Reuniones sobre el patrimonio cultural inmaterial organizadas o coorganizadas por la UNESCO

Madaba and its 150,000 inhabitants will soon become the precursors of an experience never seen before in Jordan. Located near the capital, this region will indeed be the focus of a pilot activity of intangible cultural heritage inventorying as part of the “MedLiHer - Mediterranean Living Heritage” project, co-funded by the European Union and UNESCO.

Concretely, what is the pilot inventorying all about? Under the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, each State Party must involve communities, groups and relevant NGOs in identifying and defining elements of this heritage. Identification is the process of describing one or several specific elements of intangible cultural heritage in their context and to distinguish them from others. This process of identification and definition is what the Convention means by “inventory”. It also emphasizes that this should be done “in view of safeguarding” - that is to say that the inventory is not an abstract exercise, but a useful one. The inventory represents the first step in the development of safeguarding plans for those elements.

In order to get familiar with these concepts, those involved in inventory activities within the governorate of Madaba (community members, responsible for culture at the national and local level, researchers) will receive extensive training from 12 to 20 July. It will cover the principles of the inventory under the Convention, the role of the different stakeholders in the process and the tools and techniques of participatory documentation. This “theoretical” part will lead to the development of the methodological framework for the inventory and will be followed by a field practicum.

The workshop will be facilitated jointly by Ms. Annie Tohmé Tabet and Mr. Hani Hayajneh, both members of the network of facilitators trained by UNESCO as part of its capacity- building strategy for the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

During the three months following the training, the research teams will go to meet communities, characterized by great cultural and religious diversity, throughout the governorate. This inventory work will concentrate on identifying and involving bearers (individuals, groups or communities) of intangible heritage, focusing especially on present social functions and challenges for its transmission to future generations, in a context where rapid urbanization is disrupting the traditional socio-cultural fabric. The methodologies developed during this pilot exercise could then be applied on a wider scale to other regions of the country.

All data collected will be systematized and digitized, while a film and a photographic exhibition will make this inventory experience available to the Jordanian and international public.

The workshop and inventory activity are part of Phase III of MedLiHer, which aims at promoting the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt.

The National workshop “Implementing the UNESCO Convention for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage at the National Level” will be held in Tashkent from 3 to 7 July 2012. The workshop is organized by UNESCO Office in Tashkent in close co-operation with the ministry of Culture and Sport of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) is integral part of life and culture of humanity. In this connection it also called as living heritage, transmitted by people within communities, which is ever changing. ICH has important functions for the communities, groups and individuals concerned, and for the understanding and promotion of cultural diversity and human creativity. Uzbekistan ratified the Convention in 2008. As a result, the present workshop is organized for the specialists in the field of IHC from all principal regions of Uzbekistan within the framework of a project ”Strengthening the National Capacity on Safeguarding ICH in Central Asia” launched by UNESCO offices in Tashkent and Almaty with the financial support of the Norwegian Trust-in-Funds in the beginning of 2012.

The main goal of the workshop is to strengthen the national capacity in the field of Implementation of the UNESCO Convention 2003 at national level, in particular provide a broad overview of the Convention and Operational Directives, what obligations States take on when ratifying the Convention and possible ways of implementing the Convention as well as safeguarding the ICH, its identification and inventorying, cooperation with communities, public awareness and international assistance.

The workshop will be conducted by UNESCO certified experts in the field of intangible cultural heritage.

Agenda of the workshop: inglés ruso
List of participants: inglés ruso

From 29 June to 3 July 2012, actors of Zajal will benefit from an extensive training on the concept of inventory and its principles under the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the role of different stakeholders in the process and tools and techniques of participatory documentation. The workshop is intended primarily for field researchers and communities whose cultural heritage will be inventoried. It will start with a “theoretical” component including the joint development of a methodological framework for the inventory, followed by a field practicum. A day of reflection on the lessons learned from the exercise is foreseen on 9 July 2012.

The workshop will be facilitated jointly by Ms Annie Tohmé Tabet and Mr.Mostafa Gad, who form part of the network of facilitators trained by UNESCO as part of its capacity-building strategy for the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

During the three months following the training, the field researchers will go to meet the Zajal communities across the Lebanese territory. This pre-inventorying work will focus on identifying and involving the bearers (individuals, groups or communities) of this element of intangible heritage, focusing particularly on how it is transmitted, and its social functions in Lebanese society today.

