When I took on the role of Country Coordinator for Slovenia, I accepted the job of supporting and bringing together IE members in Slovenia. What better way to do it than in person? So, my team and I organised a get-together.
The gathering consisted of three parts: an interpretive walk, a workshop on heritage and identity, and the official part with a presentation of IE events and plans. The meeting was generously hosted by the Museum of Baroque in Šmarje.
From Plague to Baroque
From April onwards, Slovenia was extremely generous in its very warm weather and so we decided that the best plan would be to tackle the ascent up the Baroque Way of the Cross early in the day. The interpretive walk I did was a result of my CIG training. I must confess it’s not the easiest thing to prepare interpretive guiding for a group of interpreters and my former candidates on the CIG course. And so, they had an opportunity to assess their trainer. The main focus of the walk was to connect different historical events, their consequences and the results that can be seen today.
Heritage and identity
The workshop I first delivered at IE’s annual conference in Hungary was primarily designed to trigger thinking processes about identity and the influence of heritage upon it. We discovered how we label ourselves and how others label us. And what the labels mean to us.
I wanted to give participants some ideas about working with young people who are, in general, at odds with their identity. Also, about working with heritage communities that are trying to re-establish collective identity and, additionally, some tools for the guides to help them get a fresh aspect on the people to whom they are interpreting.
The official part
In what we hoped was not too long a presentation, we first presented the Slovene team and the members who were present at the conference in Hungary, then we briefly presented a report on the event and the study visits they had taken part in.
The most constructive parts are usually the conclusions when members exchange their ideas and opinions of how to proceed and when they plan to meet again.
I am pleased to announce that we are meeting again on 2 October 2018 and we invite all who are interested in interpretation and IE training programmes to join us in Celje.
Janja Sivec runs NGO Legends, working as a trainer, guide and consultant. She is also an IE certified trainer, IE’s Country Coordinator for Slovenia and volunteers in the Social Media Team. She is hooked to everything ‘e’ and can be contacted at: janja.sivec@dlegende.com
To cite this article:
Sivec, Janja (2018) ‘When Slovene members meet up’. In Interpret Europe Newsletter 2-2018, 31- 32.
Available online:
www.interpret-europe.net/fileadmin/Documents/publications/Newsletters/ie-newsletter_2018-2_summer.pdf
