A Laboratory of Minorities - The territory of Ticino represents a form of cultural and linguistic minority within the Swiss Confederation: as the only officially monolingual Italian-speaking canton, it embodies a condition of being at the margins of the centre, where the dominant culture is often constructed through dialogue—or tension—with the German- and French-speaking regions.
Far from diminishing the complexity of its social and heritage fabric, this peripheral status actually reveals its richness. The southern Alpine territory is inhabited, crossed, or shaped by a multiplicity of minorities, often invisible in institutional heritage narratives. Acknowledging these minorities is not only integral to the very definition of heritage but also a means of questioning the implicit hierarchies that determine what deserves remembrance, protection, or transmission.
It is within this diversity that intangible cultural heritage today finds one of its strongest legitimacies—not merely as a supplement to monumental legacy, but as a tool for rebalancing collective memory. Ticino, historically marked by migration, cross-border exchanges, and cultural experimentation—most notably in the context of Monte Verità—thus offers fertile ground for rethinking heritage policies from the margins.
Over the years, the Ufficio dell’analisi e del patrimonio culturale digitale (UAPCD) has accumulated a wide range of experiences touching on multiple dimensions of cultural heritage. Whether material or immaterial, well known or overlooked, these heritage elements reflect the territory's complexity and bear the imprint of both majorities and minorities. They illustrate how forms of heritage can give voice to the past and help build a more inclusive historical narrative.
This pluralistic approach has been structured around the two services hosted by the office: the Osservatorio culturale del Cantone Ticino (OC) and the Sistema per la valorizzazione del patrimonio culturale (SVPC). These two entities rely on distinct yet complementary methodologies—quantitative and qualitative, synchronic and diachronic, analog and digital—which enable the exploration of the dynamic dimensions of heritage.
The UAPCD’s contribution is structured around three complementary case studies that highlight specific challenges encountered and the lessons learned from them.
Intangible Heritage as the Voice of Territories
Stories, traditions, and memories are not mere historical testimonies; they serve as mediators between past and present. Projects such as the Guida letteraria della Svizzera italiana (http://guidaletteraria.ti.ch) demonstrate how this heritage can connect places to forgotten narratives, transforming ordinary spaces into sites rich with memory and identity.
Numerous notable authors have lived in or travelled through this region, making the territory a narrative backdrop and portraying Italian-speaking Switzerland not as a monolithic space, but as a place of welcome, refuge, and creative inspiration.
This project combines dissemination and mediation of literary heritage with a strong participatory dimension. Launched in 2019 by the OC, the initiative has so far collected 3,044 georeferenced quotations, 852 authors, and 366 locations, thanks to public contributions. The project currently takes the form of a shared map that links quotations and places, with all data made openly available through an online mapping service (WMS). It has also supported the creation of numerous parallel initiatives: educational activities in compulsory schools, collaborations with university courses, publications, and a travelling exhibition.
This collaborative approach fosters engagement from local communities and strengthens the sense of ownership over intangible heritage, while also highlighting the region’s international connections. Based on this foundation, it becomes possible to develop thematic discovery routes, such as a literary map focused on cultural or social minorities. In this perspective, the cross-border project Libervie – LIBERVIE - LIBERtà di muoversi: VIE Culturali e Letterarie Transfrontaliere Accessibili e Inclusive (Interreg VI-A Italia–Svizzera 2021/2027) offers a particularly promising avenue.
The map creates the territory, and the territory creates the map: neither of these statements is true in isolation, but their mutual tension reveals a shared truth. The link between text and place is neither unidirectional nor mechanical; rather, it involves an interconnected and dialogic relationship that renews our mediation with the territory. Literature thus emerges as a powerful tool for raising awareness of minority issues, capable of offering a more nuanced understanding of their experiences and struggles.
