From tangible to intangible cultural heritage in Picardy: The failures of a bottom-up approach?

Ethnological heritage, and then intangible cultural heritage (ICH), have often been at the heart of new heritage projects over the last thirty years, driven in particular by non-institutional actors such as associations. But this is not the case everywhere. Based on a survey carried out in Picardy (Aisne and Somme), this article examines the reasons why, in this region, heritage associations have been created mainly around the monument and’great’ history, while attempts by cultural or political institutions to turn into heritage industrial sites, practices or popular objects have hardly met with any response.