Hemslöjden’s intangible cultural heritage

Formally, the expert role includes an advisory mission to UNESCO. In addition, the accreditation means that we support The Swedish National Commission for UNESCO and The Institute for Language and Folklore (Isof), responsible for work related to convention in Sweden. Examples of cultural heritage that is recognized within the convention are various forms of crafts, rituals, music and stories. Intangible cultural heritage is beyond national borders, constantly living and changing.

Hemslöjden’s specific area of expertise includes safeguarding craft and handicraft knowledge and increasing general knowledge about our field. The work is carried out both nationally together with our member associations and internationally in the global work with UNESCO’s message of community, peace and togetherness.

In addition to the advisory role, this accreditation means legitimacy for Hemslöjden’s work, and our knowledge is demanded more and more. Our sister organizations in Finland and Norway have been accredited for a long time. At the same time as Hemslöjden was accredited, the craft organization in Iceland was also accredited, and thereby the expert role in the handicraft area is now secured in more and more countries.

In Sweden, we are now 3 accredited NGO organizations; Berättarnätverket Kronoberg, Ålakustens kulturarvsförening and Hemslöjden. At regular intervals, all accredited organizations need to report on their activities and show that they are fulfilling their mission, in order to retain their NGO status.

All the countries that have signed the convention agrees to publish a inventory of intangible cultural heritage in their country. In Sweden, this work is led by The Institute for Language and Folklore (Isof). On the website levandekulturarv.se you will find examples of traditions, craft techniques and other intangible cultural heritage that exist in Sweden. Many of the proposals were submitted by people working voluntarily in Hemslöjden’s member associations. Read more about the list here.

Nationally:

• Increase knowledge about the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Sweden. Hemslöjden has a public educational role and, according to its statutes, must ”inform and spread knowledge about handicrafts, the cultural heritage of handicrafts and its growth”.
• Continue the promotional work through our 90 member associations and 14,000 members, who are located throughout Sweden. Our member associations carry out around 70 activities every week, and with that, the intangible cultural heritage is vividly alive.
• Show the importance of civil society in preserving and developing handicrafts as an intangible cultural heritage: without our organization, much of the knowledge would have disappeared.
• Make handicrafts visible as an important and living cultural heritage area and show its special conditions and challenges.
• Propose more crafts and handicraft techniques on Sweden’s national inventory of living cultural heritage levandekulturarv.se.

Internationally:

• Hemslöjden is already part of a Nordic and European network in the field of crafts and handicrafts where we exchange knowledge and experiences, but also carry out joint projects. Examples of projects carried out within these networks are 1 sqm of flax and Nordic Craft Week. These networks will be strengthened and expanded.
• Submit joint nominations to UNESCO’s lists together with other countries. An example of this type of joint nomination is the Nordic clinker boat tradition, which was nominated by the Nordic countries in 2021 and entered the list. It is a clear example of the fact that crafts traditions are cross-border and that patterns, inspiration and knowledge have been spread and shared all over the world throughout time.
• Use our collective knowledge of crafts in the advisory role, both to representatives of the Swedish state and within UNESCO internationally.
• We work with other NGOs to address issues related to the importance of civil society

We will continue to work on issues that the entire handicraft movement is already working on today. As an accredited NGO, we can more clearly link our work to the Convention, which will be visible in some of our activities. The activities include everything from handicraft gatherings, exhibitions, projects and knowledge materials, to seminars, conferences and webinars. We will also be able to collaborate more with other organizations that work with intangible cultural heritage and raise these issues together. A joint network for NGOs in Sweden was founded in September 2024 and there is also an international NGO forum that we are part of.

An important part of the work is to support and further educate our member associations in their work with the Convention, and we do this by producing information materials, workshops, conducting webinars and other initiatives. During 2024–2026, we are working on these issues in the project Methods for Living Cultural Heritage, MLK, with support from the The Swedish National Heritage Board (Riksantikvarieämbetet) and the Swedish Arts Council (Kulturrådet).