From February 24th to April 12th
#DolomitesMuseum, 7 weeks for 7 hashtags
7 weeks, 7 keywords and 15 museums ready to talk about them: these are the components of the #DolomitesMuseum themed campaign, launched by the ‘Museums of the Dolomites’ programme of the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation. The many collections in the individual museums are joining together on the Web to depict a common heritage. From Carnival to Easter, social networks will be hosting the great story of the Dolomites with seven hashtags: from life on the slopes to Alpine masquerades, from geology to the history of sports, and from ways of travelling to the future of the Dolomites. Everyone will be able to participate, sharing their experiences, memories and reflections by using the hashtag: #DolomitesMuseum.
The first edition of the #DolomitesMuseum campaign is taking place from February 24th to April 12th 2020. During these 7 weeks, the museums of the Dolomites will be the focus of a wide-ranging story on social networks, letting you explore the many facets of our Dolomite heritage through the Internet. The collective story of #DolomitesMuseum will start in Carnival week and will continue until Easter; each week will be dedicated to a theme, relative to which everyone – museums, associations, users of the network – will be invited to contribute their collections, memories, experiences and reflections. The #DolomitesMuseum campaign was inspired by international initiatives such as the annual #MuseumWeek and #Museum30, which invite museums to describe themselves on social networks using shared hashtags.
The story will involve seven different hashtags. It will start in Carnival week (February 24 – March 1) with #mountainrites, to share information about forms of ritual common to a number of valleys. The following week (March 2-8) will continue with #inclinedliving, reflecting on how the mountain slopes have influenced life in the area. The third week (March 9 – 15) will focus on the material that constitutes the Dolomites: the dolomitic rock. At #handsinstone, everyone will be invited to share their stories in relation to this type of stone. We will then continue with #crossthepass (March 16 -22), an invitation to share stories about Dolomite passes, and reflect on how travel through the mountains has changed and is still changing. In the fifth week (March 23 – 29), the focus will move to the culture of sport, under the hashtag #sportsculture, with contributors sharing stories and accounts of the history of sports in the Dolomites and important sporting figures. The story will continue to unfold with #differentimes (March 30 – April 5), reflecting on the different ways of living and perceiving time in the Dolomites. Finally, it will come to a close in Easter week (April 6 -12), with a look towards the future: at the #dolomiteschange hashtag, contributors can share their reflections and desires for change in relation to the challenges that await our World Heritage site. To reflect the variety of languages spoken in the territory and to attract an international audience, the hashtags have been translated into 4 languages (English, Italian, German and Ladin).
The story of #DolomitesMuseum will also be extended to local radio, with special contributions by each of the museums. All this input (posts on social networks, radio broadcasts) will be collected together in the DOLOM.IT virtual museum, and will constitute a digital story of our Dolomite heritage that can be expanded by participants in the project over the coming months.
The campaign forms part of the “Museums of the Dolomites” project launched in 2019 by the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation, with the aim of planning and launching ‘networking’ activities among the various museums representing aspects of the Dolomite heritage. The digital world plays a pivotal role here, because it allows individual museums and cultural players to combine their collections in a single story. This helps make our UNESCO heritage even richer and more accessible for both residents and visitors.
The seven hashtags were chosen by 30 cultural operators who met in Cesiomaggiore on January 17th, in the context of a workshop that compared the different collections and identified common themes. In addition to the three theme leaders for the project (the Ethnographic Museum of the Province of Belluno, MUSE – the Science Museum – and Dolomiti Contemporanee), 12 other entities from all five UNESCO provinces have joined the campaign: the Ladin Museum Ciastel de Tor, the Bolzano Nature Parks Office, the Carnia Museums, the Lis Aganis Ecomuseum, the Museum of the Customs and Traditions of the People of Trentino at San Michele all’Adige, the Marmolada Museum of the Great War, the Eyewear Museum in Pieve di Cadore, the Magnifica Comunità di Cadore, the Civic and Archaeological Museum in Mel, the Longarone Moments in History Museum, the G. Angelini Foundation and the Dolomiti Project.
