PROJECT DESCRIPTION & BACKGROUND

The HERS project, titled "HERS – Inclusive approaches to safeguarding intangiblecultural heritage", aims to support migrant women in preserving their intangible cultural heritage. This project, a collaboration between organizations in Greece, Cyprus, and Italy, seeks to address the challenges migrant women face in maintaining their cultural traditions while adapting to new environments. Additionally, HERS aims to give voice to talents from diverse backgrounds and support migrant women to preserve their intangible cultural heritage by facilitating the showcase and celebration of their traditions, providing resources for skills development, offering language assistance, and fostering intercultural exchange within their new communities, leading to the capacity building of the women, creating more opportunities for social participation and employment. The project proposes an innovative way for skills development and a co-creation model, inviting migrant women who hold their homelands’ tradition and artists of the local communities to work with artists of their new communities, make decisions on how to showcase and co-document traditional knowledge through contemporary art media and digital community archives, aiming to empower women from marginalised backgrounds and support their social and financial integration. The project recognizes the wealth of knowledge and skills transmitted through intangible cultural heritage and its social and economic value for both minority and mainstream groups. It aims to empower migrant women, foster a sense of belonging, and contribute to a multicultural society that embraces diversity, understanding, and respect. The project aims to transform stereotypical perceptions through the stories and experiences shared by migrant women that will serve as a valuable way to highlight the importance of diversity and will provide insights into various perspectives, allowing the broader community to better understand different viewpoints.