Page 12 - Hrobat Virloget, Katja, et al., eds. (2015). Stone narratives: heritage, mobility, performance. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 12
stone narratives
In addition to the sublime stone world, at the other side of the scale there are playful
performances of tourists collecting pebbles, stacking the rocks, designing the paths by li-
ning the stones, throwing stones in rivers or wishing wells. They sit under the rock and they
walk under it. One such example is presented in article by Irena Weber who discusses a bi-
ography of a particular rock that was imagined as a concept in the late 1960s and realized
as an art sculpture at Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Belonging to the tradition of
American Land art, the rock embodies several strands of temporality, geological time, hi-
storical time, personal time and kairic potential of cultural tourism.
Other papers discussed the stone in the broader aspects of its public interpretati-
ons and its various meanings from former to contemporary times. The various perceptions
of stone from past to contemporary times are discussed by four ethnologists and cultural
anthropologists. In the paper »Interpretations of stone in the Karst yesterday, today and
tomorrow« Jasna Fakin Bajec analyses the various roles and meanings of stone from the
past to nowadays in the region of Karst, which were changing in dependence to the proces-
ses of identity constructions (political, national, regional etc.): from the stone as the main
building material through the symbol of poverty to today’s symbol of the regional identi-
ty. Stone as a building material of fireplaces is the base of the paper »Fireplaces in the Vi-
pava Valley« of Špela Ledinek Lozej. The author discusses the form, structure, meanings,
and changes of fireplaces, which present different socially produced and constructed me-
taphors, among them the fireplace as a foundation of the household, and the fireplace as a
metaphor of home and homeliness. The other two papers analyse the past perceptions of
stone which were not bounded by the sharp divide between the inanimate and animate. In
the article »Planting, growing and breeding stones« Bojan Baskar has collected some evi-
dence of belief that stones grow, which can be traced to the ethnographic material from al-
most all continents but mostly in Europe. Before it was pushed aside by the modern sci-
ence, this belief also influenced the Early Modern researchers in Europe. The paper with
the title »Mythical Tradition in the Stone. The Snooty Babas as elements of rites of pas-
sage and social control« written by Katja Hrobat Virloget can be seen as a kind of upgra-
de of the previous research showing how the stones called Babas (Hags) were traditionally
perceived as animate beings. Beside the idea that the form of the object can be life giving,
she analyses the role of the folklore of these stones in the mythical tradition, the social and
territorial rituals of passage and its role in the social control of children’s movement in the
home landscape.
In the field of heritage interpretation Nigel T. W. Mills in his article »Public Presen-
tation of Stone Monuments« describes some opportunities and challenges in this field, fo-
cusing on his personal experiences as heritage interpreter and on the two examples of good
practices which are Hadrian’s Wall Interpretation Framework and Roman Frontier Gal-
lery at Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle. In the frame of stone interpreta-
tion Boštjan Žvanut and Maja Frencl in the paper »Versatility of mosaics: psychological,
sociological, aesthetic and organizational aspects« discuss the mosaic construction in the
past and in the present with its role in the contemporary society ‒ as a teambuilding tool,
children’s game, as an activation tool for citizens and institutions in the creation of the en-
vironment and as a tool in the human psychology.
10
In addition to the sublime stone world, at the other side of the scale there are playful
performances of tourists collecting pebbles, stacking the rocks, designing the paths by li-
ning the stones, throwing stones in rivers or wishing wells. They sit under the rock and they
walk under it. One such example is presented in article by Irena Weber who discusses a bi-
ography of a particular rock that was imagined as a concept in the late 1960s and realized
as an art sculpture at Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Belonging to the tradition of
American Land art, the rock embodies several strands of temporality, geological time, hi-
storical time, personal time and kairic potential of cultural tourism.
Other papers discussed the stone in the broader aspects of its public interpretati-
ons and its various meanings from former to contemporary times. The various perceptions
of stone from past to contemporary times are discussed by four ethnologists and cultural
anthropologists. In the paper »Interpretations of stone in the Karst yesterday, today and
tomorrow« Jasna Fakin Bajec analyses the various roles and meanings of stone from the
past to nowadays in the region of Karst, which were changing in dependence to the proces-
ses of identity constructions (political, national, regional etc.): from the stone as the main
building material through the symbol of poverty to today’s symbol of the regional identi-
ty. Stone as a building material of fireplaces is the base of the paper »Fireplaces in the Vi-
pava Valley« of Špela Ledinek Lozej. The author discusses the form, structure, meanings,
and changes of fireplaces, which present different socially produced and constructed me-
taphors, among them the fireplace as a foundation of the household, and the fireplace as a
metaphor of home and homeliness. The other two papers analyse the past perceptions of
stone which were not bounded by the sharp divide between the inanimate and animate. In
the article »Planting, growing and breeding stones« Bojan Baskar has collected some evi-
dence of belief that stones grow, which can be traced to the ethnographic material from al-
most all continents but mostly in Europe. Before it was pushed aside by the modern sci-
ence, this belief also influenced the Early Modern researchers in Europe. The paper with
the title »Mythical Tradition in the Stone. The Snooty Babas as elements of rites of pas-
sage and social control« written by Katja Hrobat Virloget can be seen as a kind of upgra-
de of the previous research showing how the stones called Babas (Hags) were traditionally
perceived as animate beings. Beside the idea that the form of the object can be life giving,
she analyses the role of the folklore of these stones in the mythical tradition, the social and
territorial rituals of passage and its role in the social control of children’s movement in the
home landscape.
In the field of heritage interpretation Nigel T. W. Mills in his article »Public Presen-
tation of Stone Monuments« describes some opportunities and challenges in this field, fo-
cusing on his personal experiences as heritage interpreter and on the two examples of good
practices which are Hadrian’s Wall Interpretation Framework and Roman Frontier Gal-
lery at Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle. In the frame of stone interpreta-
tion Boštjan Žvanut and Maja Frencl in the paper »Versatility of mosaics: psychological,
sociological, aesthetic and organizational aspects« discuss the mosaic construction in the
past and in the present with its role in the contemporary society ‒ as a teambuilding tool,
children’s game, as an activation tool for citizens and institutions in the creation of the en-
vironment and as a tool in the human psychology.
10
