Round table: Promoting creative industrial spaces in cultural spaces

20. 12. 2019

Technology park Ljubljana organized an international event on the promotion of creative industrial cultural spaces and on the international platform SACHE - Smart Accelerators of Creative Heritage Entrepreneurship at the Museum of Architecture in Design, on Wednesday, December 18, 2019. The project will expand and strengthen the role of cultural heritage sites, symbols and values by transforming them into “Smart Accelerators of Creative Heritage Entrepreneurship” (SACHE) based on a newly developed central European model.

During the event we learned about the good practices of actors from different fields: cultural heritage experts and entrepreneurs from the creative sector. We listened to representatives of Slovene and foreign institutions: The Institute for Digital and Cultural Heritage, various museums, universities, representatives of the Institute for Cultural Heritage of Slovenia and to one expert for Art History.

Collaboration is crucial!

The representative of Janus Pannonius Museum from Hungary introduced their practices of collaboration with entrepreneurs who, they say, opened new opportunities in business.

Natalija Polenec from the Technical Museum of Slovenia also introduced their best practices, as the institution opened the doors to various artists and entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneur Matjaž Požlep from Art Rebel company and Nadav Sagir from CtrlArt are convinced that cultural heritage is a business, just as any other. They are both building bridges between many institutions, between creativity and business.

Tomaž Štoka from MAO presented their broad experience of cooperation with artists and various companies. Their Center for Creativity, long-standing collaboration with designers, architects and other publics is well known. 

Deborah Hustić from the Croatian organization Radiona.org is convinced, that common spaces and dialogues among all the public are a necessity for the success. She is convinced that the needs of museums on the one hand and entrepreneurs on the other are the same. The aspect of creativity is crucial and should be integrated into education. "Innovation and technology involve creativity and heritage has incredible potential," she said. 

Matevž Straus from Arctur is convinced, that heritage has not only local but much wider significance. According to him, museums face great challenges, because they have a big competitor to get the audience's attention - the world's leading Netflix internet service. It reminds individuals of the importance of building an individual's skills, and cultural institutions encourage the communication of stories, interaction between people, and exchange information. "We need new products that convey cultural heritage in attractive new ways," he believes. 

Expanding the importance of creativity and shared thinking

After sharing good practices and experiences, the question whether heritage is something that exists everywhere and should be installed on your cell phones, like Netflix, is logical. The aim of the SACHE project is to spread the importance of creativity and common thinking in the right direction. And as Mrs. Polenc said, it's hard to change people, but we can change the way they think! In all of this, technology and the entrepreneurial mindset can be of great support.