Events and meetings on intangible cultural heritage (co-)organized by UNESCO

Following Indonesia’s ratification of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in October 2007, the UNESCO Office in Jakarta, the Department of Culture and Tourism and the Indonesian National Commission for UNESCO are jointly convening a two-day capacity building workshop for the implementation of the Convention for the safeguarding of the Intangible cultural heritage, with technical support from the Intangible Cultural Heritage Section of UNESCO Headquarters.

The participants of the national workshop will consist of: cultural officials, researchers, universities, community representatives and practitioners.

The objectives of the workshop are to strengthen the national capacities for implementing the 2003 Convention and to provide stakeholders with the information relating to the implementation of the 2003 Convention, with particular attention to the:

1. intangible cultural heritage resources mapping on Indonesia’s territory with the participation of communities, for promoting and safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage in Indonesia, and
2. understanding the timeline and procedure for the preparation of nomination files to the Representative List and to the List of Intangible Heritage in Urgent Need of Safeguarding.

Contact in UNESCO Jakarta Office: Himalchuli Gurung, Programme Specialist for Culture

The workshop was a follow-up to the sub-regional meeting that the Section of Intangible Cultural Heritage organized on the implementation of the 2003 Convention and ICH inventorying in November 2006 in Dar es Salaam. It is the first of a series of three to be organized for African states.

How can countries—and especially the communities among whom intangible heritage is found—best safeguard heritage that is living, not fixed in buildings or monuments? One effective tool to support international cooperation in such safeguarding efforts, and to strengthen national capacities, is the Intangible Heritage Convention. Adopted by UNESCO in 2003 and entered into force in 2006, this legal instrument had ninety States Parties at the moment of the meeting.

The workshop focused on introducing the Convention to cultural officials of southern African nations, explaining the ratification process, and considering with them how they might implement the Convention to best achieve its goals.

The workshop was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Government of Norway within the framework of the UNESCO/Norway Funds-in-Trust.

Co-organizer : Department of Arts and Culture (South Africa) : http://www.dac.gov.za/

• Media advisory (English)
• Meeting venue: Saint George Hotel, Pretoria, South Africa
• Agenda (English|French)
• List of participants (English|French)
• Speeches
  Director of the Division of Cultural Objects and Intangible Heritage, UNESCO (English)
  Minister of Arts and Culture of South Africa (English)
• Workshop document (English|French)
• Workshop report (English|French)
• Attachments of the workshop report (English)

The objective of the inter-departmental meeting was to bring together all the governmental actors involved in the ratification procedure by Papua New Guinea of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

During the sub-regional meeting in the Pacific on the 2003 Convention, organized in Nadi, Fiji in December 2007, several participating States, including Papua New Guinea, requested assistance from UNESCO in preparing the ratification and implementation of the 2003 Convention in the Pacific. The Director General of UNESCO, during his official visit to Papua New Guinea in February 2008, affirmed UNESCO’s readiness to fully assist the Government through the organization of a national consultation meeting.

Through the meeting organized with the support of Japanese Funds in Trust, UNESCO provided the Government with assistance necessary to present a proposal for the ratification of the 2003 Convention at the National Parliament. The meeting also aimed at reinforcing capacity of governmental officers in the field of culture as well as stakeholders concerned in participating at the international level in the implementation of the Convention, in particular through the submission of intangible heritage elements for inscription on the lists of the Convention and the submission of international assistance requests.

• Meeting venue: Crown Plaza Hotel, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
• Agenda (English)
• List of participants (English)
• Speeches
  Hon. Charles Abel MP, Minister for Culture and Tourism of Papua New Guinea (English)
  Dr. Jacob Simet, National Cultural Commission of Papua New Guinea (English)
• Presentations
  International Treaty Making Procedures in Papua New Guinea, by Mr Fred Sarufa (English)
  State of legislation for the safeguarding of Papua New Guinea Intangible Cultural Heritage, by Mr

Following Kenya’s ratification of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in October 2007, the Department of Culture of the Ministry of Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services and the UNESCO Office in Nairobi are jointly convening a two-day meeting on the implementation of the Convention.
Some sixty participants, representing ministries, provincial administrations, universities, non-governmental organizations and individuals working in the field of culture will attend the meeting.

The objectives of the workshop are to provide stakeholders with the information relating to the 2003 Convention and to discuss a national strategy for its implementation, with particular attention to the:

• preparation of an inventory or inventories of intangible cultural heritage on Kenya’s territory;
• preparation of nomination files to the Representative List and to the List of Intangible Heritage in Urgent Need of Safeguarding, and;
• enhancement of the existing national mechanism, including the participation of communities, for promoting and safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage in Kenya.

Contacts: Fumiko Ohinata, Programme Specialist for Culture, UNESCO Nairobi Office and Silverse Anami, Director of Culture, Ministry of Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services.

