Launching ceremony of 2023 Cultural and Natural Heritage Day Promotional Events on Intangible Cultural Herilage and Celebrations of the 20th Anniversary of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the lntanaible Cultural Heritage
On June 9, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China launched the 2023 Cultural and Natural Heritage Day Promotional Events on Intangible Cultural Heritage and Celebrations of the 20th Anniversary of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage at the National Library of China.
H. E. Mr. Rao Quan, Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism, attended the ceremony and announced the official launching. Prof. Shahbaz Khan, Director and Representative of UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office for East Asia sent his video remarks. Mr. Qin Changwei, Secretary General of the National Commission for UNESCO of China also delivered a speech. More than 80 guests were invited to the ceremonv, including representatives from various departments, such as the finance, housing and urban-rural development, development and reform, agriculture and rural affairs, commerce, cultural heritage administration, traditional medicine, intellectual property, etc., diplomatie envoys, as well as media and networks. The event was also broadcast online. Alter the ceremony, all participants visited the “Tea for Harmony: Tea in Classical Texts” Exhibition, and “Time Passes By, But Memories Las! Forever -Special Exhibition on Documentation Achievements of China’s Elements lnscribed on UNESCO’s Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices”.
Every second Saturday in June marks the Cultural and Natural Heritage Day of China. Intangible cultural heritage bears vivid testimony of the continuity, creativity, unity, inclusiveness and peacefulness of the Chinese civilization. lt also demonstrates the close-bonded and continuous prosperity of the Chinese, and contains common values of humanity and enormous cultural force. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Convention, the Ministry set the theme of the promotional events for the Cultural and Natural Heritage Day as “enhancing systematic safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage for sustainable development”. Over 9800 activities for this purpose across the country such as the National Week of Quyi and ICH on Cloud: Online Video Exhibition have been carried out, which contributes to create an enabling environment to further raise awareness of ICH safeguarding and enhance traditional Chinese culture.