Meetings on intangible cultural heritage (co-)organized by UNESCO

The workshop was a follow-up to the sub-regional meeting that the Section of Intangible Cultural Heritage organized on the implementation of the 2003 Convention and ICH inventorying in November 2006 in Dar es Salaam. It is the first of a series of three to be organized for African states.

How can countries—and especially the communities among whom intangible heritage is found—best safeguard heritage that is living, not fixed in buildings or monuments? One effective tool to support international cooperation in such safeguarding efforts, and to strengthen national capacities, is the Intangible Heritage Convention. Adopted by UNESCO in 2003 and entered into force in 2006, this legal instrument had ninety States Parties at the moment of the meeting.

The workshop focused on introducing the Convention to cultural officials of southern African nations, explaining the ratification process, and considering with them how they might implement the Convention to best achieve its goals.

The workshop was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Government of Norway within the framework of the UNESCO/Norway Funds-in-Trust.

Co-organizer : Department of Arts and Culture (South Africa) : http://www.dac.gov.za/

• Media advisory (English)
• Meeting venue: Saint George Hotel, Pretoria, South Africa
• Agenda (English|French)
• List of participants (English|French)
• Speeches
  Director of the Division of Cultural Objects and Intangible Heritage, UNESCO (English)
  Minister of Arts and Culture of South Africa (English)
• Workshop document (English|French)
• Workshop report (English|French)
• Attachments of the workshop report (English)

The objective of the inter-departmental meeting was to bring together all the governmental actors involved in the ratification procedure by Papua New Guinea of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

During the sub-regional meeting in the Pacific on the 2003 Convention, organized in Nadi, Fiji in December 2007, several participating States, including Papua New Guinea, requested assistance from UNESCO in preparing the ratification and implementation of the 2003 Convention in the Pacific. The Director General of UNESCO, during his official visit to Papua New Guinea in February 2008, affirmed UNESCO’s readiness to fully assist the Government through the organization of a national consultation meeting.

Through the meeting organized with the support of Japanese Funds in Trust, UNESCO provided the Government with assistance necessary to present a proposal for the ratification of the 2003 Convention at the National Parliament. The meeting also aimed at reinforcing capacity of governmental officers in the field of culture as well as stakeholders concerned in participating at the international level in the implementation of the Convention, in particular through the submission of intangible heritage elements for inscription on the lists of the Convention and the submission of international assistance requests.

• Meeting venue: Crown Plaza Hotel, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
• Agenda (English)
• List of participants (English)
• Speeches
  Hon. Charles Abel MP, Minister for Culture and Tourism of Papua New Guinea (English)
  Dr. Jacob Simet, National Cultural Commission of Papua New Guinea (English)
• Presentations
  International Treaty Making Procedures in Papua New Guinea, by Mr Fred Sarufa (English)
  State of legislation for the safeguarding of Papua New Guinea Intangible Cultural Heritage, by Mr Hale Lahui (English)
• Conclusion (English)

Following Kenya’s ratification of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in October 2007, the Department of Culture of the Ministry of Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services and the UNESCO Office in Nairobi are jointly convening a two-day meeting on the implementation of the Convention.
Some sixty participants, representing ministries, provincial administrations, universities, non-governmental organizations and individuals working in the field of culture will attend the meeting.

The objectives of the workshop are to provide stakeholders with the information relating to the 2003 Convention and to discuss a national strategy for its implementation, with particular attention to the:

• preparation of an inventory or inventories of intangible cultural heritage on Kenya’s territory;
• preparation of nomination files to the Representative List and to the List of Intangible Heritage in Urgent Need of Safeguarding, and;
• enhancement of the existing national mechanism, including the participation of communities, for promoting and safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage in Kenya.

Contacts: Fumiko Ohinata, Programme Specialist for Culture, UNESCO Nairobi Office and Silverse Anami, Director of Culture, Ministry of Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services.

The meeting was organized by UNESCO, in cooperation with the Fijian authorities and with the financial support of Japan, to provide updated information on the activities carried out at the international level for safeguarding intangible heritage and on the possible benefits of ratifying the 2003 Convention for Pacific States. Some 30 participants from 19 pacific States and territories, as well as from three pacific organizations, exchanged their views and experiences in safeguarding their countries’ living heritage. The meeting was opened by Fiji’s honorable Minister for Education and Culture, Mr Netani Sukanaivalu.

The meeting contributed to sharing concerns and experiences concerning inventorying intangible cultural heritage, indigenous rights and intellectual property rights, as well as clarifying misunderstandings about the relation of the 2003 Convention to other normative instruments. The meeting also served as a first step to develop a medium term strategy for the safeguarding of the Pacific’s intangible heritage within the framework of the implementation of the Convention. It would include the organization of national consultative meetings aimed at providing necessary assistance for stakeholders who will be involved in the ratification and implementation of the Convention in each country.

