Living Heritage

Author: Boštjan Burger

Living Heritage in Slovenia: Between Carnival Rites, Family Experiences, and the Evolution of Digital Memory

Slovenian living heritage is a space where the past and present meet in the rhythm of bells, the shimmer of masks, and the laughter of the community. Carnival customs – from Kurentovanje in Ptuj to the Laufarija in Cerkno – are not merely folkloric remnants, but a living organism that awakens the landscape, the people, and their stories every year. Within this colorful world of tradition, deeply personal moments are hidden, connecting heritage with family, creativity, and technological progress.

Kurentovanje in Ptuj – Between Ritual and Family Exploration

Today, Kurentovanje is a symbol of Slovenian carnival identity, but for me, decades ago, it was also the setting of a special family adventure. As the Kurenti drove away winter with their bells, my daughters watched their mighty presence with wide eyes. There was something primal in their excitement – a childhood curiosity that tradition could awaken without words.

While my daughters enjoyed the lively bustle, I found an opportunity for professional curiosity: documentation. Back then, a camera was the only tool I had, but I used it with a sense of capturing unique glimpses of an ancient rite. The desire for a holistic presentation also led me to my first attempts at 360° spatial capture – pioneering, almost romantic efforts that look archaic today but were a bold act of technological exploration at the time.

Fašenk in Markovci – Creativity Connecting Generations

Markovci was a different world: more intimate, more folk-oriented, more playful. My daughters laughed at the sight of the plowmen (orači), musicians, and satirical groups who commented on everyday life with humor. For them, Fašenk was primarily entertainment; for me, it was also a valuable insight into how tradition transforms and responds to modernity.

Every shot I captured was part of a larger story – not just about masks, but about how a community lives its identity. At the same time, it was a part of our family history: moments when we together immersed ourselves in a world that was simultaneously ancient and surprisingly alive.

Cerkno Laufarija – An Archaic Ritual Captured through the Lens

With its wooden masks, the Cerkno Laufarija always felt like theater from another time. When we found ourselves among the Laufarji as a family, it was as if we had stepped into an ancient ritual that modernity could not entirely tame.

My daughters marveled at the unusual characters, while I tried to capture their symbolism – not just in photographs, but in the spatial feeling that I could only roughly reconstruct back then. Today, such a recording would be a matter of a second, but then it was the result of patience, improvisation, and technical ingenuity.

Carnival Parades – A Space Where Tradition and Modernity Meet

Modern carnivals across Slovenia were a family playground of imagination for us. My daughters would lose themselves among witches, dragons, and the characters of Butale, while I saw in this colorful chaos an opportunity to document the evolution of the Slovenian carnival landscape.

Every event became a double record: a family memory and a professional document. In this intertwining, something I didn't yet know how to name began to take shape – a digital web archive that recorded not only tradition but also the development of technology, ways of presentation, and the possibilities opened by the World Wide Web.

From Camera to Digital Archive – A Personal Story of Technological Progress

Looking back today, it seems incredible how complex it once was to capture an event in a 360° perspective. Technology was limited, processes were time-consuming, and results were often incomplete. Yet, that pioneering phase was precious: it was a time of learning, experimenting, and building the foundations for something that is taken for granted today.

Today's tools allow for a spatial experience to be captured almost incidentally. But the value of those early attempts remains – they are part of personal and professional history, part of a wider story of how digital technology evolves along with our needs, curiosity, and desire to preserve heritage.

 

Slovenian living heritage is rich, diverse, and constantly in motion. In my memory, it is also connected to family moments, the laughter of my daughters, a sense of shared exploration, and the first steps into the world of digital documentation.

What began as a family trip to carnival events eventually became part of a broader digital archive – a bridge between tradition, personal memory, and technological development. It is in this intertwining that the true power of living heritage lies: that it connects us, inspires us, and encourages us to create new ways to understand and preserve the world around us.