The winners of the 2018 EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards, Europe’s top honour in the field, were announced on May 15th 2018 by the European Commission and Europa Nostra, the leading European heritage network.
The 29 laureates from 17 countries have been recognised for their impressive accomplishments in conservation, research, dedicated service, and education, training and awareness-raising. One of the winners this year is the project “Ief Postino: Belgium and Italy Connected by Letters”. The Ief Postino project was co-produced and co-financed by the Centre for Cultural Heritage of the Limburg Province, Wenkbrauwerij and the Belgian public television broadcaster VRT. Ief Postino is an awareness-raising project addressing the history of migration in Europe, specifically between the Belgian province of Limburg and Italy. The project has used traditional communication methods to revive the links between the communities in both countries. Its basis in the human experience of migration is one that is as relevant today as it has been over the past 70 years. The jury commented Ief Postino as “a well judged small-scale project which enhances understanding of intangible aspects of community diaspora in a time of economic change in Europe. Through personal stories and traditional methods of communication, the project has maintained historical community links between two disparate areas of the continent”.
“Cultural heritage in all its different forms is one of Europe’s most precious assets. It builds bridges between people and communities as well as between the past and the future. It is central to our identity as Europeans and also has a vital role in driving social and economic development. I congratulate the winners of the 2018 EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards and their teams for their exceptional and innovative work. Thanks to their talent and commitment, numerous European cultural heritage treasures have been safeguarded and revitalised. And importantly, their work enables people from all backgrounds to discover, explore and engage with our rich cultural heritage, fully in the spirit of the European Year of Cultural Heritage that we are celebrating in 2018,” said Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.
The winners will be honoured at a high-profile Award ceremony on 22 June in Berlin, during the first ever European Cultural Heritage Summit.
More information (in English) on the awarded project: https://iefpostino.be/?lang=en
Source: Limburg.be