The meeting was closed by the Honorable Minister of Culture of Palau, Mr Alexander Merep, who underscored the important role that the Convention will have in contributing to intercultural dialogue and sustainable development.

• List of participants (English)
• Agenda (English)
• Presentations:
  • Marcelin Abong: The experience of safeguarding of the intangible heritage in the Republic of Vanuatu (English)
  • James Andrew Cormack Mc Kenzie: Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention, issues from a New Zealand perspective (English)
  • Lawrence Foana’ota: Safeguarding the traditional knowledge of dolphin calling in North Malaita, Solomon Islands (English)
  • Sipiriano Nemani: Cultural mapping: an approach to safeguarding indigenous fijians intangible cultural heritage (Notes: English; Slideshow: English ©INSTITUTE OF FIJIAN LANGUAGE & CULTURE)
  • Hon. Albert Tu’ivanuavou Vaea: Our Oral History is Memorized in Our Singing and Dances, Tonga (English)
• Final report (English)

Structured around case studies from the region, the meeting aimed to provide a platform for experts and practitioners to discuss how best to strengthen communities’ capacities to control and manage their own Intangible Cultural Heritage in the face of increased tourism. The key themes under which the case studies were organized include:

• Handicrafts in the context of sustainable cultural tourism
• Performing arts in the context of sustainable cultural tourism
• ICH in the context of environmental, agricultural and eco tourism

The meeting has been organized by the Hue Monuments Conservation Center (HMCC), the Department of National Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Viet Nam, the Korean Establishment Initiative for the Intangible Heritage Centre for Asia-Pacific (EIIHCAP) and the Office of the UNESCO Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific.

• Meeting page on UNESCO Bangkok website
• Final report: English

This meeting, consisting of a restricted working group (8 experts), aims to work out or update definitions for about thirty concepts that are frequently used in the context of the safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The resulting definitions will be included in the form of “boxes” or explanatory notes within the general manual under preparation, and in the thematic manuals that will follow. It appears useful today to supplement and re-examine the definitions worked out by an international meeting of experts in 2002.

• Background paper (English|French)
• Invited experts:
  • Mrs Harriet DEACON (South Africa)
  • Mrs Maria Cecilia Londres FONSECA (Brasil)
  • Mrs Sudha GOPALAKRISHNAN (India)
  • Mrs Catherine H. KERST (USA)
  • Mr Chérif KHAZNADAR (France)
  • Mr Toshiyuki KONO (Japan)
  • Mr Ahmed SKOUNTI (Morocco)
  • Mr Willem VAN ZANTEN (Netherlands)
• Final outcomes: English|French

This meeting has been devoted to the intangible cultural heritage of the Principality of Andorra, the Republic of Cyprus, the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg and the Principality of Monaco.

Discussions among eminent experts from those States focussed on three main themes:

• Intangible cultural heritage and building identities;
• Drawing up of inventories and the participation of the civil society and local communities;
• Inscription of elements on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity: criteria and objectives.

This Expert Meeting is held to support the preparation of the third edition of the Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger of Disappearing. The meeting is organized and hosted by UNESCO within the framework of its activities under the Endangered Languages Programme and the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Experts are invited to discuss current trends and innovations in linguistic cartography. This will include discussions of recent experiences and projects in language mapping in various parts of the world, particularly any such projects as have focused on endangered languages but also including others focused on language distribution, dialectology, diachronic mapping, genetic relations or other subjects.

• Background paper (English|French)
• Venue: room XIV, floor -2, Building B (Miollis), headquarters
• Invited experts
  • Prof. Ronald E. Asher, Professor of linguistics & English Language (The University of Edinburgh, UK)
  • Ms Kay Dancey, Manager Cartographic Services (Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies - College of Asian and the pacific - The Australian National University, Australia)
    Presentation: Our Experience of Linguistic Mapping and Thoughts on its Future Direction (English)
  • Prof. Jürgen Handke, Professor of English and computational linguistics (University of Marburg, Germany)
    Presentation: Mapping Technologies and Linguistic Tools (English)
  • Prof. Suwilai Premsrirat, Professor of Linguistics (Center for Documentation and Revitalization of Endangered Languages - Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development - Mahidol University, Thailand)
  • Dr Mesmin Tchindjang, Cartographer (Département de Géographie - Université de Yaoundé, Cameroon)
    Presentation: La cartographie linguistique, traceuse de l’histoire, des civilisations et des cultures: une application au Cameroun ( in preparation - in preparation|French)
  • Ms. Irene Tucker, Cartographer (Summer Institute of Linguistics, UK)
• Summary report (English)

The workshop, organized by UNESCO Maputo following the similar workshop organized by UNESCO Dar es Salaam in Antananarivo, aimed at designing practical tools for inventorying ICH in Portuguese speaking countries in Africa. It also included the discussion concerning the safeguarding of ICH.

