Thursday, April 14, 2011

Measures of Support for Intangible Cultural Heritage Conference, first thoughts

I'm in Quebec City, and just back from the opening reception for the international conference on Measures of Support for Intangible Cultural Heritage: Governments, Institutions and Municipalities, organized by the Conseil québécois du patrimoine vivant (CQPV – Quebec Council for Living Heritage). There were opening remarks from Christine St-Pierre, Quebec's minister of culture; Koïchiro Matsuura, UNESCO; and Normand Legault, with CQPV. All in French, of course, and most of it beyond me, apart from a few helpful whisperings in my ear from Mathias Bizimana (from the Canadian Council for UNESCO, who it was great to see again).

What is interesting so far is that there already seems to be a bit of a buzz tonight around the fact that while Canadian provinces and NGOs are being recognized for, and doing, great work in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, the federal government is still apparently resistant to the idea of signing the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, a fact alluded to by Mr. Matsuura in his opening remarks.  I'm hopeful that this conference, and the discussions that come out of it, continue to add to a growing interest in, and recognition of, the importance of ICH to Canadians. Let's sign that Charter!

There is an interesting lineup of speakers for the next few days, and I had an interesting first chat with the Scottish contingent who are doing interesting stuff with community programs and living heritage in museums.

More to come!

1 comment:

MOHAMMED ALI said...

http://archaeologist-bd.blogspot.com says:
Cultural heritage is the bearing of past tradition of both tangible and intangible culture.
The heritage are being maintained in the present which are to be carried down to the future generations.
It retains and reflects the day to day life of the people and their activities. Basic components of culture
are: knowledge, beliefs, ideology, education, language, ethics, laws and regulations, customs and many others,
with the help of which a man identifies himself as a member of a
particular society and a nation.It is possible to strengthen the image of the country as a nation through
perfect development of culture and cultural heritage. Cultural activities can also be included with the
economic development of the country. It is possible to develop a vibrant cultural economy through an
interactive patronization among cultural activities, cultural traditions, tourism and trades.The ‘intangible cultural heritage’ means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as pert of their cultural heritage. This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity. For the purposes of this Convention, consideration will be given solely to such intangible cultural heritage as is compatible with existing international human rights instruments, as well as with the requirements of mutual respect among communities, groups and individuals, and of sustainable development.

5.0 International obligation to protect intangible cultural heritage :

A convention naming “Convention for The Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage” was adopted on 17th October 2003. Bangladesh ratified the convention in 2009.