Decision of the Intergovernmental Committee: 17.COM 6.A.12

The Committee,

  1. Having examined document LHE/22/17.COM/6.a Rev.,
  2. Recalling Chapter V of the Operational Directives and its Decisions 4.COM 14.04, 12.COM 8.c.4 and 16.COM 7.a.9,
  3. Expresses its appreciation to China for submitting, on time, its third report on the status of the element ‘Traditional Li textile techniques: spinning, dyeing, weaving and embroidering’, inscribed in 2009 on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding;
  4. Takes note of the efforts described in the report submitted by China to safeguard the element, in particular through securing training and education facilities and workshops, promoting the element and raising its visibility, supporting research and documentation efforts, and favoring economic development of Li communities based on the element;
  5. Invites the State Party to continue pursuing its efforts to safeguard the element through favoring a balanced transmission of all the traditional Li textile techniques, providing education and training possibilities and supporting experienced bearers, as well as practitioners and apprentices to ensure the continuity of transmission, sustaining access to raw material needed for the practice of the element, advancing research and documentation, securing long-term preservation and accessibility of produced digital archives, and consulting with local communities on monitoring, evaluating and adjusting safeguarding activities;
  6. Encourages the State Party to tackle the tendency to emphasize the decorative function of the element at the expense of the knowledge implied in its patterns and motifs, to raise awareness on the cultural meanings and related customary practices of traditional Li textile products, and to ensure inclusive economic development of Li communities, while taking particular heed of the impact of over-commercialization and potential decontextualization on the safeguarding of the element;
  7. Notes also the initiative of the State Party to construct cultural and ecological reserves for the safeguarding of the element, and further encourages the State Party to regularly consult with the Li communities on the planning and implementation of the initiative;
  8. Acknowledges that the element was reported without the possibility of taking into account the recommendations made by the Committee on the previous report on the element, recalls the importance of regular periodic reporting, and further invites the State Party to follow the four-year reporting cycle for its future reports on the element;
  9. Requests that the Secretariat inform the State Party at least nine months prior to the deadline of 15 December 2025 about the required submission of its next report on the status of this element.

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