UNESCO has unveiled its 2019 inscriptions across its various lists representing the world’s most significant and unique cultural expressions. The UNESCO lists of ‘intangible cultural heritage’ recognise elements of culture whose practice is maintained through doing, and are aimed to safeguard those practices through preservation, research, transmission and education, as well as giving them increased global visibility. Intangible cultural heritage itself has a very broad definition, and can include oral traditions and expressions; social practices, rituals and festive events; knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; traditional craftsmanship; and performing arts – including music.
Probably the most important of the lists documents culture that is ‘in need of urgent safeguarding,’ those which UNESCO believes will become extinct without emergency measures being undertaken. This year, two musical practices have been highlighted in this way: sega tambour Chagos is a form of sega music performed in Mauritius by exiled Chagos Islanders in their own creole alongside traditional dances, food and drink; and sepuru, a ceremony made up of dance, song and sacred rituals to celebrate life cycle milestones among the Veekuhane people of Botswana. Both of these traditions have only been mastered by a handful of elderly people, and their practice is not being passed along to younger generations, leading to a loss of cultural memory as the older practitioners pass away.
The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity is a much longer list that showcases and raises awareness of all the glorious diversity of human culture. This year, 35 traditions were added to the list, with eight relating to music from Greece, Morocco, Ireland, Uzbekistan, Cape Verde, Dominican Republic, Norway and Iran – you can read about a few of them in brief below.
The list of UNESCO Creative Cities was also expanded. These are cities that are acknowledged as being hotbeds of a particular type of culture – be it music, film, food, literature, craft or design. With 66 new inscriptions this year, the Creative Cities network now numbers 246 cities across the globe. Cities newly recognised for their contributions to music include Havana in Cuba, Port of Spain in Trinidad & Tobago and Essaouira in Morocco, as well as some slightly less obvious choices, such as Kazan in Russia and Leiria in Portugal. UNESCO director-general Audrey Azoulay praised the Creative Cities, saying “All over the world, these cities, each in its way, make culture the pillar, not an accessory, of their strategy.”
However, the various UNESCO lists have been shown this year to not necessarily represent an unchanging acceptance of the practices inscribed within. 2019 saw a tradition has been removed from the Representative List for the first time. The carnival of Aalst in Belgium was added to the list in 2010, but has long been on the receiving end of national and international criticism for its blatant displays of anti-Semitic caricature. After the inscription had been withdrawn, UNESCO released the statement saying that it remains “faithful to its founding principles of dignity, equality and mutual respect among peoples and condemns all forms of racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia.”
Here are just some of the new inscriptions to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity for 2019:
Gnawa – Members of the Gnawa Sufi brotherhood of Morocco are descended from West Africans transported north in slavery in the 16th century. The ritual music of the Gnawa is one of the country’s most recognisable styles.
Morna – The mournful song from the islands of Cape Verde is suffused with sodade – a feeling of nostalgic longing. The queen of morna is undoubtedly the late, great Cesária Évora.
Irish harping – Ireland’s harping tradition is such an important aspect of the country’s culture that the harp is its national symbol. The instrument has been played in Ireland for over 1000 years, and the number of practitioners is growing steadily.
Dotar – The Iranian long-necked lute was inscribed not just for its musical tradition of accompanying epic poetry, but for the tradition of its manufacture. Crafting and playing the dotar usually go hand-in-hand.
Photo: Sega tambour Chagos, courtesy of National Heritage Fund with permission of UNESCO.