The series of Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs) ‘RandoPats/HeriTrails’ (‘Randonnées du Patrimoine / Heritage Trails’) was brilliantly launched in Romania two years ago by ‘Mushrooms, herbs and raw food : practices and beliefs’, UVT, 7-11 November 2022.This was followed, in summer 2023, by an equally successful second edition in France: 'Sur les Chemins de Roland', UPPA, 12-16 June 2023. In November 2024, we reached Portugal: Randopat-Heritrail 3: ‘Cultural Heritage Food & Craft in Serra da Estrela : mushrooms, cheese and wool ’, UBI 11-16 November 2024.
The planning of RandoPat-Heritrail 3 began, indeed, two years ago, by discussions had during the RandoPat organized by our UVT colleagues. We thought we could develop some of the themes, in particular the use of mushrooms in local cultures, this time moving to another UNITA territory, i.e. Serra da Estrela. Our UBI and IPG colleagues then thought to consider also other traditional local resources, namely cheese and wool, in particular from the perspective of their valorisation in cultural tourism.
The programme conceived by our UBI host, Cristina Estevao, with the invaluable help of our IPG colleague Rui Cerveira, was a very rich one, allying high quality lectures by academics, specialists and cultural tourism professionals, to hands-on workshops and fieldwork, in the true spirit of the RandoPat series, whereby the idea is to learn by walking and interacting together in local landscapes.
In RandoPat-HeriTrail 3 we also repeated, mutatis mutandis, a successful feature of the ‘Sur les Chemins de Roland’. In fact, to this epic adventure took part not only literature and history students, but also a group of nine photography students from the Art & Design Department of the Universitatea de Vest din Timişoara, who reacted to the texts on which we worked together, by taking photographs, throughout the week, then used to create a video exhibition inaugurated at the Médiathèque André-Labarrère on the final day. In RandoPat-HeriTrail 3, we made room again for an important visual and photographic component, having with us throughout the whole week Luis Vaz, UBI Researcher and Freelance Photographer, who visually documented the autumn school by photos and videos. His final, edited video, recapitulating the week, gives a perfect gist of the whole experience. I thus invite you to first watch Luis’s video. Then, the following photos with captions will help you decipher at least some of the intriguing images about which you may ask yourself some questions!
Luis Vaz’s video on Randopat-Heritrail 3: ‘Cultural Heritage Food & Craft in Serra da Estrela : mushrooms, cheese and wool ’, UBI 11-16 November 2024:
https://youtu.be/vuT1Q7fRRqk?si=aT2xgunkLzsPgWA8
DAY 1
- Lectures on cultural heritage villages and on mushrooms, from biological, mycological and ethnological perspectives
- Growing mushrooms for commercial purposes – hands-on workshop
[Cf. images of people hammering (mycelium) in a trunk and preparing a compost with mycelium, which they then took away to grow mushrooms once back home]
DAY 2
- Mushroom picking in Sabugal, under the guidance of specialists
- Mushroom lunch in Rui Cerveira’s restaurant Casa da Esquila (yes, Rui is not only a professor at IPG, but also a renowned chef!)
- Visit to Cheese Museum at Pêraboa
DAY 3
Visit and workshop at the Wool Museum.
DAY 4
- Lectures throughout the day on mushrooms, cheese and wool in cultural tourism in Serra da Estrela
- Show cooking by Rui Cerveira, with local mushrooms and cheese
DAY 5
- Visit of sheep breeding farm in the heart of Cova da Beira
- Visit of wool factory Ecolã
- Visit of wool-themed Hotel da Fabrica
- Visit and dinner at New Hand Lab (contemporary art centre)
DAY 6
Miscaros Festival at Alcaide
In conclusion, RandoPat-HeriTrail 3 proved to be an extremely enriching experience, allowing participants to get in touch with local realities and to reflect on them using the conceptual tools provided by a tremendous array of specialists.
The interaction with local communities can be continued online via the following padlet, to which everybody is encouraged to contribute:
Cultural Heritage Villages
And, if you want to be kept informed on forthcoming RandoPats, you are most welcome to join the
Randopat WhatsApp Group
Text and some photos by:
Giovanna Hendel
Cultural Heritage Hub Coordinator
Video and some photos by:
Luis Vaz
UBI Researcher & Freelance Photographer