Identifying and Inventorying Intangible Cultural Heritage

Intangible Cultural Heritage Identifying a K The Oral Heritage and Cultural Manifestations of the Zápara People, Ecuador and Peru

The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage defines intangible cultural heritage as the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge and skills – including the instruments, objects nández e r

. F artefacts and cultural spaces associated with them – that communities, T o ©

hot groups and individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. This P intangible cultural heritage is transmitted from generation to generation and is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and ultura y O io de C provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting er A PR inist

es/GM respect for cultural diversity and human creativity. t o © M epor hot P D and inventorying

Intangible cultural heritage takes many forms. on the obligation to safeguard the intangible The Convention explains that it may be cultural heritage present on their territories. At expressed in a number of domains, including an international level, the Convention but not limited to: establishes two Lists, the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent a. Oral traditions and expressions including Safeguarding and the Representative List of the o © Ahmed Ben Ismaїl language as a vehicle of the intangible hot

P Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The cultural heritage; goal of these Lists is to call attention to those b. Performing arts; elements of intangible cultural heritage that are representative of human creativity and cultural c. Social practices, rituals and festive events; diversity and especially those in need of urgent

ova d. Knowledge and practice about nature and safeguarding.

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P e. Traditional craftsmanship. communities and groups in safeguarding LLL The Rabinal Achí It goes without saying that many elements of intangible cultural heritage. It is concerned with Dance Drama Tradition, intangible cultural heritage might belong to one processes and conditions rather than products, Guatemala or more of these domains. placing emphasis on living heritage that is LL The Cultural Space of performed by people, often collectively, and Jemaa el-Fna Square, The main purposes of the Convention are to communicated through living experience. It Morocco

olia.com deals with heritage that communities

ot safeguard such heritage, to ensure respect for it, F L The Bistritsa Babi – Archaic to raise awareness about its importance and to themselves deem important, and strives to dier –

o r Polyphony, Dances and provide for international cooperation and contribute to the promotion of creativity and Ritual Practices from the enis C Shoplouk region, assistance in these fields. Countries that ratify diversity, and to the well-being of communities, o © D hot

P Bulgaria the Convention (known as States Parties) take groups, and society at large. 4 . INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

Safeguarding without freezing means a formal or, more often, informal process To be kept alive, intangible cultural heritage must by which communities acknowledge that specific be relevant to its community, continuously practices, representations, expressions, knowledge recreated and transmitted from one generation to and skills and, if appropriate, associated another. There is a risk that certain elements of instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces, intangible cultural heritage could die out or form part of their cultural heritage. disappear without help, but safeguarding does not mean fixing or freezing intangible cultural Safeguarding measures must always be developed heritage in some pure or primordial form. and applied with the consent and involvement of Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage is about the community itself. In certain cases, public the transferring of knowledge, skills and meaning. intervention to safeguard a community’s heritage Transmission – or communicating heritage from may be undesirable, since it may distort the value generation to generation – is emphasized in the such heritage has for its community. Moreover, Convention rather than the production of safeguarding measures must always respect the concrete manifestations such as dances, songs, customary practices governing access to specific musical instruments or crafts. Therefore, to a large aspects of such heritage, for example, sacred extent, any safeguarding measure refers to intangible cultural heritage manifestations or those strengthening and reinforcing the diverse and that are considered secret. varied circumstances, tangible and intangible, that are necessary for the continuous evolution and Inventories: identifying for safeguarding interpretation of intangible cultural heritage, as The Convention is a permissive document and well as for its transmission to future generations. the majority of its articles are worded in non- prescriptive language, allowing governments to Safeguarding measures to ensure that intangible implement it flexibly. However, drawing up cultural heritage can be transmitted from one inventories is one of the specific obligations generation to another are considerably different outlined in the Convention and in the from those required for protecting tangible Operational Directives for its implementation. heritage (natural and cultural). However, some elements of tangible heritage are often associated Inventories are integral to the safeguarding of with intangible cultural heritage. That is why the intangible cultural heritage because they can Convention includes, in its definition of intangible raise awareness about intangible cultural cultural heritage, the instruments, objects, heritage and its importance for individual and artefacts and cultural spaces associated with it. collective identities. The process of inventorying intangible cultural heritage and making those Does this mean that intangible heritage should inventories accessible to the public can also always be safeguarded, or be revitalized at any encourage creativity and self-respect in the cost? As any living body, it follows a life cycle and communities and individuals where expressions LLL The Cultural Space of therefore some elements are likely to disappear, and practices of intangible cultural heritage Jemaa el-Fna Square, after having given birth to new forms of originate. Inventories can also provide a basis for Morocco expressions. It might be that certain forms of formulating concrete plans to safeguard the LL The Mystery Play of intangible cultural heritage, despite their intangible cultural heritage concerned. Elche, Spain economic value, are no longer considered L The Cultural Space of the relevant or meaningful for the community itself. According to Article 11 of the Convention, each Boysun District, Uzbekistan As indicated in the Convention, only intangible State Party is required to take the necessary I cultural heritage that is recognized by the measures to ensure the safeguarding of the Taquile and its Textile Art, Peru communities as theirs and that provides them intangible cultural heritage present in its territory with a sense of identity and continuity is to be and to include communities, groups and relevant safeguarded. By ‘recognition’, the Convention NGOs in the identification and definition of IDENTIYING AND INVENTORYING . 5

