emergence and Enhancement of Intangible Heritage;
- Community Engagement;
- New Technologies and New Narratives.
Click to sign-up: call for participants, with the aim of expanding the collaboration network and developing new international cooperation initiatives.
Art Residency in Tutu (July – August 2025)
Unfolding Cultural Heritage will carry out a shared research agenda focused on innovative methods for communicating intangible heritage in ways that resonate with contemporary audiences. Through skill development and the exchange of experiences across different contexts, younger generations will contribute to a renewed understanding of globalization, inequality, and evolving cultural boundaries.
Additional project activities will involve forming a collective that includes a Ghanaian children’s book illustrator and publisher, along with an Italian illustrator and sound designer.
The Artlife Matters team will organize a residency during July and August in the village of Tutu, situated on the border between the Western Region and Greater Accra.
The selected group of artists will focus their work on folklore, encompassing historical tales, sayings, and oral traditional performances, as well as the talking drums that mimic the tonal inflections of human speech. These forms of communication serve essential functions beyond mere entertainment. They are traditions passed down through generations, sustained by the community.
The project will produce audio-visual materials for a digital archive, create a published project book for children, and design a collective mural to celebrate these traditions.
Training and Network Programme:
MODULE 1: Museums and Libraries in Agenda 2030 (end of May)
- Luigi De Luca – Director of Apulia Region Biblio-museum Centers Paolo Mele – Director of Ramdom and KORA – Contemporary Art Center Eric Agyare – President of ArtLife Matters:
The Ghana–Salento agreement: opportunities for public and private institutions. Presentation of the Unfolding Cultural Heritage project
- Luigi De Luca – Director of the Library and Museums Centers of the Puglia Region
Museums in the preservation and transfer of cultural heritage
- Ada Facchini – Librarian at Ramdom/KORA – Contemporary Art Center
Libraries in the preservation and transfer of cultural heritage
The role of libraries in the preservation and transfer of cultural heritage, strengthening collective identity and cultural competence. Picturebooks and Multi Language activities and the essential role of reading in community building.
- Paolo Mele – Director of Ramdom and KORA – Contemporary Art Center
Hybrid Models: museums, libraries and contemporary art
MODULO 2: Arts and new languages for the emergence and enhancement of non-material heritage (June)
- Leandro Ventura – Director of Central Institute for Intangible Heritage (talian Ministry of Culture)
Identification and validation of intangible cultural heritage in communities. Challenges in identifying and validating intangible cultural heritage in communities. Who validates? What are the prerequisites? Projects and case studies.
- Paolo Mele – Director of Ramdom and KORA – Contemporary Art Center
Artist Residency. Why is residency necessary in the career of an artist? How does it entitle (global perspective)? What are the available slots in Salento?
- Maristella Martella – Dancer and choreographer of Tarantarte Atelier
Ethno-contemporary dance
- Donato Epiro – Composer and musician
Traditional and contemporary music: Ogni Altro Suono
MODULO 3: Community Engagement (July)
- Elisa Monsellato – Coordinator of ICOM Group in Puglia
Community Engagement. Instruments, activities and case studies
- Antonietta Pignataro – President of Huipalas Kenya Foundation Kijiji Village and Library and Museum Project Claudio Zecchi – Artistic Director or Ramdom and KORA – Contemporary Art Center
Research on territories and community engagement
- Selected Ghanian and Italian artists
Unfolding Cultural Heritage Residence in Ghana: activities and artworks
MODULO 4: New technologies and new narratives (October)
(Trainers to be defined)
Kora_extended and Cutrofiano Museum for accessibility
Digital Libraries and Digital Archives
