On memory.

In the context of this project, based on our direct and prolonged knowledge of the territories where we operate, by intangible cultural heritage we mean the practices, representations, manifestations, knowledge, as well as the tools, objects, artifacts and associated cultural and social spaces that local communities or individuals may recognize as constituting their cultural heritage.

The intangible cultural heritage of the informal cities in Europe is the memory of “the other”, of the experiences of subalternity in the normative city beyond the narratives that recognise the slums inhabitants as victims but also point out the precious value of their singular ways of doing and living together, the forms of organising and resisting, the mutually supportive relationships they built, their cultural manifestations and social practices. Ultimately, “the informal” is a potential space for resistance and overflow the status quo, as it is not linked to control technologies we find in the rest of the city.

The account of past events actively participates in the construction of the present historical moment. A review of the memory of the shacks, an account of the history of the cities that contemplates this urban phenomenon, would affect the way in which we understand the whole idea of the city and how we live in it today.

The intangible heritage of the informal areas is a living testimony to the extraordinary cultural richness of contemporary Europe. It is a vector of social, cultural and even technical innovation and, because of its scope and will to bring to the fore cultural diversity, could play a fundamental role in the present and future in the construction of an inclusive European citizenship pursuing the common good.

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