elements of that intangible cultural heritage. distribution of intangible cultural heritage, as ight r Identification is a process of describing one or well as great diversity in their political and W more specific elements of intangible cultural administrative structures, the Convention leaves O / Jane heritage in their own context and distinguishing each State Party a great deal of freedom to draw them from others. This process of identifying and up inventories in ways best suited to its own o © UNESC hot P defining should lead to ‘inventorying’. Inventorying situation, allowing national and local conditions should be done ‘with a view to safeguarding’ – and concerns to be taken into account. that is, inventorying is not an abstract exercise but an instrumental one. Therefore, if a certain number Among the safeguarding measures enumerated of elements of intangible cultural heritage have in the Convention, research and documentation already been identified, States may decide to start are likely to be among the first strategies that implementing safeguarding projects for those States will consider in order to understand ‘what elements. is there’, ‘who does it’ and ‘why they do it’. States may wish to set up national intangible cultural Recognizing that States will take different heritage committees to coordinate this work, approaches to inventorying, the Convention including relevant institutions, researchers and continues that States Parties are obliged to create community representation, which will also

ons one or more inventories of the intangible heritage facilitate interaction between members of ot present in their territory, and shall update them communities and researchers. regularly (Article 12). While Articles 11 and 12 are o © Jaime Br hot

P more prescriptive than other Articles in the States are able to choose whether to create a Convention, they still provide enough flexibility for single, over-arching inventory or a set of smaller, a State Party to determine how it will prepare its more restricted ones. That is why neither the inventories. States are free to create their inventories Convention nor the Operational Directives ever in their own fashion. However, intangible heritage speak of ‘a national inventory’: instead, they refer elements should be well defined in the inventories to ‘one or more inventories’. In this way, States to help put safeguarding measures into practice. are not forced to include all domains or all communities within a single system. They may A State Party is not expected to have already also incorporate existing registries and

istan drawn up one or more inventories before catalogues. A system that includes multiple ratifying the Convention, although many have inventories may be particularly appealing to been doing so for many decades. On the federal states where responsibility for culture contrary, the development and updating of falls outside the remit of the central ommission of Uzbek inventories is an ongoing process that can never government, allowing sub-national regions or be finished. It is not necessary to have provinces to create their own inventories. o © National C

hot completed an inventory in order to start P receiving assistance or filing nominations for the Involvement of tradition bearers and Lists of the Convention. However, the practitioners Operational Directives for implementing the In spite of the freedom given to States in the e t Convention require that a State Party submitting way they inventory intangible cultural heritage, illafuer

V a nomination file for inscription on either the the Convention does impose several conditions. e Urgent Safeguarding List or the Representative The most important of these is the one List must demonstrate that the proposed requiring community involvement. ultura / Dant element is already included in an inventory of the intangible cultural heritage present in its territory. Since communities are the ones who create o Nacional de C intangible cultural heritage and keep it alive, they nstitut Since there are great differences among States have a privileged place in safeguarding it. The o © I hot

