During the meeting, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Culture, Francesco Bandarin and Lassana Cissé, Mali’s National Director for Cultural Heritage, signed an agreement whereby Mali will receive $307,307 in emergency assistance from the Intangible Heritage Fund for the compilation of an inventory of its intangible cultural heritage.

The project involves taking stock of intangible cultural heritage—knowledge and practices concerning nature, oral traditions, rituals and festivals, traditional crafts etc.—over the entire country. It will be implemented in two successive one-year phases. The first will concern the three northern regions of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu as well as Mopti in the centre of the country. These are the regions that suffered most directly from the effects of the recent armed conflict and occupation. The second phase will concern the four southern regions of Kayes, Koulikoro, Segou and Sikasso. This assistance was already approved by the Bureau of the Committee in October.

Four elements were inscribed on the List Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, which helps States Parties mobilize international cooperation and assistance to ensure the transmission of this heritage with the participation of the concerned communities. The Urgent Safeguarding List now numbers 35 elements. Those inscribed in 2013 are:

• Azerbaijan—Chovqan, a traditional Karabakh horse-riding game in the Republic of        Azerbaijan
• Guatemala — Paach ceremony
• Mongolia—Mongolian calligraphy
• Uganda—Empaako tradition of the Batooro, Banyoro, Batuku, Batagwenda and           Banyabindi of western Uganda

The Committee also inscribed 25 elements on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which serves to raise awareness of intangible heritage and provide recognition to communities’ traditions and know-how that reflect their cultural diversity. The List does not attribute or recognize any standard of excellence or exclusivity. Four of the 157 States Parties to the convention—Ethiopia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Niger and Ukraine—this year had their first inscriptions on that List, which now totals 281 elements.

The elements inscribed in 2013 are:

• Algeria—Annual pilgrimage to the mausoleum of Sidi ‘Abd el-Qader Ben Mohammed (Sidi Cheikh)
• Algeria, Mali and Niger—Practices and knowledge linked to the Imzad of the Tuareg    communities of Algeria, Mali and Niger
• Bangladesh—Traditional art of Jamdani weaving
• Belgium—Shrimp fishing on horseback in Oostduinkerke
• Brazil—Círio de Nazaré (The Taper of Our Lady of Nazareth) in the city of Belém, Pará
• China—Chinese Zhusuan, knowledge and practices of mathematical calculation through the abacus
• Cyprus, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Spain—Mediterranean diet
• Ethiopia—Commemoration feast of the finding of the True Holy Cross of Christ
• France—Limousin septennial ostensions
• Georgia—Ancient Georgian traditional Qvevri wine-making method
• India—Sankirtana, ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur
• Italy—Celebrations of big shoulder-borne processional structures
• Japan—Washoku, traditional dietary cultures of the Japanese, notably for the celebration of New Year
• Kyrgyzstan—Kyrgyz epic trilogy: Manas, Semetey, Seytek
• Mongolia—Traditional craftsmanship of the Mongol Ger and its associated customs
• Peru—Knowledge, skills and rituals related to the annual renewal of the Q’eswachaka bridge
• Republic of Korea—Kimjang, making and sharing kimchi in the Republic of Korea
• Romania, Republic of Moldova—Men’s group Colindat, Christmas-time ritual
• Senegal—Xooy, a divination ceremony among the Serer of Senegal
  
• Slovakia—Music of Terchová
• Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia—Feast of the Holy Forty Martyrs in Štip
• Turkey—Turkish coffee culture and tradition
• Ukraine—Petrykivka decorative painting as a phenomenon of the Ukrainian ornamental folk art
• Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)—La Parranda de San Pedro de Guarenas y Guatire
• Viet Nam—Art of Đờn ca tài tử music and song in southern Viet Nam

                                                      ****

Photo gallery: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/multimedia/photos/intangible-photo-gallery-2013/

Contacts: Lucia Iglesias Kuntz, l.iglesias@unesco.org +33 (0)6 8024 0729