All data collected will be systematized and digitized, while a film and photographic exhibition will make this experience available to Lebanese and international audiences.

The workshop and inventorying activity are undertaken as part of the Phase III of the MEDLIHER project supported by the European Union and UNESCO, which aims to promote the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt.

Sri Lanka ratified the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2008 and although there are a number of inventories on ICH scattered in various government departments and private institutions, there is still no legislation to safeguard ICH and there is a need to consolidate various efforts at national level. UNESCO has supported the initial stages of developing a web portal on ICH restricted to data gathered by various government bodies and now with the support of UNESCO/Japan Funds-in-Trust, the capacities of concerned stakeholders will be further enhanced in the effective implemention of the 2003 Convention, community-based inventorying, as well as in the preparation of nomination files.

he first capacity building activity, a workshop on the Implementation of the 2003 Convention at the National Level will be organized in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and the Arts from 25-29 June 2012. The workshop will be facilitated by by UNESCO certified trainers, Mr Rahul Goswami and Ms Sajida Vandal. Future capacity building workshops include a Workshop on Community-based Inventory to be held in 2013 and a Workshop on the Preparation of Nomination Files schedueled in 2014.

In the framework of the Capacity building training strategy for the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003); UNESCO and the National Institute of Culture Heritage (INPC) of Ecuador are organizing a cycle of workshops in order to reinforce the knowledge and understanding of the Convention, its concepts, measures and mechanisms.

The first two workshops aim to reinforce the knowledge of the Convention of civil servants of the INPC and the Municipality of Quito working in heritage related issues. They will be held on 17 and 18 May 2012 and on 31 of May and 1 June 2012.

The training session will be in charge of Mr Fabian Bedón and the INPC will also include presentations on practical cases in Ecuador.

As a new vision of cultural heritage is gaining prominence, UNESCO calls upon African universities to revisit their training programmes for future decision-makers and professionals in the field of heritage studies and sustainable development. Indeed, despite international recognition of intangible cultural heritage and its critical importance for sustainable development, the theme has been largely neglected in heritage studies in many parts of the world, notably in Africa. Therefore UNESCO identified the Centre for Heritage Development in Africa (CHDA) to organize a dedicated regional training workshop for teaching faculty from African universities in the field of intangible cultural heritage. It is supported by the Fund for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and will be held at the CHDA premises in Mombasa, Kenya from 18 to 22 June 2012.

The workshop aims at raising the level of knowledge of African university teaching faculty in the field of intangible cultural heritage safeguarding, enabling them to incorporate the issue in their teaching and provide guidance for their future courses and programs on heritage and sustainable development.
It will be co-facilitated by Ms Deirdre Prins-Solani and Ms Harriet Deacon who are both part of the network of 65 facilitators trained by UNESCO to use the workshop materials developed by the Organization on implementing the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Further information on the workshop: (inglés)

Contact in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Section : Susanne Schnuttgen, Chief, Capacity Building and Heritage Policy Unit, email: s.schnuttgen@unesco.org

Un taller de fortalecimiento de las capacidades sobre la aplicación de la Convención de 2003 a nivel nacional, financiado con fondos fiduciarios de la UNESCO y de la República de Corea, fue organizado en colaboración con el Departamento de Patrimonio del Ministerio de Información, Cultura y Turismo, del 11 al 15 de junio de 2012 en Vientián, República Democrática Popular Lao. Además de funcionarios del gobierno, profesionales del patrimonio cultural inmaterial participaron también en este taller co-facilitado por instructores certificados de la UNESCO, la Sra. Paritta Chalermpow Koanantakool y la Sra. Shubha Chaudhuri. La República Democrática Popular Lao es un país con 160 grupos étnicos, cada uno de los cuales ha conservado gran parte de su propio idioma, costumbres, cultura y tradiciones. El rico patrimonio cultural de Laos también tiene sus orígenes en una inmensa espiritualidad, ya que el budismo tiene una influencia que se extiende desde el estilo de vida a las artes. Este país adoptó una Ley de Patrimonio Nacional en 2005, que proporciona la base jurídica para la salvaguardia del PCI, antes incluso de la ratificación de la Convención de 2003 en el año 2009. Además, una sección sobre Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial fue creada en el Departamento de Patrimonio del Ministerio de Información, Cultura y Turismo. La Oficina de la UNESCO en Bangkok ha estado trabajando estrechamente con las autoridades competentes que han reconocido la necesidad de mejorar su estrategia de salvaguardia del PCI, reforzar el marco institucional y normativo y desarrollar sus habilidades de inventario. Después de este primer esfuerzo de fortalecimiento de las capacidades, más talleres de capacitación sobre los inventarios de las comunidades (previsto en 2012) y sobre la preparación de expedientes de candidatura (en 2014) serán organizados en la RDP de Laos con el fin de mantener un efecto a largo plazo de este proyecto llevado a cabo en el marco de la estrategia global de fortalecimiento de las capacidades de la UNESCO.

