Abstract

The ALIGHT project will shed light on Antarctica's living heritage, building tools to promote the understanding of the continent's cultural diversity. Antarctica is the only place on Earth without a native human population, territorial demarcations, or urbanization. Human presence is historically recent, beginning approximately two centuries ago. Since 1960, the occupation of Antarctica by people has been officially regulated by the Antarctic Treaty to occur temporarily, by seasonal rotation, with a focus on scientific research activities, and conditioned to generate only minimal environmental impacts. Logistical cooperation between countries and the cohabitation of researchers, military, and technical professionals, then became determining factors for coexistence on Antarctic stations. Such factors contribute to the development of a unique set of practices, memories, and cultural expressions, not mentioned or included in discourses and inventories of global cultural heritage. But, considering all these particularities, after all, what kind of intangible heritage does Antarctica embody? To begin proposing solutions to this gap, we aim to collect and analyze data on the intersection of cultural and natural heritage in Antarctica, mapping the living heritage in the region and informing directions for future studies.

Team