P concerning population, territories and communities that practise intangible cultural 6 . INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE ía heritage are better placed than anyone else to for instance, to indicate who the custodians of identify and safeguard it, and therefore they opolog certain knowledge are, rather than recording should be involved when their intangible cultural detailed documentation on sensitive topics in heritage is to be identified through inventorying. the inventories. Providing information about an The Convention’s definition of intangible cultural element of intangible cultural heritage in an heritage reminds us that it must be recognized rafía. Museo Nacional de Antr inventory makes access to that element easier. by its communities, groups or individuals; According to the spirit of the Convention, the

without their recognition, nobody else can ección de Etnog will of those communities who refuse to include Subdir decide for them that a given expression or an element of their intangible cultural heritage ©

o t o practice is their heritage. So it is natural that h in an inventory must be respected. P inventorying cannot happen without the involvement of the communities, groups or Although some States already and intensively individuals whose heritage is to be identified and involve communities of intangible cultural defined. Sometimes, of course, communities may heritage bearers, many inventory projects do not have the power, or the means, to do this on not yet take into account the provisions of the their own. In this case the State, or agencies, Convention concerning communities’ institutions and organizations, might work to involvement. They were often developed by help them inventory their living heritage. organizations and individuals from outside the onua communities and often were not created with esi S. F

Documentation consists of recording intangible o © P the aim of ensuring the viability of intangible hot cultural heritage in tangible forms, in its current P cultural heritage, as required in the Convention. state, and collecting documents that relate to it. Documentation often involves the use of various States Parties are responsible for making recording means and formats and the collected appropriate institutional arrangements for documents are often preserved in libraries, involving communities in the inventory-making archives or websites, where they may be process. Such arrangements might include the consulted by the communities concerned and establishment or designation of intersectoral the larger public. But communities and groups administrative bodies for assessing relevant ons also have traditional forms of documentation ot existing legislation, institutions and traditional such as songbooks or sacred texts, weaving safeguarding systems, as well as for identifying samplers or pattern books, or icons and images o © Jaime Br best practices and areas for improvement. hot P that constitute recordings of intangible cultural Such bodies would be in charge of drawing LLL heritage expressions and knowledge. Innovative The Indigenous up inventories of intangible cultural heritage, Festivity dedicated to the community self-documentation efforts and developing safeguarding policies, developing Dead, Mexico programmes to repatriate or disseminate initiatives to raise awareness about the LL archival documents in order to encourage The Lakalaka, Dances importance of intangible cultural heritage and and Sung Speeches of continued creativity are some of the proven Tonga encourage public participation in inventorying safeguarding strategies increasingly being used. and safeguarding it. The administrative body L The Mystery Play of Elche, should also, where necessary, develop appropriate Spain Also, Article 13 (d) (ii) stresses that States Parties safeguarding measures for inventoried intangible should always keep in mind customary practices cultural heritage. States Parties may also wish to related to providing access to intangible establish advisory or consultative bodies that heritage. In some instances, this may mean that would comprise practitioners and other tradition certain forms of intangible cultural heritage bearers, researchers, NGOs, civil society, local should not be inventoried or that some representatives and relevant others, as well as intangible cultural heritage already included in local support teams including community inventories should be made public only under representatives, cultural practitioners and others certain restrictions. Communities may decide, with specific skills and knowledge in training IDENTIYING AND INVENTORYING . 7

and capacity building. Methods for inventorying I Ensuring the consent of communities when intangible cultural heritage might be carried involving non-community members; out in steps and the identification of all relevant I Respecting customary practices regarding stakeholders and their involvement in the access to intangible cultural heritage; process. Potential consequences of inventorying, procedures to ensure an ethical relationship I Actively involving local or regional between stakeholders and customary practices, governments; governing access to the intangible cultural I Adopting and following a code of ethics that heritage also need to be identified. should take into account the lessons learnt olat from good practices worldwide. Inventorying should be a top-down and bottom-up process involving local communities o © Hasim P hot Drawing up inventories P as well as governments and NGOs. In order for Many existing inventorying systems and almost States Parties to satisfy the requirement of itage all older inventories were not created with communities’ involvement, procedures should ible Her safeguarding in mind, as understood in the 2003 be established for: ntang or I

Convention. Some of them were designed by e f

I Proper identification of communities or researchers to meet their own needs. Moreover, entr groups and their representatives; some old inventories are particularly problematic as they may have been produced I Ensuring that only intangible cultural heritage ongolian National C under colonial conditions or as part of nation-

recognized by the communities or groups is o © M hot

building exercises. P inventoried; LL The Mevlevi Sema I Ensuring that the free, prior and informed Both Article 11 (b) and Article 12 of the Ceremony, Turkey consent of the communities or groups is Convention imply that the totality of the L The Traditional Music of obtained for inventorying; intangible cultural heritage in a country should the Morin Khuur, Mongolia

