Browse the Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Register of good safeguarding practices

The Committee meets annually to evaluate nominations proposed by States Parties to the 2003 Convention and decide whether or not to inscribe those cultural practices and expressions of intangible heritage on the Convention’s Lists.

By clicking on the inscribed elements listed below, you can discover the nominations, photos and videos, together with Committee decisions and evidence of community consent.

You may also experience a conceptual, visual and interactive navigation through ‘Dive into Intangible Cultural Heritage’ interfaces which demonstrate the thematic interconnectedness between all the elements inscribed and their relation to nature or to threats.

The designations employed in the texts and documents of the nomination presented by the submitting State Party or States Parties do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Committee nor UNESCO concerning a) the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, b) the legal status of its authorities or c) the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

Full text search: The system will search the exact expression entered (i.e. ‘sustainable development’), except if you separate the terms by a comma so that the motor search one or the other expression or the two (i.e. ‘foodways, culinary practices’).

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include secondary level relations Elements potentially related to World Heritage sites whc

Files considered good examples by the Committee

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Results : 35 elements corresponding to 5 regions and 42 countries

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year

2023¹ – 2022¹ – 2021⁴ – 2020³ – 2019³ – 2017¹ – 2016⁴ – 2014² – 2013¹ – 2011¹ – 2010³ – 2009⁴ – 2008⁷

2023
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Traditional irrigation: knowledge, technique, and organization	Austria – Belgium – Germany – Italy – Luxembourg – Netherlands – Switzerland
2022
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Timber rafting	Austria – Czechia – Germany – Latvia – Poland – Spain
2021
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Building and use of expanded dugout boats in the Soomaa region	Estonia
Carolinian wayfinding and canoe making	Micronesia (Federated States of)
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Dutar making craftsmanship and traditional music performing art combined with singing	Turkmenistan
Gamelan	Indonesia
2020
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Traditional knowledge and techniques associated with Pasto Varnish mopa-mopa of Putumayo and Nariño	Colombia
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Knowledge, know-how and practices pertaining to the production and consumption of couscous	Algeria – Mauritania – Morocco – Tunisia
Traditional skills, techniques and knowledge for the conservation and transmission of wooden architecture in Japan	Japan
2019
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Armenian letter art and its cultural expressions	Armenia
Traditional technique of making Airag in Khokhuur and its associated customs	Mongolia
Traditional Turkish archery	Türkiye
2017
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Pinisi, art of boatbuilding in South Sulawesi	Indonesia
2016
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Mangal Shobhajatra on Pahela Baishakh	Bangladesh
Register of Good Safeguarding Practices
Community project of safeguarding the living culture of Rovinj/Rovigno: the Batana Ecomuseum	Croatia
Oselvar boat - reframing a traditional learning process of building and use to a modern context	Norway
Regional Centres for Craftsmanship: a strategy for safeguarding the cultural heritage of traditional handicraft	Austria
2014
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Mapoyo oral tradition and its symbolic reference points within their ancestral territory	Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Coming forth of the masks and puppets in Markala	Mali
2013
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Celebrations of big shoulder-borne processional structures	Italy
2011
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Traditional skills of building and sailing Iranian Lenj boats in the Persian Gulf	Iran (Islamic Republic of)
2010
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Watertight-bulkhead technology of Chinese junks	China
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Compagnonnage, network for on-the-job transmission of knowledge and identities	France
Daemokjang, traditional wooden architecture	Republic of Korea
2009
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding
Traditional design and practices for building Chinese wooden arch bridges	China
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
China engraved block printing technique	China
Chinese traditional architectural craftsmanship for timber-framed structures	China
Ijele masquerade	Nigeria
2008
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Barkcloth making in Uganda	Uganda
Cross-crafting and its symbolism	Lithuania
Gbofe of Afounkaha, the music of the transverse trumps of the Tagbana community	Côte d'Ivoire
Kankurang, Manding initiatory rite	Gambia – Senegal
Mak Yong theatre	Malaysia
Oxherding and oxcart traditions in Costa Rica	Costa Rica
Woodcrafting knowledge of the Zafimaniry	Madagascar