National Symposium "20 Years Since the Adoption of the UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Concerns and Priorities of Cultural Institutions in Romania"
Cultural heritage specialists from 22 counties had gathered on May 13, 2023, in Pitești, at the National Symposium “20 Years Since the Adoption of the UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Concerns and Priorities of Cultural Institutions in Romania.”
The event was organized by the Argeș County Center for Culture and Arts in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and was held under the patronage of the National Commission of Romania for UNESCO.
Dozens of elements of intangible cultural heritage from the Romanian space were presented, requiring increased attention from researchers, emphasizing each’s characteristics, the transformations generated over time, and the socio-cultural changes that have left their mark in each case, without omitting current concerns and the measures that have been or will be taken to save and valorize them.
It was an extremely important working meeting that created a national overview and certified that cultural institutions are making special efforts to save and show the world aspects of uniqueness, identity, and popular culture. Among the discussed themes were specific forms of caroling , egg decoration, Căluș ritual, Horezu ceramics, traditional costume, marama, ia, fertility, initiation and rain-bringing rituals, funeral practices (releasing the spring water, Chipărușul), aspects of musical interpretation (țâpuritura, ballad) and the making and safeguarding of musical instruments on the verge of being forgotten (țitera), techniques for creating an archaic “oven” - țest, techniques for preparing unique culinary dishes.