Ricerc@Sapienza

Museums of Language and the Display of Intangible Cultural Heritage brings together essays by the directors, designers and curators of leading language museums around the world, who describe the history, mission, and modes of display in their institutions, with a view to the role intangible heritage can and should play in the museum. Arguing that languages are among our most precious forms of cultural heritage, yet that they are at risk of neglect, and endangerment from globalization and linguistic imperialism, this book also demonstrates how museums can make a difference.

Eurotales, whose name stands for ‘A Talking Atlas of Linguistic Culture in European Sites’, is a museum-in-progress that aims at giving a dynamic representation of the languages and linguistic cultures of Europe. Its mission is to •• Elicit enthusiasm for the historical appreciation of language and literature both as tangible and intangible cultural heritage •• Encourage reflection on the roles of oral and written communication •• Illustrate aspects of the relationship between language, literature, and culture in transit The contribution illustrates our project for its foundation

Il saggio analizza la storia della rappresentazione delle lingue, della loro descrizione e interpretazione come oggetti dall'antichità ad oggi, al fine di contestualizzare il recente fenomeno della rappresentazione museale delle lingue cui è dedicato il volume che il saggio introduce.

Two heritage-making processes, from very different contexts of rural and urban Italy, improve our vision and understanding of the connection between the museum paradigm/experience and the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) safeguarding challenges. On the one hand, the Casa Lussu experience shows the importance of local museums s buildings blocks of a traditional weaving revitalization project. On the other hand, the Casilino Ecomuseum is ad example of a community-based ICH process in an urban context, and the pertinence of the ecomuseum paradigm to deal with such complexity.