Benefitting country(ies): Mali

Overview:

This project aims to contribute to the safeguarding of Sanké mon: collective fishing rite of the Sanké, inscribed in 2009 on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. The Sanké mon is a ritual and festive event held each year at the pond of Sanké in the city of San, located 490 km north of Bamako. The objectives of the project included: to raise awareness of local people on the socio-cultural importance of Sanké mon and its proper preservation; to make documentation and audiovisual materials; to make known, at the national and international level, Sanké mon as intangible heritage and an essential part of the cultural identity of the local population; to ensure the sustainability and transmission of the related knowledge among young people. The project was successfully implemented by the National Directorate of Cultural Heritage, with active participation of the communities concerned: ten information meetings to familiarize the communities with the project were organized; a community training session was conducted and the community established a committee; ethnographic data were collected to further identify the details of the heritage and audiovisual materials were produced through interviews and distributed; an awareness-raising programme on the Sanké mon was broadcast; photographic exhibitions were conducted; leaflets were published; two workshops to monitor progress were organized. The project was implemented according to schedule and closed in December 2011.

International assistance related to an element inscribed or nominated for the Urgent Safeguarding List:

00289 - Sanké mon, collective fishing rite of the Sanké (4.COM, inscribed/selected/approuved)

20/04/2011 - 21/07/2011 – Safeguarding cultural heritage aspects of Njelele01/10/2010 - 01/06/2011 – Strengthening national capacities for effective safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage: developing nominations for the Urgent Safeguarding List in Southern Africa