The workshop consisted of the following three main activities:

1. Presentation and discussion of conceptual and methodological issues regarding ICH, such as:
   • UNESCO’s 2003 Convention;
   • Relevant aspects of anthropological theory,
   • General methodological guidelines for cultural inventories.
   • Problems of ethics and of social responsibility in inventory making.
2. Presentation and discussion of the “state of the arts” regarding the context(s) for which the inventory is being planned.
3. Designing inventory tools for pre-test and delineation of basic aspects of the inventory project. The work implied taking specific project decisions concerning the following items:
   • Elaboration of a preliminary list of ICH elements, on the basis of the participants’ previous knowledge of their country’s (or region’s) cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity;
   • Identification of the domains covered by the inventory, as well as types and categories of ICH elements if applicable, which implies a critical appreciation and possible widening of the above mentioned preliminary list;
   • Delimitation of the area where the pre-test and future inventory will be undertaken,
   • A basic planning of the pre-test.

The workshop was attended by 25 participants from 4 countries: Angola (1), Cape Verde (1), Sao Tomé e Principe (1), and Mozambique (22), Dr. Antonio Augusto Arantes Neto (anthropologiest), and staff of UNESCO Maputo.

• List of participants: Portuguese
• Report: Portuguese

The workshop, organized by UNESCO Dar es Salaam in cooperation with the Direction de l’Identité, des Traditions et de l’Innovation, aimed at designing practical tools for inventorying ICH in Madagascar. It also included the discussion concerning the safeguarding of ICH.

The workshop consisted of the following three main activities:

1. Presentation and discussion of conceptual and methodological issues regarding ICH, such as:
   • UNESCO’s 2003 Convention;
   • Relevant aspects of anthropological theory,
   • General methodological guidelines for cultural inventories.
   • Problems of ethics and of social responsibility in inventory making.
2. Presentation and discussion of the “state of the arts” regarding the context(s) for which the inventory is being planned: cultural formation of the country (or region), existing heritage legislation and preservation practices, lists and present condition of safeguarded heritage, main programs and projects that are being developed in this field and perspectives for the safeguarding of ICH in near future, particularly in terms of inventory making.
3. Designing inventory tools for pre-test and delineation of basic aspects of the inventory project. Besides the production of inventory observation tools, these activities were a pedagogical exercise aiming at the development of the participants’ awareness of the complexity of ICH, its deeper symbolic meaning for their fellow countrymen and its importance in terms of their social, political and economic realities. This aspect of the work implied taking specific project decisions concerning the following items:
   • Elaboration of a preliminary list of ICH elements, on the basis of the participants’ previous knowledge of their country’s (or region’s) cultural, ethnic and linguistic diversity;
   • Identification of the domains covered by the inventory, as well as types and categories of ICH elements if applicable, which implies a critical appreciation and possible widening of the above mentioned preliminary list;
   • Delimitation of the area where the pre-test and future inventory will be undertaken,
   • A basic planning of the pre-test.

The workshop was attended by 15 government officials working in the field of culture at the central and regional levels, assisted by Dr. Lala Raharinjanahary (anthropologist), Dr. Antonio Augusto Arantes Neto (anthropologiest), and the Programme Specialist for Cultural of UNESCO Dar es Salaam.

• Agenda: French

Contact: Tim Curtis, UNESCO Office in Dar es Salaam

In view of the complicated nature of the process of inventory making, the somewhat contradictory practices carried out so far and the profound impact that this process eventually implies on local, national, and international level, and bearing in mind that the best practices of international cooperation involve meetings of deliberation by equal parties, we convened the current regional seminar to analyse, exchange experience and debate on the issues of inventory making. This meeting brought together experts representing different regions of Europe, largely combining the expertise and practices of Eastern and Western Europe. The rather limited regional scope is simultaneously covering relatively similar, yet also distinctly diverse historical experience that would hopefully provide a good basis for fruitful discussion.

• Background paper, agenda and provisional list of participants (English)
• Presentations
  • Introductory presentation by Kristin Kuutma: Making Inventories: A Constraint or an Asset? (English)
  • Irina Balotescu: Inventory Making in Romania (English)
  • Dace Bula, Signe Pujate : ICH inventory in Latvia: experience reconsidered (English)
  • Christian Hottin : Inventories of Intangible Cultural Heritage in France (English)
  • Valdimar Tr. Hafstein : Recognizing Intangible Cultural Heritage in Iceland (English)
  • Agnes Kovacs Biro: Inventory Making in Hungary (English)
  • Vida Šatkauskiene: Lithuanian National ICH Inventory (English)
  • Magnure Velure : Outline for a solution in Norway (English)
  • Ulrike Kammerhofer-Aggermann, presented by Maria Walcher: Inventory Making in Austria (English)
  • Alla Stashkevich: Belarus (Russian)
• Summary report, by Magne Velure (English)
  

