JORGE CHENOVART - Luis Blanco Domínguez works as a Communication Engineer but also Cultural Manager from his heart, according to his words. University of Valencia’s Master’s Degree in Cultural Management has been awarded with the Estudia VLC award for Best Final Project Research Work which was called by InnDEA Foundation for the project “La Seda: El hilo conductor de un itinerario cultural” (Silk: A guiding thread of a cultural itinerary). Silk Road implantation project in the province of Valencia. It is a project that combines present day (since Valencia is the Silk Capital City 2016) with the development of a own heritage. “Silk heritage is gathered in the city and the province of Valencia, but also in the rest of Spanish and Valencian territory“, says Blanco.

According to Blanco, the objective of the investigation is not the creation of a classic cultural itinerary such as the Road to Santiago, which has a well-defined route. It has to be modern and look at the heritage from a multidimensional perspective, analyzing the possibilities the Silk Road has from several point of views, such as an anthropological, urban, sociological and touristical view. “Currently, cultural itineraries are the result of all heritage inclinations viewed form different perspectives. It is here where the social factor creates an interaction”, he explains.

The student from Madrid chose to work in this area because of an observation: the oblivion of the silk heritage. “In Valencia we have the best silk heritage of Spain. We don’t have to forget that valencian tradition is directly bound to this heritage”, he points out. The union of material and immaterial heritages is the entry point for a project with a feasible cultural dimension, once made the restoration of Colegio del Arte Mayor de la Seda (College of Silk Art) by Hortensia Herrero Foundation since 2014. The director of the project has been Miquel Ángel Ruiz, Professor of the Faculty of Social Sciences. He has assured that the choice is related to the aim of recovery of the material and cultural heritage. “It is necessary to remember that since the 90’s we have been trying to get this heritage back, through several museum activities, that is why the one Luis is proposing is possible”, Ruiz states. The student has made a proposal in his project; how the diferent point of views realted to the recovery of the heritage can be joint together in an efficient way, through the management of virtual communities.

Rewarding a humanistic project breaks with InnDEA tendency of only rewarding technological projects. “I chose this topic because it seemed to me that there was a slackness related to silk material and immaterial heritage and it was in danger of disappearance. I had to familiarize myself with valencian traditional costume, which has silk as its principal element”, Blanco explains. The immaterial role which Blanco is speaking about is related to his investigations about the limited silk work in Valencia, when some people who raised worms during the 60’s are still alive.
“I was not expecting such a solemn event, everything is going to take me by surprise”, Blanco explains. The one who was not surprised was Miquel Ángel Ruiz, who has pointed out how easy has been to him to direct Luis during his investigation: “It is not common, because there are many Master’s degree students who find difficult to pick a topic and carry it out. Luis has been very methodical”, Professor says. Moreover, he has standed up for this project since, according to him, it does not requiere a great investment.

Blanco sets out that the interest for recovering Silk Road should never be forgotten. 2016 is the key for improving financial investments. “All this heritage must be in value and active. Let the people know that this development has a social, cultural and economical repayment through tourism”, he says. From now on, the difficult part is to combine his work and to improve the historical aspect. Moreover, we have to contact with professional of the area in order to promote and revitalise Silk Road, working with several Valencian groups -both, public and privates- to reach a good tourist product. In this regard, Blanco explains: “The plan of revitalisation will take, minimum, four years”.