Organized by UNESCO Almaty in close co-operation with the National Commission for UNESCO and ISESCO and the National Federation of UNESCO Clubs, the workshop was held from 18 to 21 February 2013 in Almaty.
It targeted primarily Kazakh participants, mainly from the National Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Agency for Tourism and Sport, leading universities and museums in the country, as well as NGOs in the field of crafts, traditional music and dance. In order to strengthen sub-regional cooperation, three participants from the neighbouring Central Asian countries (one from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) attended the workshop. The majority of the 21 participants were experts (only two practitioners) between 40 and 60 years of age and almost half of them were women. Six participants participated in a workshop on implementation of the Convention, five of them within the current project (April 2012, Astana).
The workshop provided an opportunity to improve participants’ knowledge on international mechanisms of the Convention. The presence of experts on intangible cultural heritage from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan offered an excellent opportunity to exchange experiences in safeguarding and allowed participants to discuss prospects for possible nominations of elements shared by communities in Central Asian countries.
The most heated debates were raised around the question of if it was appropriate to consider professional performers of traditional music and dance as bearers of intangible cultural heritage. Discussions also involved the administration of intellectual property rights for traditional knowledge and cultural expressions.