Community-based documentation The Subanen leaders sought assistance from This ‘self-documentation’ has turned out to be contributes to the viability of intangible specialized organizations to provide them a successful way to preserve orally transmitted cultural heritage in the Philippines with the skills to document this indigenous botanical knowledge and to make it available knowledge themselves, with external for present and future generations, Between 2003 and 2004 the Subanen experts acting as facilitators. The non-literate contributing to the viability of this part of the community in Western Mindanao in the but knowledgeable community elders Subanen’s intangible cultural heritage. Philippines undertook innovative provided the information, and younger documentation of their indigenous literate community members assumed the knowledge about the plants found in their role of documenters. ancestral domain. The plants are valuable to them for their medicinal, agricultural, The resulting documentation was economic, and religious uses. packaged into a multimedia format and other popular educational materials in Plant diversity in the region is declining due English with Subanen translations. These to population pressure and climatic changes. materials were formally registered with the . Suminguit

Elders recognized that as plant diversity government copyright office, in order to el J V dwindles, knowledge about plants also guarantee the community’s intellectual o © hot

declines. They also realized that as the property rights. The community’s education P younger generations are drawn into programme now uses them to teach L A Subanen performing ritual before entering mainstream society, orally transmitted schoolchildren about their culture; they are new documentation site as a way of asking indigenous knowledge is no longer passed also used as curriculum material for adults permission from the unseen and informing them on to the next generation, and could who want to learn to read and write in their that specimen collection is to be carried out for eventually disappear forever. ancestral language. documentation 8 . INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

A four-year project to record living music UNESCO launched a four-year project to and dance traditions in Ethiopia: towards a collect and inventory music and dance O comprehensive national intangible cultural traditions throughout Ethiopia. As a first heritage inventory step in the compilation of a more ehl/UNESC comprehensive national inventory vid St

With over 80 living languages and ancient encompassing all aspects of Ethiopia’s o © Da hot cultures nourished by African and Middle intangible cultural heritage, the project P Eastern influences, Ethiopia is a land of aimed at building local capacities and southern Ethiopia and organizing training astounding diversity. Forged over a long document living practices and traditions. in the use of equipment for multi-track history of isolation and exchange periods polyphonic recording for the staff of the resulting from Ethiopia’s unique geographical In order to guarantee the continuation of South Omo Museum and Research Center in and political context, this diversity is the work by Ethiopian specialists, courses in the town of Jinka. Numerous centres and abundantly reflected in the country’s music ethnomusicology were organized at the museums around the country have received and dances. University of Addis Ababa and the Yared training and equipment adapted to their Music School using specifically designed particular needs. Indeed, the music of Ethiopia has emerged curriculum materials in English and Amharic. from Christian-Orthodox, Judeo-Ethiopian Training in inventorying music and dance By the project’s completion, a generation and Muslim traditions as well as African began in 2006 with “The Musical Landscape of Ethiopians has been trained to carry polyphonic and instrumental expressions. of Addis Ababa”, a survey of the various on the national intangible cultural heritage Although predominantly vocal, Ethiopian Ethiopian traditions found in the capital. inventory by including other domains while music features a variety of instruments, some Students then joined European specialists also raising awareness of the importance of of which reputedly date from Old Testament who were already working in the field to intangible cultural heritage among local and times. Among the most widespread are study traditions and practices in different national authorities thus contributing directly baganna and krar lyres, the masenqo fiddle, regions. Activities included conducting to the long-term safeguarding of Ethiopia’s the kabaro drums and the washint flute. research among the Maale people of living heritage.

be covered, since they refer to the intangible risk of disappearance is used as a criterion for heritage present in the territory of the State inclusion in the inventory. Party. Inventories should therefore be as comprehensive and complete as possible. In order to reach as quickly as possible a certain O However, in many cases, this may prove an almost degree of representativeness in the inventories, impossible task. Inventories can never be States may wish to start drawing up inventories eland / UNESC r completed or fully updated because of the by providing relatively brief information. Some vier F