Organized by the Estonian National Commission for UNESCO - Contact: Margit Siim

The meeting’s purpose was to invite experts to discuss a number of matters of fundamental importance related to the two lists to be established under the 2003 Convention, as well as examine and debate draft inscription criteria for those lists. Of the 30 experts, most were nationals of States Parties to the Convention, and 13 came from States Members of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The debates and results of the India meeting were intended to assist the Secretariat and the Committee in their work on the elaboration of criteria for inscription of ICH elements on the two lists of the Convention, sharpening arguments in favour of and opposed to several options concerning the nature of the lists and the relation between them. The experts were asked to discuss alternatives and to present the strongest possible arguments in favour of opposite positions in order to facilitate preparation of draft documents by the Secretariat for presentation to the Committee at its coming sessions in China and Japan. The draft documents that the Committee will consider have been improved substantially as a result of the lively debates and productive suggestions of the experts.

The meeting was made possible with the generous support of the Government of India, supplemented by a contribution from the Norwegian FIT for ICH that permitted funding of travel of participants from developing countries. The meeting also benefitted from the logistical support and facilitation of the Ministry of Culture of India and UNESCO’s New Delhi Office.

• Agenda (English|French)
• Background paper (English|French)
• Working document : Possible Criteria for the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding ( in preparation - in preparation - in preparation - in preparation|English|French)
• List of participants (English)
• Report of the meeting (English|French)

The Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH) in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development (UAE) and the UNESCO Intangible Heritage Section, a Regional Meeting for Arab States was organized on the ‘Implementation of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage: Inventory-making’ in Abu in Abu Dhabi from 31 March to 4 April 2007. The objectives were to:

• examine different questions relating to the implementation of the 2003 convention;
• exchange of experiences in the field of methodologies for the establishment of national inventories
• discuss of safeguarding approaches of intangible cultural heritage: legal, administrative and safeguarding mechanisms of ICH in the Region

Representatives and experts from the 18 Arab countries took part in the meeting, in addition to UNESCO representatives, and regional organizations: ALECSO (Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization) and ISESCO (Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and three international participants from Japan, Mali and Vietnam.

A Photo Exhibition of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was held at the same dates that the Abu Dhabi Book Fair. The meeting and the exhibition were organized under the patronage of H.E. Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al-Nahyan, the Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH).

• Agenda (English)
• Recommendations (English)
• Presentations
  • Mr Nguyen Kim Dung: Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding System (English) and inventory making in Viet Nam (English)
  • Mr Abdoulaye Sanogo: Malian Experience in Inventory Making and the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (French)
  • Mr Satoru Hyoki: Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in Japan - Systems, Schemes and Activities (English)

At this meeting specialists and community members shared and discussed concrete practical experiences and insights into how educational efforts can be deployed to strengthen the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage.

The meeting focused on two areas: K-12 (basic and secondary) and non-formal education for the continued or renewed transmission of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in communities, and educational awareness-raising about ICH among young people.

The meeting intended to make contributions to the implementation of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and placed particular emphasis on education, awareness-raising and capacity-building as safeguarding measures.

Finally, the participants formulated a set of recommendations on strategies and priorities for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage through education.

• Final recommandations (English)
• Experts’ Reports:
  • Ms. Olivia CADAVAL Borderlands: A Case Study (Texas, USA)
  • Mr. Jorge ISHIZAWA Iskay yachay / paya yatiwi (two kind of knowledge in the rural schools of the Central Andes of Peru
  • Mr. Jacobs A case: Un-touchable (Belgium)
  • Ms. Anyango Okwach CHAKRUOK Centre for His Story in Art and Development, Kenya
  • Ms. Anita PUNAMAE Heritage communities in South-Estonia: Võro-Seto
  • Ms. Tran Thi Thu THUY Transmitting Skills and Strengthening Traditions: Experience of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
• To download Experts’ Reports, please consult the page maintained by ACCU:
  http://www.accu.or.jp/ich/en/reports/reports1.html

The second meeting organized in the framework of the “Capacity-building for safeguarding languages and oral traditions and expressions in sub-Saharan Africa” project brought together thirty experts from twenty-one African countries and representatives from university departments and national research institutions specialized in African languages.

The meeting focussed on concrete cases, examples and lessons encountered by African experts involved in recent activities relating to the safeguarding of endangered languages.

At the end of the session, a series of concrete recommendations for a future strategy for the safeguarding of endangered languages in Africa were drawn up. These recommendations will also contribute to UNESCO’s ongoing efforts to compile a Register of Good Practices in Language Preservation.

The project is funded by the Government of Norway.

• Detailed agenda (English)
• List of participants (English)
• Final report (English)

Related programmes: Endangered languages