Benefitting country(ies): Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama

Overview:

This thirteen-month project aims to build a common conceptual and methodological basis for the safeguarding intangible cultural heritage of Afro-descendants in Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. It is the first stage (preparation and planning) of a larger initiative titled ‘Safeguarding of the Afro-descendant Intangible Cultural Heritage of the SICA region and Cuba,’ to be developed between 2022 and 2025 by the Central American Educational and Cultural Coordination of the Central American Cultural Integration System (CECC/SICA). The project has three main objectives: (a) strengthen the intangible cultural heritage management capacities of officials and community representatives from the nine participating countries; (b) identify and analyse the processes and actions targeting intangible cultural heritage of people of African-descent in the region in order to build national safeguarding proposals; and (c) spread awareness about the knowledge gained from the capacity-building process and the importance of Afro-descendant culture and history in the region. To achieve these objectives, the countries are developing three in-person workshops, a virtual working group and provide virtual support. Expected project outputs include strengthened capacities for intangible cultural heritage management, a mapping of relevant safeguarding initiatives in the region, common guidelines for the development of a multinational inventory of the intangible cultural heritage of Afro-descendants, and a virtual microsite for the dissemination of the project results.

03/08/2022 - 30/04/2024 – Between the Amazon and the Andes: safeguarding and transmission of the Traditional knowledge and techniques associated with Pasto Varnish mopa-mopa of the Putumayo and Nariño departments of Colombia08/10/2021 - 08/04/2023 – Documentation and inventory of peu karioi (performing arts) in the Cook Islands