The Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund, established by the UNESCO 2003 Convention, provides assistance to UNESCO Member States in their efforts to safeguard their living heritage. In September 2020, the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage examined International Assistance requests. Hereby, a total of US$479,994 was granted to implement safeguarding activities in 5 countries, including the Caribbean Small Island State Antigua and Barbuda. The other countries receiving a share of the funding are projects in Burundi, Egypt, South Sudan and Uruguay.
The project “Strengthening capacities for the implementation of the 2003 Convention for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage in Antigua and Barbuda” will be receiving its share of the funds. The nineteen-month project aims to create the country’s first national inventory of living heritage, enhancing national technical capacities to harvest and interpret related data and improve the exchange of information between the public and private sectors as well as civil society.
The Game of Warri and Traditional Boatbuilding have been selected as the two pilot safeguarding activities to trial measure and instruct future safeguard activities. The resulting inventory is expected to raise awareness of key elements of living heritage and their viability as well as to encourage better coordinated, and evidenced-based, investment and policy attention to safeguarding living heritage.
This project is implemented in collaboration by the Ministry of Sports, Culture, National Festivals and the Arts of Antigua and Barbuda and the UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean in Kingston.
The other selected projects that will receive the nearly 500,000USD funding are