Xa immense scope of the heritage covered by the elements might benefit from greater attention Convention and the fact that intangible cultural than others, but it is advisable as far as possible rançois-

o © F heritage is constantly changing and evolving. to present each element according to the same hot P template and to refer to detailed information L The Vimbuza Healing Considering the amount of intangible heritage to available elsewhere rather than include it within Dance, Malawi be identified and listed, some priorities might the inventory. I The Carnival of need to be set. In this case, those elements which Barranquilla, Colombia are recognized by the communities or by their Inventories must be regularly updated, as stated practitioners as particularly important for their in Article 12 of the Convention. This is vital due identity or as being particularly representative of to the fact that intangible cultural heritage their intangible cultural heritage might be constantly evolves and threats to its viability can

inventoried first. The role of creating inventories emerge very rapidly. Many national inventories olombia as a safeguarding measure should not be already contain elements that no longer exist , Republic of C

forgotten. Therefore, where possible, the viability while others include information on practices e

of inventoried elements should be indicated and that have substantially changed. States Parties ultur threats to their survival outlined. This is for are obliged to periodically provide relevant y of C inistr instance the case of inventories in Brazil and information on their inventories, including o © M hot

Colombia. In Bhutan, Bulgaria and Lithuania the information on the process of regular updating. P

10 . INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

The Convention explicitly leaves the choice of present languages as intangible cultural heritage whether to draft one or several inventories to the in their own right and not just as a ‘vehicle’ of it, States Parties, but remains silent about parameters and others explicitly mention ‘music and dance’ for defining the scope of each of the inventories in rather than the term ‘performing arts’; still others the case of a multiplex system. One can think of consider music separately from dance, and so on. discrete inventories for different domains of intangible cultural heritage, different communities, However, numerous categories in national ubov vak different regions, or for different subjects of federal inventories can be easily accommodated under at' States. Whoever the actors involved in preparing one or more of the domains outlined in the tanazar M Convention: ‘traditional medicine‘ and ‘indigenous the inventories or parts of them are, at the end of o © O hot the day it is the States, i.e. the States Parties to the knowledge systems‘ might be classified under P Convention, who are responsible for the design ‘knowledge about nature‘ and such categories as L Shashmaqom Music, and implementation of their inventories. ‘games‘ or ‘play‘ and ‘social organization‘, under Tajikistan and Uzbekistan the domain of ‘social practices‘. Themes such as While States Parties may be encouraged when ‘mythology‘ and names of places, objects or drawing up inventories to follow the definition of animals could be accommodated under ‘oral intangible cultural heritage as developed for the expressions‘ and some religious ceremonies and Convention, they are not obliged to do so, pilgrimages, under ‘rituals‘ or ‘festive events‘. particularly as inventories may be drawn up in a Other categories such as ‘memories and beliefs’, manner best suited to the circumstances of the ‘genealogical information’ or ‘culinary traditions’ State Party in question. However, if a State Party also find their place in one or more of the proposes an element for inscription on the domains presented in Article 2 of the Convention. Representative List or Urgent Safeguarding List or Divergence concerning domains often reflects wishes to request financial assistance for the the different focuses of communities’ intangible element’s safeguarding, it will have to demonstrate cultural heritage in different parts of the world, that it meets the definition of intangible cultural and this is perfectly consistent with the heritage as laid out in Article 2 of the Convention. Convention’s insistence that each State should draw up its inventories in a manner geared to Most inventories will include a system of its own situation. Algeria and Haiti, for example, classifying the intangible cultural heritage. One have separate categories for particular place to begin would be the domains listed in religious practices. Article 2.2 of the Convention: oral traditions and expressions including language as a vehicle of Some inventorying systems are not limited to the intangible cultural heritage; performing arts; elements of the intangible cultural heritage. The social practices, rituals and festive events; Lithuanian system, for instance, integrates tangible knowledge and practice about nature and the elements associated to practices of intangible universe; and traditional craftsmanship. cultural heritage, to the traditions’ bearers or to As already noted, the Convention makes it clear archives, as well as several elements that are no that these domains are not comprehensive, and longer practised. On the other hand, in Belgium, any system of classification is only a tool for there are plans to include elements of cyber helping to organize the information within an culture and virtual practices in the classificatory inventory. system of intangible cultural heritage. O Some inventory systems, like those in Cape Verde, Another major difference between States is that Mauritius and South Africa, more or less follow the some limit themselves to inventorying . Smith / UNESC domains laid out in the 2003 Convention. In other indigenous or native intangible cultural heritage ew P States Parties, there is a great deal of variation: while others – Belgium and the USA, for instance o © Andr hot some, especially in Africa and Latin America, – also take into account the intangible cultural P IDENTIYING AND INVENTORYING . 11