The meeting was organized by UNESCO, in cooperation with the Fijian authorities and with the financial support of Japan, to provide updated information on the activities carried out at the international level for safeguarding intangible heritage and on the possible benefits of ratifying the 2003 Convention for Pacific States. Some 30 participants from 19 pacific States and territories, as well as from three pacific organizations, exchanged their views and experiences in safeguarding their countries’ living heritage. The meeting was opened by Fiji’s honorable Minister for Education and Culture, Mr Netani Sukanaivalu.

The meeting contributed to sharing concerns and experiences concerning inventorying intangible cultural heritage, indigenous rights and intellectual property rights, as well as clarifying misunderstandings about the relation of the 2003 Convention to other normative instruments. The meeting also served as a first step to develop a medium term strategy for the safeguarding of the Pacific’s intangible heritage within the framework of the implementation of the Convention. It would include the organization of national consultative meetings aimed at providing necessary assistance for stakeholders who will be involved in the ratification and implementation of the Convention in each country.

The meeting was closed by the Honorable Minister of Culture of Palau, Mr Alexander Merep, who underscored the important role that the Convention will have in contributing to intercultural dialogue and sustainable development.

• List of participants (English)
• Agenda (English)
• Presentations:
  • Marcelin Abong: The experience of safeguarding of the intangible heritage in the Republic of Vanuatu (English)
  • James Andrew Cormack Mc Kenzie: Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention, issues from a New Zealand perspective (English)
  • Lawrence Foana’ota: Safeguarding the traditional knowledge of dolphin calling in North Malaita, Solomon Islands

Structured around case studies from the region, the meeting aimed to provide a platform for experts and practitioners to discuss how best to strengthen communities’ capacities to control and manage their own Intangible Cultural Heritage in the face of increased tourism. The key themes under which the case studies were organized include:

• Handicrafts in the context of sustainable cultural tourism
• Performing arts in the context of sustainable cultural tourism
• ICH in the context of environmental, agricultural and eco tourism

The meeting has been organized by the Hue Monuments Conservation Center (HMCC), the Department of National Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Viet Nam, the Korean Establishment Initiative for the Intangible Heritage Centre for Asia-Pacific (EIIHCAP) and the Office of the UNESCO Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific.

• Meeting page on UNESCO Bangkok website
• Final report: English

This meeting, consisting of a restricted working group (8 experts), aims to work out or update definitions for about thirty concepts that are frequently used in the context of the safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The resulting definitions will be included in the form of “boxes” or explanatory notes within the general manual under preparation, and in the thematic manuals that will follow. It appears useful today to supplement and re-examine the definitions worked out by an international meeting of experts in 2002.

• Background paper (English|French)
• Invited experts:
  • Mrs Harriet DEACON (South Africa)
  • Mrs Maria Cecilia Londres FONSECA (Brasil)
  • Mrs Sudha GOPALAKRISHNAN (India)
  • Mrs Catherine H. KERST (USA)
  • Mr Chérif KHAZNADAR (France)
  • Mr Toshiyuki KONO (Japan)
  • Mr Ahmed SKOUNTI (Morocco)
  • Mr Willem VAN ZANTEN (Netherlands)
• Final outcomes: English|French

This meeting has been devoted to the intangible cultural heritage of the Principality of Andorra, the Republic of Cyprus, the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg and the Principality of Monaco.

Discussions among eminent experts from those States focussed on three main themes:

• Intangible cultural heritage and building identities;
• Drawing up of inventories and the participation of the civil society and local communities;
• Inscription of elements on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity: criteria and objectives.

This Expert Meeting is held to support the preparation of the third edition of the Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger of Disappearing. The meeting is organized and hosted by UNESCO within the framework of its activities under the Endangered Languages Programme and the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Experts are invited to discuss current trends and innovations in linguistic cartography. This will include discussions of recent experiences and projects in language mapping in various parts of the world, particularly any such projects as have focused on endangered languages but also including others focused on language distribution, dialectology, diachronic mapping, genetic relations or other subjects.

• Background paper (English|French)
• Venue: room XIV, floor -2, Building B (Miollis), headquarters
• Invited experts
  • Prof. Ronald E. Asher, Professor of linguistics & English Language (The University of Edinburgh, UK)
  • Ms Kay Dancey, Manager Cartographic Services (Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies - College of Asian and the pacific - The Australian National University, Australia)
    Presentation: Our Experience of Linguistic Mapping and Thoughts on its Future Direction (English)
  • Prof. Jürgen Handke, Professor of English and computational linguistics (University of Marburg, Germany)
    Presentation: Mapping Technologies and Linguistic Tools (English)
  • Prof. Suwilai Premsrirat, Professor of Linguistics (Center for Documentation and Revitalization of Endangered Languages - Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development - Mahidol University, Thailand)
  • Dr Mesmin Tchindjang, Cartographer (Département de Géographie - Université de Yaoundé, Cameroon)
    Presentation: La cartographie linguistique, traceuse de l’histoire, des civilisations et des cultures: une application au Cameroun ( in preparation - in preparation|English: in preparation - in preparation|French)
  • Ms. Irene Tucker, Cartographer (Summer Institute of Linguistics, UK)
• __Summary repor