This October we are slowly bidding farewell to an exceptionally vibrant period characterized by activities related to the Giser miners’ house. From numerous owners, We at the ID20 Institute acquired the dilapidated building earlier in the summer, as we wish for this former residential structure of venerable age not to decay but to remain a monument to Idrija’s rich residential heritage. We are concluding the activities of the past months with the release of an e-brochure, which we have prepared with the support of the Ministry of the Natural Resources and Spatial Planning, presenting our efforts in this area.
At the ID20 Institute and the Idrija 2020 Society, we have carried out several projects in recent months aimed at the revitalization of the Giser miners’ house in Idrija, which had been abandoned for almost two decades. International solidarity has been at the forefront, as we engaged numerous young people from various European countries in activities aimed at preserving and developing cultural heritage. We combined physical activities to protect the endangered structure with digital efforts to showcase the values of international solidarity and cultural heritage preservation to the public.
Old knowledge in the hands of the young
We started the activities on June 22 – the feast day of St. Ahacius, which is inseparably linked to Idrija’s history due to the discovery of a rich cinnabar vein in 1508. The young volunteers came from all over Europe – Montenegro, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. We used the first days to get to know Idrija and its surroundings, and soon after, we began our work. The first task was to clean up the overgrown surroundings, which were a stark contrast to the once carefully maintained green areas in Idrija. , we had to remove a lot of items accumulated through the years from the interior, ensuring that we identified all historically significant objects. Once the old mining house could breathe again, we could proceed with the next steps.
In smaller groups and accompanied by experienced mentors, we tackled various tasks to improve the condition of the old miners’ house. One of the important goals inside the house was the renovation of the worn-out double-wing windows. We sanded the wooden parts, coated them with protective paint, inserted new glass, and applied new glazing putty to achieve better protection of the building. Outside the house, we paid a lot of attention to landscaping the gardens on previously overgrown areas in front of, beside, and behind the house. In collaboration with an experienced garden planner, we prepared a planting plan and spread a call for donations of seedlings from locals on social networks. With a great response – within a few days, we received over 200 seedlings of 60 different plant species from locals – we managed to thoroughly enrich the surroundings of the mining house with ornamental and edible plants by the end of the activity.
A lot of carpentry knowledge was required for the renovation of the garden shed – lusthaus, which received a new look with our project. We removed the worn-out wooden parts and, with the help of a carpenter, built a new garden shed, while volunteers assembled some garden furniture from old planks. All these activities showed good results after three weeks of work, as young volunteers gained a lot of experience in handling various tools they were not familiar with before, and the previously abandoned miners’ house acquired many important improvements.
Listen to a podcast on what a volunteer from the Netherlands, Joost Nussy, said about his volunteer experience ( Hosted by Urša Mihevc)
Digitized objects of cultural heritage
In addition to knowledge exchange and carrying out physically demanding activities, we also focused on preparing various digital content. One of our tasks was the digitization of documents and photographs we discovered in the dusty drawers of the abandoned Giser miners’ house. We uploaded the obtained digital copies to a cloud storage and prepared a projection for public presentation. Cecilia, an Italian volunteer who conducted her study internship in Idrija until September, continued the digitization of numerous tools and objects found in the house. In addition to digitizing old materials, we diligently recorded daily activities with cameras and created promotional videos from the footage, which we published on social networks and our YouTube channel. The project received a lot of attention in traditional media as well, as we appeared twice on national radio and television with volunteers, thus achieving a wide dissemination of the values of international solidarity with endangered cultural heritage.
The open day connected the local community
The highlight of the three-week volunteer activity was the open day at the Giser mining house, where together with volunteers, we showcased the changes we achieved through our collective efforts. Around 40 visitors – from supporters and neighbors to random passersby – eagerly followed the presentations by the Idrija team and international volunteers. They proudly displayed the cleaned surroundings of the house, which previously resembled more of a jungle than an integral part of the urban fabric. Visitors were happily invited into the renovated garden shed – lusthaus, and inside, they were shown the restored old double-wing windows with new glazing. The projections in the former kitchen also attracted a lot of attention, where visitors could see a series of digitized old photographs, a comparison of the house’s condition before and after, and footage of the garden shed renovation. We concluded the communal gathering with a musical program prepared by volunteers Tom and Salva.
Digital brochure for project conclusion
With the aim of making the results of our efforts as sustainable as possible and inspiring other organizations for similar initiatives in the local community, we have decided to present all our activities in the form of a digital brochure. In it, we have collected blogs written by volunteers during their stay in Idrija and published videos that were accumulated during the activities. The publication will serve as a permanent document of our activities during the summer months of 2021 when, through our joint efforts, we contributed to the preservation of the previously endangered miners’ house.
Mednarodna prostovoljska aktivnost je bila izvedena v okviru projekta »Mladi za rudarsko dediščino«, ki je sofinanciran s strani programa Evropska solidarnostna enota.
Serija delavnic ter priprava blogov in videoposnetkov pa je bila v sklopu projekta »Idrijska krajina – navdih iz preteklosti za trajnostno ustvarjanje mladih« izvedena s finančno pomočjo Ministrstva za okolje in prostor Republike Slovenije.
Praksa, ki jo je v Idriji opravljala študentka iz Italije je bila izvedena v sodelovanju z Università degli studi di Bergamo v okviru programa Erasmus+.