1 July 2015 - 31 October 2015
Inventorying Field Exercises for the project ‘Strengthening the capacities of Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten and Suriname to implement the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.'
Sint Maarten focused its field exercise on their national dance, the Ponum dance which dates to the 19th century from the days of slavery and emancipation. This element was chosen because only a few practitioners and or performers are directly involved in the enactment or practice of the element. There were also recognizable threats to its continued enactment and transmission, hence its safeguarding was considered extremely important. Two training sessions were held with youth from various youth organizations and discussions were held on the purpose of the inventorying exercise. A total of 17 youth (9 females and 8 males) were trained in the inventorying activity, and worked along with the ICH Committee and 9 practitioners.