Earlier this week in Rabat, Unesco examined functions that includes the French baguette, Algerian raï, Serbian “slivo” and Tunisian harissa to determine whether or not they need to be included on the record of humanity’s intangible heritage. The record is at the moment composed of 530 objects, 72 of which require pressing safeguarding.
Chaired by Morocco, the Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage Committee mentioned it examined 56 functions, together with 4 that require pressing safeguarding, resembling pottery belonging to the Cham individuals in Vietnam.
Nearly stay outcomes
This week was the primary time the committee met in individual, following two successive annual periods (2020 and 2021) held on-line because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Essentially the most outstanding objects included:
- the baguette (France);
- fashionable raï track (Algeria);
- funfairs (France and Belgium);
- the tradition of “chai/tea” (Azerbaijan and Turkey);
- conventional tea processing methods (China);
- the rubab, a Central Asian lute (Iran/Tajikistan/Afghanistan);
- slivovitz – plum alcohol from Serbia;
- gentle rum (Cuba);
- in addition to the know-how and culinary practices round Tunisia’s harissa.
Custom and know-how
With the intention to keep away from controversy, Unesco honours all of the traditions, practices and know-how to be safeguarded. Due to this fact, it doesn’t recognise that the baguette is an merchandise of intangible world heritage, however relatively that “the craft expertise and tradition of the baguette” are a part of it.
Following on from that, the experience demonstrated by the masters of Cuba’s gentle rum had been thought of, relatively than the spirit itself. As for Algerian raï, it was not included on the record as music, however relatively as a convention surrounding this musical style.
“It’s residing heritage. The massive distinction between this record of intangible heritage and the record of world [tangible] heritage is that right here it’s the communities which are represented and which are the protagonists of this safeguarding,” mentioned Ernesto Ottone, Unesco’s assistant director-general for Tradition.
No Algerian-Moroccan file for Raï
Thus an merchandise of intangible heritage may be shared between a number of international locations, identical to in 2020, when couscous was registered because of a joint utility by Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.
Samir Addahre, Morocco’s ambassador to Unesco, regretted “not having been capable of current a joint file” with Algeria for Raï because of the breakdown in diplomatic relations between the 2 neighbours. Nevertheless, he mentioned he hoped different joint candidacies will probably be submitted “when circumstances enhance at some point”.
(with AFP)
