April 18. Day for Monuments and Sites: Shared Heritage

Territorio Mudéjar joins the celebration of the International Day for Monuments and Sites this April 18 by taking part in the ICOMOS Spain initiative to find examples of shared heritage that you can enjoy from home. This year, ICOMOS has chosen the theme, “Shared Cultures, Shared Heritage, Shared Responsibility” as an expression of our global unity in light of the present world health situation.

This message shows that heritage is part of our cultural identity at a time in which evolving populations, conflicts and environmental uncertainty lead to constant, swift changes. The theme acknowledges that heritage – be it a place, landscape, custom or collection – is often linked to and appreciated by several diverse groups and communities, and Territorio Mudéjar shares this message in its mission and values. In sum, this means being collectively responsible for looking after and protecting heritage values.

Territorio Mudéjar invites you to enjoy its heritage with this video:

https://www.facebook.com/proyectoterritoriomudejar/videos/685295782236850/

More info: https://icomos.es/dia-internacional-de-los-monumentos-y-sitios-2020/

Territorio Mudéjar, main feature of the UNESCO “World Heritage” magazine

Our towns are featured in an extensive article in the first issue of this landmark magazine

The towns and heritage of Territorio Mudéjar are featured in the first issue of “World Heritage” magazine, published by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. This landmark magazine has devoted two pages to Mudejar art in the province of Zaragoza, outlining the key points that make Mudejar a unique, avant-garde style in which we can read the history of Aragon.

The article, which is available in Spanish, English and French, explains how the Mudejar art of Aragon, the architecture of which was declared World Heritage by UNESCO in 2001 due to its “universality, uniqueness and authenticity”, tells the story of our region and reveals an extraordinary rural setting that contrasts with the more ethnographic image commonly associated with villages. It is cultured, refined architecture that, nonetheless, remains close to everyday life and shows us a region that exudes intellectualism and beauty.

Here is the link for you to read the article:

Rural schools and heritage, a forward-looking partnership

Territorio Mudéjar is participating in the first workshops on rural schools, organized by the Centro de Profesorado (Center for Teachers) in Calatayud.

Rural schools in Aragon have always been a laboratory for rural innovation. Some of the most avant-garde educational initiatives have arisen there, later expanding to other schools in Aragon and even being duplicated across the country. One of the reasons for the success of these rural school projects is that they use the land as a reference for learning, making the environment a necessary element of the curriculum in order to educate with a sense of roots. At Territorio Mudéjar we share and promote these same distinguishing features, so we could not miss the “Escuela rural en clave de futuro” (Rural schools in terms of the future) workshops organized by the Center for Teachers in Calatayud.

We were there today, not only to accompany the teachers and schools from our Territorio Mudéjar (schools in the districts of Aranda, Campo de Daroca and Comunidad de Calatayud), but we also had the opportunity to discuss with some of them how we believe that heritage and education form a perfect partnership for innovation.

At Territorio Mudéjar we are working on several projects related to education: “Escuela rural como inicio del círculo” (Rural schools as the start of a circle) and research and development on educational materials. On the one hand, we aim to introduce ways of working with heritage into rural school curricula and, on the other, we intend to provide materials and resources to schools to help students learn to appreciate the natural and cultural heritage in their towns and to enable them to generate proposals for economic and demographic growth in order to counteract depopulation trends.

More info: http://profesoradocalatayud.catedu.es/escuela-rural-en-clave-de-futuro/

The managers of World Heritage in Spain strive to make their sites more accessible to everyone

It was a pleasure to exchange experiences with more than one hundred professionals at the Meeting of Spanish World Heritage Managers held this week in Cordoba, sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sports in collaboration with the Cordoba city council. Following this year’s motto, ‘World Heritage accessible to everyone’, Territorio Mudéjar is constructing forward-looking strategies to make our heritage places for learning, innovation and accessibility to everyone.

The modernity of our project and its vision of development from the local to the global came as a surprise; the reason for this is none other than the definition of “Mudejar” itself: while we find it in most of the medieval art forms in our towns, it displays its full glory in architecture, in which the lofty, cultured lines never become completely separated from the daily life in our villages, so that the separation from ethnography is blurred. In sum, it is a region that exudes intellectualism of all kinds, which has been preserved thanks to the inhabitants here.

We returned home with renewed enthusiasm, motivation and good management practices, and hope that, as an entity, we contributed a touch of youthfulness; we thank everyone for their generosity. See you soon!

More information at:  http://www.culturaydeporte.gob.es/actualidad/2019/11/191106-gestores-patrimonio.html

18th anniversary of the designation of Mudejar architecture of Aragon as UNESCO World Heritage

Territorio Mudéjar has drawn up an activity program to commemorate this anniversary, which includes promoting heritage tours, project activities and a live broadcast from Tobed.

Saturday, December 14, is the 18th anniversary of the designation of Mudejar architecture of Aragon as UNESCO World Heritage, and at Territorio Mudéjar we have planned a very special celebration.

We have prepared a schedule of activities for the entire week, saving the grand finale for last:  on the morning of Sunday, the 15th, Cadena SER radio station will broadcast live from the Territorio Mudéjar offices in Tobed a special program called “A vivir Aragón” with our collaboration. We will discuss how to discern and recognize the potential of our heritage and how it can become a driver of sustainable development.

The program will be broadcast live from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm from the Museo Mahoma Calahorri, and will be open to the public. We encourage you to join us and learn more about our valuable Mudejar heritage!

We also invite you to accompany us in these other activities:

On Friday, the 13th, we will hold on-site discussions about new uses for heritage spaces. The students doing internships in the Challenge Program, who have spent the past three months studying accessibility to Mudejar heritage and the ways in which technology can help us in this task, will help us with the discussion. At 9:30 am we will be at the tower in Ricla, at 11:30 am at the tower in Romanos and at 12:45 pm, in Longares.

On Saturday, the 14th, the official anniversary, guided tours will be offered of two of our World Heritage sites. Join us for a tour of the collegiate church of Santa María in Calatayud, managed by Asociación Torre Albarrana (11:30 am and 12:30 pm, cloister and tower), and of the church of La Virgen in Tobed, managed by Tobed Mudéjar (11:30 am, leaving from the city hall).

On Sunday, the 15th, you can help us recover cultural heritage in a very simple way. We are collecting photos from your family albums relating to Mudejar heritage in order to reflect on contemporary Mudejar imagery and the ties to the region through family photography. If you would like to contribute your images – we scan them on the spot and give them back – come visit us from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at Cervera de la Cañada city hall. More info: https://www.facebook.com/cartografiaidentidadesrurales/