From August to December 2022, Young European #HeritageMakers in Finland, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Slovenia and Spain took part in the activity exploring their perceptions of heritage through questions such as, “what does heritage mean to you?”, ”what’s unique to your local heritage; what’s shared across Europe?” and “how can we present our heritage stories in pictures and words?” Entries were submitted to the competition in a creative form such as a short video, a painting or a literal work accompanied by photos.

Evaluation by the European Panel for the 2022 entries has now taken place – congratulations to all those involved and a special recognition to the selected works!

Selected works in the 6 – 11 years category

Macedonian Tradition, North Macedonia

For this activity, the children got creative with Macedonian clothing traditions. The group visited a traditional dance group to look at the folk embroidery used on their costumes and then created their own patterns and designs to dress dolls made from wooden spoons, straw and brooms to represent Macedonian children from the past. They then wore traditional costumes from their own families to an event performing dances using the dolls and featuring traditional food and music. Learn more about the activities here.

Museum of Marko Miljanov, Montenegro

In December 2022, a primary school group visited the Museum of Marko Miljanov to explore the cultural heritage of Montenegro. Through the museum’s collections, the children learnt about many traditional aspects of life, such as wool spinning and weaving, cooking methods for making bread and grinding coffee and how the ‘gusle’ – a single-stringed musical instrument – is used to accompany epic poetry songs. During the day the children presented a film explaining what they had discovered. Watch the video here.

Virpominen - Nurturing Finnish Cultural Heritage at the Suomi School in New York, Finland

For over 20 years, New York's Suomikoulu (Finnish school) has been teaching children in the North American city about their Finnish cultural heritage and language through literature, music, crafts and holiday celebrations. For this activity, the children chose to focus on Easter and got involved with traditional Finnish customs including decorating willow branches, face painting and reciting rhymes. The children found the traditions significant and relevant to them as well as being fun and allowing for individual expression. See the project here.

La Giocanda, Italy

For this submission, a group of 9-10 year-olds took a trip to explore a number of cultural heritage sites in Magione, including the frescoes in the Town Hall and the local theatre and museum. They then created a narrative and art-work inspired by their experiences and memories with the protagonist – ‘the transparent little man’ discovering the importance of appreciating and enhancing its culture and how this connects to group identity. This led to a deeper understanding of what cultural heritage means to them. Read the story here.

Selected works in the 11 – 17 years category

The Legend of Velebaba, Slovenia

As part of the interpretive approach of The White Carniola Museum to reach a wider audience, a multi-day animation film workshop was set up for 12 to 14 year-olds. Guided by educational mentors, the students created a film entitled The Legend of Velebaba based on the local archaeological site at Kučar Hill. The film now forms part of the museum’s permanent exhibition, The Archaeological Treasures of the White Carniola, and can be watched by visitors. Find out more about the project here.

Gaspare Spontini, Citizen of Europe Between Music and Philanthropy, Italy

For this entry, a group of students produced a video documentary about their town’s most famous inhabitant, 18th-19th century musician Gaspare Spontini, and his contribution to both the local area and European music heritage. The film takes a tour through the local museum with the students presenting his life and works in the European courts of France, Italy and Germany through the collections of musical instruments, original scores and art works. Watch the film here.

Our Picture, Finland

For this piece of art, five students digitally altered a selection of their own photos to create a collage featuring people, pets and objects to reflect their memories. The project explored the meaning of the images to the group as well as the wider context of digital legacies, image ownership and online culture and how this relates to past and future heritage. View the collage here.

Budva, Montenegro

The video created for this submission tells the story of Budva in the context of its application to be the European Capital of Culture 2028. The film covers the town’s mythological founding legend through to Roman and Byzantine history and beyond, and highlights not only the significance of Budva museum’s historic collections of mosaics, glasswork, jewellery and clothing but is also interspersed with the young people recalling their own experiences of living in the area in the modern day. Watch the video here.

The next edition of the Young European Heritage Makers will be announced in May 2023. Are you ready to join the #HeritageMakers?