When we refer to ‘cultural heritage’, we are not just talking about monuments and artefacts, but also about all the ‘living’ traditions communicated by humans from generation to generation. This includes the traditions of Cremonese violin making, which have formed part of Unesco’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2012.
The importance of intangible cultural heritage, also known as ‘living heritage’, lies in the wealth of knowledge and skills communicated from one generation to the next. In 2014 the Cremonese lutherie community signalled to us the need for greater investment in training and cultural promotion. Now, almost ten years later, we can see the effect: many important goals have been reached, and above all we are on the path to defining Cremona as the world’s reference point of violin making expertise, and highlighting the extraordinary link between music and violin making between artists, musicians and master luthiers.