Un taller de fortalecimiento de las capacidades sobre la preparación de los expedientes de candidatura para las listas de la Convención para la Salvaguardia del Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial se llevó a cabo del 11 al 15 junio de 2012 en Harare, y que fue facilitado por instructores certificados de la UNESCO, el Sr. Chifunyise y el Sr. Mazibuko. Este taller es un esfuerzo adicional realizado en el marco del proyecto financiado con fondos fiduciarios de la UNESCO / Flandes a raíz de otro taller sobre la aplicación de la Convención a nivel nacional, que fue organizado a principios de este año.

Training local communities in inventorying methods to safeguard their intangible cultural heritage is the objective of a series of workshop kicking off in nine provinces of Gabon starting 4 June 2012.

The UNESCO Cluster Office in Libreville, in association with the Centre for Research and Sociological Studies (CRES), is behind this initiative. The idea is to pursue the capacity-building exercise started in 2010, by providing the communities with the methodological tools and techniques required to inventory their intangible cultural heritage.

Claudine-Augée Angoué, an anthropologist and member of the UNESCO network of facilitators, will facilitate the workshop, the content of which will be adopted from the training materials developed by the Organization as part of its capacity building strategy for the implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The four workshops will take place over a period of six weeks in the localities of Lambarene, Koula-Moutou, Mouila and Oyem, and will conclude on 10 August 2012.

Funded by the regular program of UNESCO, the activity will be implemented with the assistance of departmental officers in charge of Culture and with logistical support from the Ministry of Interior in charge of municipalities of Gabon.

La Comisión Nacional de la UNESCO en St. Kitts y Nevis organizó un taller sobre la ratificación de la Convención de 2003 para la Salvaguardia del Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial, el 31 de mayo de 2012 en Basseterre.

El público, compuesto de responsables políticos nacionales, tuvo la oportunidad de aprender más acerca de la Convención, que el Gobierno de Saint Kitts y Nevis espera firmar pronto.

Kris Rampersad, consultor cultural para la UNESCO, facilitó las discusiones entre participantes, insistiendo en los beneficios derivados de la signatura de la Convención.

Even before it ratified the 2003 Convention in 2005, Mongolia has been very active in safeguarding its intangible cultural heritage. It established a National Centre for ICH in 1997 and had two traditions proclaimed as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

At the same time, despite various efforts already made in safeguarding its ICH, Mongolia needs to meet the increasing impact of social changes, globalization and rampant urbanization affecting traditional nomadic lifestyle of its people. UNESCO/Japan FIT supports this further endeavour with a series of better tailored capacity building activities starting with a two-day workshop organized from 28-29 May 2012 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia to consult with primary stakeholders, assess existing government policies relating to ICH, investigate the roles of involved institutions and identify training needs on ICH. UNESCO certified trainer Ms Noriko Aikawa-Faure assisted this process with facilitating the need assessment workshop. Two other capacity building workshops lined up for Mongolia are a Community-Based Inventorying Workshop planned to be organized in October 2012 and a Workshop on the Preparation of Nomination Files in early 2013.

A national capacity building workshop on community-based inventorying of intangible cultural heritage will be organized by UNESCO (Venice Office/Sarajevo Antenna Office), in close cooperation with the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Commission for UNESCO of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo from 21 to 27 Mai 2012.

The event will bring together experts, NGOs, community members, local authorities, government officials, and actors at the heart of the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The objective is to build capacity of all relevant stakeholders to inventory intangible cultural heritage following a community-based approach.

