CENTER FOR CONSERVATION OF THE INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE IN SLAVONIA, BARANYA AND SYRMIA

This paper aims to define the Centre for intangible cultural heritage of Slavonia, Baranya and Syrmia in the context of the safeguarding of speeches, customs and historical and traditional cultural resources. Intangible cultural heritage of the Republic of Croatia is endangered and it is becoming extinct due to the influence of a number of factors. Since the formulation of the 1999 Act on the Protection and Preservation of Cultural Objects, intangible cultural heritage has been under special protection as objects of interest to the Republic of Croatia. Today, intangible cultural heritage is the subject of expert and scientific research, but it also concerns economic activities. Therefore, the establishment of the Centre for the conservation of intangible cultural heritage is extremely important for Eastern Croatia. The goal of the Centre is to document as many immaterial objects in one place, and through its marketing activities (for example quality promotion) also increase interest in cultural heritage of this region, which is often not sufficiently recognized. With the high quality promotion of intangible cultural heritage (for example presentation of cultural practices through a variety of performances, games, dances, etc.) the Centre could contribute to the development of tourism in Eastern Croatia, but with the educational content also in education. The the Centre's own revenues (those from donations, fees for the provision of services, sale of souvenirs, etc.) can significantly improve conservation of the intangible cultural heritage of Eastern Croatia and help develop its sustainability. The issue of sustainable development of intangible cultural heritage is complex, and as the major obstacles, we see the dispersion of the collected materials, deficiency of digitization, poor or unsatisfactory organization of the intangible cultural heritage in Eastern Croatia. The Centre would aim to connect the scientific approach with maximum use of modern technology for the digitization, processing and preservation, and economically justified model of permanent preservation of intangible cultural heritage. In order to maintain sufficient redundancy of the collected data database a distributed data storage together with secure local storage in the Centre is envisaged. The Centre would be the starting point of dissemination of the collected intangible items towards users with different interests, demands and needs.