heritage of immigrant communities. Many provided for both of these categories, while in multicultural States do not restrict themselves to the federal states inventories are being created the expressions and practices of the most without this weight of documentation. widespread culture but rather undertake, from the start, to consider the intangible cultural In most countries there are no legal provisions

heritage of minority groups. o ffi to protect the property rights of the communities, fait K

a r groups of practitioners and tradition bearers es P v

There is also a huge variation in the amount of Y over their traditional cultural and social practices documentation and the degree of detail O / and expressions. This may mean that caution is provided in inventories. It seems not physically necessary when dealing with easily accessible o © UNESC hot or financially feasible to provide detailed P information with possible commercial applications. information about all the intangible cultural L The Oral Heritage of Without appropriate legal protections, outsiders heritage manifestations present in countries Gelede, Benin, Nigeria and may use and take commercial advantage of with a tremendous variety of intangible cultural Togo information such as traditional medical heritage. About half of the systems in use today knowledge, knowledge of natural resources, and present extensive documentation, while others of music and oral traditions. Since communities are less exhaustive in providing information should give their free, prior and informed consent about listed elements. Some take the form of before their heritage is inventoried, they can catalogues or registers, while others present restrict how much information they wish to information as a series of encyclopaedia-like provide – or none – about elements of their entries. In Brazil, a system is used that intangible cultural heritage. Communities may incorporates both approaches. There is a not always be aware of the potential value of their national level of elements that have been heritage to others, so those responsible for the included in a ‘Registry’ and another level with inventorying should be sensitive not to include elements included in an ‘Inventory’. On a K The Maroon Heritage of information that would violate privacy or invite national level, extensive documentation is Moore Town, Jamaica unfair exploitation by outsiders. 12 . INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

Particular attention should be given to rapid evolutions with significant impact from external factors: while they may have their roots in traditional intangible cultural heritage elements, they may not always be seen as resulting from an uninterrupted chain of development. Some inventorying systems do not include revitalized elements where there has been such a break; others choose to include them if they are recognized by a community as its heritage.

Some States divide their inventories along

costa internal administrative lines. Venezuela, for

iguez A example, presents the cultural heritage of each of its municipalities separately. Federal states

o © Juan Rodr often structure their inventories according hot P to territories; indeed, many States use admini - L The Cocolo Dance There is no minimum age for how long practices strative partitions as a primary classifying Drama Tradition, need to be established and transmitted between principle. Dominican Republic generations in order for them to be considered elements of intangible cultural heritage under In Colombia, a separate inventory is under the Convention. Some States impose such a development for each of the country’s thirty- requirement on elements to be inventoried, and two departments. China officially recognizes these range from two or three generations up to fifty-six ethnic groups and organizes its seven. In some cases, it is difficult to establish inventory accordingly. Some countries, such as over how many generations a tradition has been Haiti, feel no need to distinguish between practised, particularly in communities whose first different communities or regions. However, due language has traditionally not existed in a written to urbanisation, migration and centralizing form. Since the community itself should decide policies, present day administrative divisions do what it recognizes as its intangible cultural not always coincide with borders of regions that heritage, imposing a uniform, external age were traditionally occupied by discrete ethno- limit seems to contradict the Convention. linguistic or otherwise definable communities.

The Bulgarian experience in inventory- ethnic and religious background as these through administrative channels and making two factors often coincided. The main through the network of local chitalishte criteria for including an element in the (‘culture and community centers’), the In Bulgaria, at the national level, the Ministry inventory were authenticity, collected data were analyzed by the experts of Culture (National Folklore Committee) and representativeness, artistic value, vitality, and a first version of the inventory was the Institute of Folklore of the Bulgarian rootedness in tradition. The selected elaborated and put online for comments. Academy of Sciences carry the responsibility domains for classifying intangible cultural Upon integration of comments and for the safeguarding, inventorying and heritage were traditional rites and feasts, additional field research, the final version of promotion of the intangible cultural heritage. traditional singing and music playing, the inventory was published on paper and An inventorying project was conducted in traditional dancing and children’s games, on the Internet. Today, the chitalishte 2001 and 2002. The inventory was made on traditional narration, traditional crafts and network, coordinated by the Regional two levels, national and regional-local traditional production of home-made Cultural Policy Directorate with the Ministry according to the existing administrative objects or products and traditional of Culture, ensures to a large extent the divisions, and combined the territorial medicine. A questionnaire established by transmission of knowledge and skills in the principle with classification according to experts was sent to communities both area of the intangible cultural heritage. IDENTIYING AND INVENTORYING . 13