Giving Voice to the Past from an Inclusive Perspective
In the absence of institutional recognition, many forms of heritage remain invisible. Initiatives such as Sàmara (http://samara.ti.ch) and the Agenda culturale della Svizzera italiana (http://www.ti.ch/agendaculturale), which rely on open data approaches and digital tools, offer concrete ways to document, disseminate, and valorise often overlooked heritage. They also raise the question of public institutions’ responsibility in shaping a more inclusive informational environment.
The Sàmara portal aligns with this objective by facilitating the aggregation of catalogued cultural content from public, academic, and private institutions. This free service aims to provide both researchers and the public with a centralized resource for exploring heritage collections—images, books, objects, and other types of documents. The project’s name and symbol draw inspiration from the Larousse publishing house and its motto “Je sème à tout vent.” The sàmara—the winged seed of the maple tree, common in the region—was chosen as a metaphor for a heritage in motion, in contrast with rigid institutional formulations or self-referential acronyms.
The Agenda e Operatori culturali portal serves as the reference point for cultural events organised in Italian-speaking Switzerland. The data it aggregates is openly accessible (via API) and can be queried using thematic filters. Some filters are designed to meet the needs of specific audiences, such as events in foreign languages, activities aimed at young people, or those with disabilities. Since last year, the database has been interconnected with information from Pro Infirmis, enabling users to consult detailed data on the accessibility of listed cultural venues.
Digital heritage has gained increasing importance over recent decades. As emphasized in the Charter on the Preservation of Digital Heritage, adopted by the UNESCO General Conference in 2003, this is a collective challenge—technological, cultural, and institutional. Access to cultural heritage has undeniably become easier, encouraging serendipitous discoveries and spontaneous uses. However, the growing volume of available data makes navigation more complex, particularly for non-specialist users. To address this challenge, thematic showcases are becoming increasingly valuable tools for offering structured and differentiated entry points into content and guiding users through their exploration.
Tangible and Intangible Impacts on the Baukultur
Recognizing and integrating intangible heritage into territorial planning opens the door to architectural and urban projects that can reflect the cultural diversity of societies. The valorisation of forgotten or marginalized narratives inspires interventions that are more attentive to the memory of places and aligned with a sustainable Baukultur, in which intangible heritage becomes a structural component of the built environment.
This impact, often underestimated, is nonetheless acknowledged in the Baukultur Strategy developed by the Federal Office of Culture (OFC):
"La représentation du monde au moyen d’images dans l’ensemble identiques et abstraites modifie la perception de l’espace analogique et influe directement sur l’environnement physique. L’environnement social d’une personne n’est plus lié à un lieu physique déterminé et il existe une interaction constante entre l’espace numérique et l’espace analogique et bâti".
This reflection highlights a profound transformation in our relationship with place. Territory is not merely a geographical entity—it is shaped by cultural sedimentation, the result of practices, beliefs, and uses transmitted over time. Communities produce lived space, marked by symbolic and social dynamics often absent from traditional representations.
From this perspective, heritage cannot be understood as a fixed entity, but rather as an active process at the intersection of memory, space, and social practices. This shift in perspective allows for a renewal of heritage policies, by integrating a greater diversity of voices that have long been marginalized.
In conclusion, without the recognition and valorisation of these discreet yet fundamental forms of heritage, it becomes difficult to truly give voice to the past. They are essential levers not only for constructing a shared memory but also for developing genuinely inclusive heritage policies.
Roland Hochstrasser, 2025
Bibliography
- Faro Convention. Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (2005). Council of Europe.
- Linee programmatiche cantonali di politica culturale 2024-2027 (2024). Dipartimento dell’educazione, della cultura e dello sport. Repubblica e Cantone Ticino
- Messaggio concernente la promozione della cultura negli anni 2021–2024 (2019). Ufficio federale della cultura.
- Strategia Cultura della costruzione (2020). Ufficio federale della cultura UFC.
- Bauman, Z. (2011) Modernità liquida. Roma: Laterza.
- Fiorentino, Francesco, e Carla Solivetti. Letteratura e geografia: atlanti, modelli, letture. Macerata: Quodlibet, 2012