The workshop will provide participants with the necessary knowledge, skills and tools for effective documentation and inventorying of intangible cultural heritage under the 2003 Convention and will also include a fieldwork practicum at the end of the workshop. The event will be facilitated by Rieks Smeets, linguist and former chief of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage section, and Sasha Sreckovic, Ethnographer from the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade (Serbia).

This workshop is a direct follow-up to the regional training on “Strengthening national capacities for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage in Europe”, organized by UNESCO in Sofia, Bulgaria (14-18 March 2011). The 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage was ratified by Bosnia and Herzegovina in February 2009.

A capacity building workshop dedicated to the implementation of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Ecuador was held on 17 and 18 May 2012 in Quito.

The workshop was organized by UNESCO Quito Office in close cooperation with the National Institute for Cultural Heritage (INPC) with the objective to strengthen capacities of those INPC civil servants who are not specialized or directly involved in intangible cultural heritage activities. The two days seminar provided them with a better understanding of the specificities of ICH, the basic concepts and methods as presented by the 2003 Convention, with the aim to improve coordination with ICH-related activities within the INPC.

The workshop addressed issues such as the differences between the 1972, 2003 and 2005 Conventions, the benefits and obligations and opportunities of the 2003 Convention, safeguarding measures and the roles of the different stakeholders involved in the management of ICH, as well as issues related to sustainable development and the Convention’s lists.

Mr Domingo Carranza, president of the weavers community of Pile, known for his expertise in elaboration of traditional woven straw hats in Montecristi shared the experience in elaborating a nomination file for the Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

The training session was facilitated by Mr Fabian Bedón from Ecuador.

A capacity building workshop on the implementation of the 2003 Convention was successfully organized in Port Moresby from 14-18 May 2012 by the UNESCO Apia Office in partnership with the National Cultural Commission of Papua New Guinea. Facilitated by Ms Noriko Aikawa-Faure and Mr Setoki Qalubao the five-day workshop was attended by forty-three representatives from concerned national government agencies, provincial government units, academic institutions and key stakeholders. Honorable Benjamin Philip, the Minister for Culture and Tourism welcomed the participants during the opening ceremony on 15 May 2012.

Papua New Guinea, a State Party to the 2003 Convention, is one of the most culturally diverse countries on Earth, with some 850 indigenous languages spoken by different cultural groups having their own sets of cultural expressions in a country with a population of 6 million. To assist in mitigating the negative impact of globalization and social transformations that endanger its rich intangible cultural heritage, Papua New Guinea was selected as one of the eight beneficiary countries under the regional capacity building programme in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage under the UNESCO-Japanese Funds-In-Trust Cooperation.

The next capacity building workshop on the inventory of ICH elements will be held in October 2012 in Goroka, Papua New Guinea which hosts the famous Sing-Sing Festival, a tribal gathering and cultural event held every two years.

The first capacity building activity in Bhutan – a training workshop on the implementation of the 2003 Convention at the national level – was organized from 14-18 May 2012 in Paro, Bhutan, in partnership with the National Archive and Library of the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs, the government agency responsible for intangible cuiltural heritage. The 28 participants included culture officers from the 12 districts of Bhutan and representatives from the National Library and Archives, the Department of Culture, Folk Heritage Museum, the Institute of language and Cultural Studies and Helvetas, an NGO involved mapping ICH.

After Bhutan ratified the 2003 Convention in 2005, the Dramtse Ngacham (Dance of Drum of Dramtse) was proclaimed as one of UNESCO Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2005 and subsequently included in the Representative List of the 2003 Convention. It is currently preparing a preliminary survey and development of an inventory of ICH in partnership with the Intangible Cultural Heritage Centre for Asia and Pacific (ICHCAP), the Category II Centre in Korea.

The implementation workshop, facilitated by UNESCO certified trainers, Ms. Shubha Chaudhuri and Ms. Paritta Chalermpow Koanantakool, will be be followed by a training workshop on the ICH inventoring in 2013.

As one of the eight beneficiary countries under the regional capacity building programme funded under UNESCO-Japan Funds In Trust, UNESCO’s intervention in Bhutan aims to strengthen the capacities of Bhutan to meet its national obligation to safeguard its intangible cultural heritage particularly in inventory-making and to enable Bhutan to have a sustainable framework for safeguarding ICH and in implementing the 2003 Convention.