The Brazilian experience in inventory- to that heritage. Considering the dynamic The inventory-making methodology making nature of intangible cultural heritage, comprises three phases: (1) preliminary the Registry must be periodically collection, (2) identification and Brazilian experiences in inventory-making go revised, at least once every ten years. documentation, and (3) interpretation. back to the creation in the 1930s of the The registered properties are declared The inventories carried out by IPHAN Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage ‘Brazilian Cultural Heritage’, which entitles emphasize the cultural references of (IPHAN) and the application of an them to be promoted and to receive indigenous people, Afro-Brazilian citizens administrative act called Tombamento for the financial support for safeguarding plans. and groups inhabiting protected urban legal protection of cultural heritage, both Parallel to the Registry, a National nuclei, as well as people living in movable and immovable. The Tombamento Programme for Intangible Heritage was multicultural urban contexts. There is a was based on Western notions of established for preserving the country’s special focus on cultural properties at risk. authenticity, including preservation of ethnic and cultural diversity, which property as much as possible in its original included the National Inventory of According to IPHAN, an important goal of form, focusing on objects rather than on Cultural References. For this National inventorying intangible cultural heritage is to related social processes. When, in the 1970s, Inventory, an inventory-making maintain the country’s cultural diversity in a the concept of cultural heritage was methodology was prepared by IPHAN context of homogenizing tendencies, and to broadened to include explicitly intangible aimed at the identification of cultural contribute through the implementation of assets, it became obvious that living cultural assets, both tangible and intangible. safeguarding mechanisms to social inclusion assets were to be safeguarded through Intangible cultural assets are divided into and improvement of living conditions of the specially adapted means, which eventually four categories: ‘Celebrations’, ‘Forms of tradition bearers. Since 2000, IPHAN has led to the creation by decree of the Registry expression’, ‘Craftsmanship or traditional concluded 48 inventories of cultural of Intangible Cultural Assets in 2000. knowledge’ and ‘Places or physical spaces’. references throughout the country and other The local delimitation of inventorying 47 are now in progress. Sixteen cultural assets Through this Registry intangible cultural activities may correspond to a village, a have been registered since 2002 and eleven heritage items are documented and district, a zone, an urban sector, a culturally action plans are being implemented in order publicized, in a way that takes into account differentiated geographic region or a to guarantee their transmission and the collective and individual rights linked complex of territories. continuity. alusimbi W .K o © J hot P J The Gangneung Danoje L Barkcloth making in festival, Republic of Korea Uganda on -W , Jae u Y o © hot P 14 . INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

The Venezuelan experience in inventory- representative character of the tangible and under five categories: los Objetos (objects), making intangible cultural heritage for the lo Construido (built heritage), la Creación communities and groups, including the Individual (individual creations), la Tradición The Ley de Protección y Defensa del Patrimonio listing of individuals with distinctive skills Oral (oral traditions) and las Manifestaciones Cultural (the Venezuelan Law on the that symbolise a collective identity. Colectivas (collective manifestations). Protection and Defence of Cultural Heritage) of 1993 decreed the establishment of an Field work started in 2004 through the An editing and publishing team was in Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural, IPC (Institute gathering of information, on municipal basis, charge of bringing the information back to a of Cultural Heritage, www.ipc.gob.ve). One by using pre-existing questionnaires, which brief description of each of the elements for of the main tasks of this Institute is the resulted to be of limited effectiveness as they practical reasons concerning the publication inventorying of Venezuelan Cultural Heritage. were neither reflecting the representative of the inventory. The rest of the written and During a first inventorying exercise, only 610 principle of the exercise, nor including the audiovisual information is included in digital cultural goods were declared of which 476 right questions for valuing other heritage than form in a central database of IPC, with the were architectural (colonial). The Institute monuments or sites. New questionnaires purpose to make it accessible via internet realised then that this did not reflect the were therefore developed with the idea that and other means to the general public. IPC wealth and variety of the country’s cultural one question would lead to the next, leaving also has the intention to publish a CD with heritage. The Institute decided therefore in enough flexibility to afterwards compile and the cultural heritage of each of the 2003 to start a new inventory project that edit the information gathered. The Venezuelan administrative regions and a would aim at reflecting all forms of cultural assessment criterion used for determining the cultural mapping project. The inventory is heritage of all Venezuelan municipalities. In representative character was the need to seen as a main cultural and educational tool 2005, 68 000 expressions of tangible and prove the evidence of a collective valorisation to be used in development policies. intangible heritage had been registered, and of the cultural goods to be registered. Lacking the project was expected to be finalised with this evidence, the elements were rejected. From a legal point of view, the Tribunal some 110 000 expressions inventoried. Supremo de Justicia (Supreme Court) The information gathering was organized by decreed that all cultural heritage that has The new inventory aimed at reflecting those workers in the field of culture, students, been duly registered and published in the cultural manifestations that are valuable for volunteers and the network of local inventory, is subject of protection by the Law the communities themselves. By doing so, it teachers, which is one of the most extended on the Protection and Defence of Cultural rejects the principles previously used of the public networks in the country. The Heritage. When allocating financial establishment by a specialist of their communities were informed about the resources for safeguarding inventoried exceptional value, and of the appropriation of scopes and purposes of the project and intangible cultural heritage, priority is given heritage by society in general through public were told that only the information they to cultural heritage under threat of policies. The final goal of the new inventory wanted to provide would be published in disappearing. Today, more than 84 000 was instead to register all the activities, mani - the Catálogos del Patrimonio Cultural cultural expressions have been inventoried festations, products or cultural expressions Venezolano, a series of more than 200 books and more than 160 Catálogos have been that represent and socially characterize each that presents the results of the inventory in published and are available for free in every of the Venezuelan communities and groups. 335 municipalities. Cultural heritage was cultural, social and educational institution of The basic inventorying criterion used was the registered, for each of the municipalities, each municipality.

