UNESCO’s Intangible Heritage List of global traditions risks becoming a victim of its own success, warns UNESCO head Irina Bokova. “Intangible cultural heritage is our bridge from the past to the future, It is the precious possession of communities, groups and individuals – only they can safeguard it and pass it on to generations to come,” However, perhaps too many new additions to the list are being considered as to make it diluted and/or unmanageable 79 new nominations will be considered during the present session, including saman dance from Indonesia, fado music from Portugal and mariachi music from Mexico. Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire have presented a joint nomination for the balafon – an instrument prominent among their Senufo communities. (See Film Report: “UNESCO Living Art” - http://diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/movie/unesco-living-art/23344).

According to Director-General Bokova: “This is an unmanageable workload, and is, inevitably, unsatisfactory for States Parties and the communities whose intangible heritage is concerned. They will be disappointed if the Convention is unable to meet their expectations. States must now show restraint and everybody must understand that the system has reached, or even gone beyond, its own limits. A maximum of about 60 nominations only could be treated in each session under the present conditions.” (See Film Report: UNESCO History & Mission” - http://diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/movie/unesco-historymission/26942).

On the other hand, Ms Bokova urged that the inscriptions had to be more geographically diverse for the List to remain credible. Since its creation in 2008, the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List includes a swathe of global cultural expressions, ranging from Turkey’s Kirkpinar oil wrestling festival and the Mediterranean diet to the watertight-bulkhead technology of Chinese junks and the Peruvian scissor dance. (See Film Report: “Alim Qasimov Spiritual Music Legacy” - http://diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/movie/alim-qasimov-spiritual-music-legacy/26734).

China Prose Storytelling in Danger:
As to highlight Ms. Bokova’s concerns, verse and prose storytelling heritage from north-eastern China that has only five remaining masters has been placed on UN List of Intangible Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage, part of these UNESCO meetings this week in Bali, Indonesia, inscribed Hezhen Yimakan storytelling 9Bottom Photo) on the list as it is danger of disappearing, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reported. There had been 20 outstanding Yimakan masters during the 1980s, now only five are capable of performing some cantos, or the main divisions in long poems - consisting of “numerous independent episodes depicting tribal alliances and battles, including the defeat by local heroes of monsters and invaders.” Yimakan performers traditionally improvise their stories without instrumental accompaniment, alternating between singing and speaking, and using different melodies to connote different characters and plots. (See Film Report: (See Film Report: “UNESCO World Memory Report” - http://diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/movie/world-memory/28444

Also Read: “New World Heritage Sites” - http://diplomaticallyincorrect.org/films/blog_post/new-world-heritage-sites-by-susan/27782

For Complete List at UNESCI Intangible Heritage List - http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00011


By Susan Sacirbey

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