Culture Vannin is the trading name for the Manx Heritage Foundation, established in 1982 by the

Isle of Man Government The Isle of Man Government ( gv, Reiltys Ellan Vannin) is the government of the Isle of Man. The formal head of the Isle of Man Government is the Lieutenant Governor, the personal representative of Charles III. The executive head is the Chief Mi ...

to promote Manx

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these grou ...

, heritage and

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

. It was rebranded in February 2014, having previously been known as the "Manx Heritage Foundation" ( gv, Undinys Eiraght Vannin), since the former title "held connotations more towards the cultural history of the island" which were not felt to be accurate to the organisation's progressive approach to invigorating Manx culture.'Re-brand to better reflect its work'
News item on IOM Today, published 18 February 2014 Culture Vannin's motto is "Taking our culture forward".

Organisation

The management board of the Foundation consists of two MHKs appointed by

Tynwald Tynwald ( gv, Tinvaal), or more formally, the High Court of Tynwald ( gv, Ard-whaiyl Tinvaal) or Tynwald Court, is the legislature of the Isle of Man. It consists of two chambers, known as the branches of Tynwald: the directly elected House ...

, three members of the general public nominated by the Council of Ministers and approved by Tynwald, and a representative from both the Isle of Man Arts Council and

Manx National Heritage Manx National Heritage ( gv, Eiraght Ashoonagh Vannin) is the national heritage organisation for the Isle of Man. The organisation manages a significant proportion of the island’s physical heritage assets including over 3,000 acres of coastlin ...

. It is chaired by Chris Thomas MHK. The Foundation currently employs four members staff: * Director: Dr Breesha Maddrell * Manx Language Development Officer: Ruth Keggin Gell * Manx Music Development Officer: Dr Chloë Woolley Its offices are based in Fairfield House, St. John's, opposite Tynwald Hill and next to Bunscoill Ghaelgagh. Having announced plans for this relocation in June 2015, Culture Vannin opened its doors to the public at Fairfield House on Tynwald Day 2016. It was previously located at

The Nunnery, Douglas The Nunnery is an estate outside of Douglas on the Isle of Man, named after a religious foundation on the site, at . The Nunnery is located on Old Castletown Road, Braddan. In 1999, the estate was acquired for the Isle of Man International Bus ...

Activities

Culture Vannin's policy states that its four main aims are:

1) To identify the unique areas of Manx Heritage and Culture and;
2) To find practical ways of making them relevant to today's society;
3) To support the Manx identity and contemporary Manx culture.

The Foundation sets out to achieve these aims by offering financial assistance through grants or loans, by undertaking and commissioning its own research/publishing, and by offering practical advice and assistance where appropriate. The Foundation considers Manx culture to include all of the following:

crafts A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

, natural history,

music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to inclu ...

, folk-lore, art, folk dance,

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...

, industrial development, law and

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

. Examples of key work carried out by the Foundation includes: * The awarding of '' Reih Bleeaney Vanannan'' (Manannan's Choice of the Year) in recognition of an outstanding contribution to Manx culture. This has been awarded annually since 1987. * Support of events that celebrate the Manx language, music and dance, including: Shennaghys Jiu, Yn Chruinnaght, Cooish and Bree. * The publication or support for publication of a number of books, CDs and DVDs. * Commissioning and supporting a number of oral history projects.'Oral History'
on the ''Manx Heritage Foundation'' website (accessed May 15, 2013)

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 54.203107, -4.641731, display=title, region:IM Cultural organisations based in the Isle of Man Organizations established in 1982 Manx language Celtic language advocacy organizations 1982 establishments in the Isle of Man Government of the Isle of Man