The spirit of the Convention calls for inven- detail, and the mechanisms of conducting, tories to be as representative as possible of the maintaining and updating those inventories will intangible cultural heritage borne by local be determined by each State, ‘in a manner geared communities and groups who make up the to its own situation’. national community of the submitting State Party. Above all, the elements that feature in inventories of intangible cultural heritage should be selected on the basis of the primary criterion of whether they are recognized by one or more communities, O groups or, in some cases, individuals as being expressions of their cultural identity. The Convention requires that inventorying be done I The Darangen Epic of the with the participation of those very communities. Maranao People of Lake o © Jojo Unalivia / UNESC hot Other questions of classification, scope, level of Lanao, Philippines P IDENTIYING AND INVENTORYING . 15

Possible outline for inventorying elements of the intangible cultural heritage olombia

1. Identification of the element 4. State of the element: viability

1.1. Name of the element, as used by 4.1. Threats to the enactment; e of the Republic C

community or group concerned; 4.2. Threats to the transmission; ultur 1.2. Short, maximally informative title 4.3. Availability of associated tangible y of C inistr (including indication of domain(s)); elements and resources; o © M hot

1.3. Community(ies) concerned; 4.4. Viability of associated tangible and P 1.4. Physical location(s) of element; intangible elements; L The Cultural Space of 1.5. Short description. 4.5. Safeguarding measures in place. Palenque de San Basilio, Colombia 2. Characteristics of the element 5. Data gathering and inventorying 2.1. Associated tangible elements; 5.1. Consent from and involvement of the 2.2. Associated intangible elements; community/group in data gathering and 2.3. Language(s), register(s), speech level(s) inventorying; involved; 5.2. Restrictions, if any, on use of inventoried 2.4. Perceived origin. data; 5.3. Resource persons(s): name and status or 3. Persons and institutions involved with affiliation; the element 5.4. Date and place of data gathering; 3.1. Practitioners(s)/performer(s): name(s), 5.5. Date of entering data into an inventory; age, gender, social status, and/or 5.6. The inventory entry compiled by…. professional category, etc; 3.2. Other participants (e.g., holders/ 6. References to literature, discography, custodians); audiovisual materials, archives 3.3. Customary practices governing access to the element or to aspects of it; 3.3. Modes of transmission; 3.4. Concerned organizations (NGOs and K The Makishi Masquerade, K The Lakalaka, Dances and others). Zambia Sung Speeches of Tonga O or UNESC ommission f onua esi S. F o © Zambia National C o © P hot hot P P With the support of the Government of Norway

Intangible Cultural Heritage e rnández . F T o © Phot eru and P ador u c , E a people ápar al manifestations of the Z

Intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to al heritage and cultur generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups,

and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus The or

promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity. K