Identification, capacity-building, safeguarding and promotion of traditional dances of Togo as a vector of sustainable cultural development

Benefitting country(ies): Togo

Overview:

To be implemented by CUL.DEV (Culture and Development), an accredited NGO under the Convention, this twenty-five-month project aims to identify, safeguard and promote traditional dances in Togo. The project involves inventorying the dances, including categorizing them and describing the related performance techniques, music, rhythms, contexts, dress and norms, as well as their social, spiritual and secular roles within the ›››

Strengthening capacities for periodic reporting under the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Africa

Benefitting country(ies): Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Overview:

Africa is the fourth region to be undertaking periodic reporting under the revised regional cycle approved by the General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention [Decision 14.COM 8]. The present project aims to strengthen the human and institutional capacities of States Parties in the region, in conducting a thorough review of the state of safeguarding policies, programmes, and initiatives in ›››

Inventory, safeguarding and promoting knowledge of how to manufacture and play Togo’s traditional musical instruments (national phase)

Benefitting country(ies): Togo

Overview:

Implemented by the National Commission for Cultural Heritage, the project mainly aimed to inventory, safeguard and promote knowledge related to the manufacture and practice of traditional musical instruments in Togo. It built on lessons learned from the first phase of the project, which took place in the Maritime region (south Togo) between January 2016 and February 2017. The last general inventory of ›››

News and activities:

• 2022-10-28 – Togo strengthens the safeguarding of its traditional musical instruments

Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the West African Countries

Benefitting country(ies): Ghana, Togo

News and activities:

• 2019-04-19 – Needs assessment for the implementation of the 2003 Convention in Togo
• 2018-12-13 – Validation workshop on needs assessment in Ghana

Inventory, safeguarding and promoting knowledge of how to manufacture and play Togo's traditional musical instruments (Pilot phase in the Maritime region, south Togo)

Benefitting country(ies): Togo

Overview:

The last general inventory of the intangible cultural heritage, drawn up in 2011 in Togo, revealed some important principles and skills that had not yet been adequately documented; more intensive efforts to introduce and implement safeguarding measures were therefore required. A major gap in the inventory included the skills needed to manufacture and play traditional musical instruments and for their accompanying ›››

News and activities:

• 2017-03-11 – Young people from South Togo rediscover traditional musical instruments
• 2015-10-19 – The Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund supports various safeguarding measures in Africa!

General inventory of the intangible cultural heritage

Benefitting country(ies): Togo

Overview:

The project aimed to realize a general inventory of the intangible cultural heritage of Togo to contibute to the implementation of the 2003 Convention at the national level. The main objectives were to identify the elements of the intangible cultural heritage; develop safeguarding measures and identify the elements to be nominate to the Convention’s Lists; strengthen the capacity in inventory; establish a ›››

Safeguarding of the ICH of the Batammariba of Koutammarkou

Benefitting country(ies): Togo

Overview:

Koutammarkou, a site in the North-East of Togo inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004, shelters the Batammariba (“those who work the earth”) whose houses with turrets made of earth, the takyientas (“those who guard”), have become the symbol of Togo (see [WHC data|http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1140]). This project aims at ensuring the safeguarding of the rich intangi ›››

Action Plan for the Safeguarding and Promotion of the Oral Tradition of Gelede

Benefitting country(ies): Benin, Nigeria, Togo

Overview:

The Gelede ceremony, held in honour of the primordial mother Iyà Nlà, is directed by women, reflecting their important role in Yoruba life. After weeks of preparations, singers and drummers open the night-time ceremony, followed by an orchestra and masked dancers wearing splendid costumes. The project aims at safeguarding the Gelede tradition in communities across Benin, Nigeria and Togo. Following t ›››