In coming weeks, these museums will be publishing statements and stories relating to the seven themes of the campaign on their Facebook or Instagram pages. But others can also make their contributions: they just need to add their weekly posts using the relevant hashtag together with that of the #DolomitesMuseum campaign. You can follow the progress of the story by typing the hashtag #DolomitesMuseum, or by accessing the social media profiles of the UNESCO Dolomites Foundation and the DOLOM.IT Museum, which will gather together all the contributions.
The seven hashtags of #DolomitesMuseum
#mountainrites (February 24 – March 1)
The people of the Dolomites have strong links with the forms of ritual common to all the valleys. From legends to songs, from tales to proverbs, and from traditional recipes to the winter masquerades, which celebrate the rebirth of nature at Carnival time! From February 24 to 29, you can use the hashtag #mountainrites to tell us about the traditions in your area, how they are maintained and how they are experienced today!
#inclinedliving (March 2 – 8)
The slopes bring together everyone living in the mountains, and have shaped the way we inhabit, experience and perceive the territory. From the types of settlement to the ways we walk or climb; from haymaking to transhumance and forms of life at high altitude: the slopes can be an impediment, but also an opportunity. From March 2 to 8, you can use the hashtag #inclinedliving to tell us about life on the slopes now and in the past!
#handsinstone (March 9 – 15)
This week focuses on what the Dolomites are made of: the dolomitic rock! Geologists have studied it, our grandparents worked it, and during the Great War soldiers found shelter in its caves. How many stories can a simple rock-form tell us? Déodat de Dolomieu knew something there… From March 16 to 22, you can give a voice to the Dolomite rock at the hashtag #handsinstone!
#crossthepass (March 16 – 22)
The passes have always played an important role in travelling through the mountains, but how have our experiences of them altered and our ways of crossing them changed? Nowadays, they are trails used by tourists in search of breathtaking views, but in the past they were routes that had to be negotiated to support your family or find your fortune. From March 9 to 15, you can tell us your stories about the Dolomite passes at the hashtag #crossthepass!
#sportsculture (March 23 – 29)
How could we imagine the Dolomites without sport? This week will focus on the whole culture of sport in these mountains! We can explore the origins and development of mountain sports, learn about the pioneers and how the sporting events that earned them global recognition have also transformed the territory. Do you have objects, accounts or memories related to the history of sport, its locations and its important figures? From March 23 to 29, you can share them with us at the hashtag #sportsculture!
#differentimes (March 30 – April 5)
Time in the mountains has many facets: there is geological time, time as we live it, the weather conditions; sometimes time passes swiftly, and sometimes slowly… Whether you live here or are coming to visit, tell us how you experience time in the Dolomites and how perceptions of it have changed over the years! From March 30 to April 5, share your reflections at the hashtag #differentimes!
#dolomiteschange (April 6 – 12)
The last hashtag gives us a chance to look into the future! The Dolomites tell us about the remote past, but the past can also help us envisage changes to come. There are many challenges facing this World Heritage site: from the battle against depopulation to climate change, and from technological innovation to major sporting events. From April 6 to 12, you can tell us what future you envisage for the Dolomites, and what changes you would like to see! Share your thoughts at the hashtag #dolomiteschange!
The “Musei delle Dolomiti” (Museums of the Dolomites) project
The scheme has received funding from the neighbouring Municipalities, and forms part of a project entitled: “Development of the territory through the integrated management and communication activities of the UNESCO Dolomites W.H.S.”. The project aims to explore how museums in the area can develop practical activities and connections to promote the richness of the Dolomites heritage in the online world. The project was launched in February 2019, and has so far involved more than 50 cultural experts from all 5 Provinces in the UNESCO Dolomites site, with a series of interviews, workshops and round table discussions. The main theme of these events is how to use digital technology to help promote the assets of the museums beyond their physical boundaries, and how to involve communities in the story of our beautiful heritage and encourage interaction between local players in the cultural field.