My first encounter with alternative presentation and interpretation of heritage was in 1995 during the General Conference of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) held in Stavanger, Norway. The video of costumed characters telling a story to kids in a museum made a lasting impression on me. I believe that was the moment when I set my personal mission to persue alternative ways of interpreting heritage. In 1997 I presented the paper, ‘New Methods and Devices in Presentation and Interpretation of Museum Materials’, at the Annual Conference of the Macedonian National Committee of the International Council of Museums and it was published in the journal Museologica Macedonica.
In the past few years my interest slightly shifted to the field of intangible heritage, especially to its links with the identity of its bearers. Having wished to contribute to the research in this domain of heritage in a scholarly and scientific manner, I got enrolled at the Postgraduate Cultural Studies of the Institute of Macedonian Literature in Skopje. I am currently working on my master thesis, ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage in Macedonia and in International Frames’.
Contact with the mission of Interpret Europe brought me back on track. My desire for conveying the value and meaning of heritage to other people was re-ignited after being acquainted with the interpretive approach in communicating it. So, the CIG and CIT courses revealed to me the ingenious methodology and techniques of implementing this approach. Although I might not have a chance to apply them in guiding of visitors, I believe I could make a difference transferring them by training other people. As IE Country Coordinator, I hope to successfully disseminate the interpretive approach to presenting cultural and natural heritage.
