A living heritage
A traditional, contemporary and living heritage, all at once
The Archery and Valois Museum is lucky to hold the only public European collection dedicated to archery, or rather archeries. Indeed, several themes stand out, and among them, traditional archery as it is still being practiced today and called “Beursault shooting”. This practice, which was born in Picardie and Ile de France is still very much alive: indeed, some 3 000 archers gather each year during the traditional “Provincial Bouquet”.
An important legacy
In order to keep the traditions of Beursault shooting and the memories of this popular activity alive, the Archery and Valois Museum was instrumental in getting in on the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The aim was also to think about how to continue to pass on this legacy to younger generations.
Indeed, Cultural Heritage doesn’t only apply to monuments and objects. According to UNESCO, cultural heritage is also intangible and includes “traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and transmitted to our descendants, as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals and festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature or the universe or knowledge and skills regarding traditional arts and crafts. The importance of intangible cultural heritage is not the cultural manifestation itself but rather the wealth of knowledge and skills that is transmitted through it from one generation to the next.”
A collaborative work
With the collaboration of the French Archery Federation (FFTA), the Intangible Cultural Heritage Office (OPCI) and the French Archer (l’archerfrancais.fr), the museum was able to collect true living memories of archery, through archers still practicing today and collect a lot of information about the Beursault shooting and the Provincial Bouquet. In total, close to 32 hours of interviews were conducted and are now stored in the museum’s audiovisual archival center. We are currently thinking of ways to show excerpts in the museum or online.
Thanks to this preliminary work, two inventory sheets as well as two movies (20 mn long) were created and submitted to the Ministry of Culture and Communication. This process resulted in listing the Beursault Shooting and the Provincial Bouquet on the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2015.
Learn more about the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage
The Beursault Shooting
Download the leaflet « Le tir beursault, pratique traditionnelle de l’archerie en France »
Watch the video :
The Provincial Bouquet
Download the leaflet : «Le Bouquet provincial, fête de l’archerie traditionnelle»
Watch the video :