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