Events and meetings on intangible cultural heritage (co-)organized by UNESCO

Due to difficult circumstances in Iraq, the community-based inventorying training and the nominations training are combined into one workshop in Amman Jordan. The structure and formulation of the workshop can be improvised by facilitators to adhere to the needs of the participants in such crisis situations. However, we should be clear that the content of the material in these training workshops remain the same in that they represent safeguarding ICH in a manner that is in line with the 2003 Convention. The approach of implementation of the workshop is a new attempt at providing UNESCO services in an unusual situation of conflict.

After seven months of field work in the communities of Boa Morte and Santo Antonio the National Directorate of Culture of Sao Tomé and Principe evaluates the results of the Inventory exercise, which was launched in April this year. From 23 to 27 November 2015 some 25 actors involved in gathering the information during this period meet to identify lessons learnt and consolidate an action plan for the future ICH safeguarding efforts in the archipelago. To ensure continuity of the April workshop, UNESCO expert facilitators will provide guidance in taking stock of the findings and developing the national strategy. In the same vein of continuity the culture officer from Cabo Verde will once more participate in Sao Tome to share the experience gained in the process with his colleagues in Cabo Verde who currently develop their own community-based inventory.

The National Cultural Heritage Institute of Angola and UNESCO jointly organize a workshop on the implementation of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage at national level. The workshop, which will take place from 9 to 13 November 2015 in Luanda, will discuss the scope and objectives as well as the obligations of the State Parties under this international legal instrument.

As part of UNESCO’s global strategy aiming to enhance national capacity for safeguarding of living heritage in the Portuguese speaking countries in Africa (PALOP), the workshop will gather some 20 Angolan participants, including stakeholders from local to national levels. With the aim to strengthen regional cooperation among PALOP countries, the training will be entirely facilitated by two Mozambican experts who have been previously trained through the same programme.

This workshop is made possible thanks to the generous contribution from the Government of Norway to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund.

This workshop was not included in the J-FIT Phase II workplan. A workshop on community-based inventorying was already conducted in Lao PDR with J-FIT funding in 2013 during Phase I. However, the Heritage Department team expressed the need to follow a refresher course before undertaking the pilot field inventory earmarked as part of this project. External funding was identified for this refresher. The workshop was organized in the city of Luang Prabang, situated in the province where the pilot inventory was to take place. Community members and members of the Provincial Department, as well as 5 practitioners were invited as trainees. They could gain a thorough understanding of community-based inventories techniques as well as participate in the following field activities. Participants were divided into 4 teams for field practicum to document the epok puppet theatre of Xieng Thong village, ‘khap’ singing in Phone Phaeng village, silversmithing and hand-made textiles in Pha Nom village. Two teams were led by workshop’s participants who were also practitioners.

Efforts to safeguard intangible cultural heritage (ICH) are gaining momentum throughout Asia-Pacific, resulting in a need for more highly-trained professionals in this area. Universities can play an important role in this regard, which is why UNESCO is organizing a regional symposium on 2-3 November in Bangkok to promote the integration of ICH at post-graduate levels in Asia-Pacific higher education. This event was made possible with financial support from the Fund for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The past decade has seen an increase in the number of post-graduate programmes in heritage education in general; however few focus specifically on intangible cultural heritage. Professionals in the cultural heritage sector tend to instead have backgrounds that emphasize the management of tangible heritage (architecture conservation and archaeology, for example).
The UNESCO symposium aims to encourage universities in Asia-Pacific to develop post-graduate level trainings in the field of intangible cultural heritage.
Twenty-two executives, professors and course conveners from 20 universities will take part in the two day event to discuss and share knowledge and resources on these issues. The institutions come from thirteen countries across the region: Australia, China, Kazakhstan, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Discussions will include the identification of key principles of ICH safeguarding for post-graduate studies; exploring disciplines and structures for ICH programmes; and embedding ICH safeguarding in the development of ICH studies at the post-graduate level.
The symposium will also help deepen the knowledge base of participants on methodologies and resources pertinent to ICH as well as promote networking opportunities among them as well as with UNESCO for further collaboration on ICH educational programmes at the post-graduate level.

Documents

• Agenda: English
• Background note: English

The workshop on the preparation of nomination files for inscription on the lists of the 2003 Convention (the Representative List and the Urgent Safeguarding List) and the preparation of requests for international assistance is held under the implementation of the project “Safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage through the strengthening of national capacities in the Maghreb” following the workshops on the implementation of the Convention and on participatory inventories.
This workshop held in the city of Nabeul from 2 to 6 November 2015 aims at developing and strengthening the capacity of representatives of officials from various ministries, actors of civil society, community members and other heritage specialists concerning the the development of nomination files on the lists of the Convention and the preparation of requests for international assistance. The implementation and monitoring of this workshop will allow Tunisia to count on institutional staff with the required knowledge of the mechanisms of the Convention which will contribute to the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage ratified by Tunisia who will be able to develop quality files.

The first of three capacity-building workshops will take place this week in the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, from 25-29 October, 2015.
This workshop will focus on the key concepts of the 2003 Convention and their implementation, through community based inventorying, safeguarding measures, and policy development strategies. It will also provide a good opportunity to demonstrate to the participants some good examples on the best practices of safeguarding ICH, as well as other projects from the Arab World.
Comprising of 25 participants from the Center’s staff and various stakeholders working in the field of cultural heritage.
Conducted by UNESCO and two of its expert facilitators, this workshop is an example of a training requested and financed by an institution wishing to build its capacities to better integrate the provisions of the Convention in its activities.