Africa-Press – Uganda. Twelve African elements are among the 55 new cultural practices inscribed on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
Unesco’s Intergovernmental Intangible Heritage Committee meeting at the Cresta Mowana Resort in Kasane, Botswana, from December 5 to 8, 2023, inscribed 55 new cultural practices to this list, in response to nominations submitted by 72 countries. The 18th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage was chaired by Botswana.
Following debates, the 24 state members of the Committee decided to inscribe 55 new cultural practices: Six practices were inscribed on the Intangible Heritage List of Urgent Safeguarding; 45 practices were inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity; and four were inscribed on the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices.
Among the new inscriptions were 730 cultural practices spread across 145 countries. These now make up Unesco’s living heritage.
The Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention’s 20th Anniversary was also celebrated at the Committee Session. The Convention is now ratified by 181 State Parties, and the list now includes more than 700 traditions and cultural practices. The Convention has considerably strengthened the world’s legal arsenal for the protection of culture.
The Committee also awarded two international assistance grants—one to Zimbabwe for $321,300 (Shs1.2b) and the other to Paraguay for $74,500 (Shs282m). Since the Convention was created, Unesco has financed more than 140 safeguarding projects in more than 70 countries, totalling more than $12m (Shs45b).
“This Convention is a powerful tool for safeguarding cultural diversity and local identities in the context of globalisation,” said Audrey Azoulay, the Unesco director-general.
In the case of more than half of the practices registered in 2023, techniques and know-how have been passed on within the family, from generation to generation. This characteristic is a reminder that intangible cultural heritage, as defended and promoted by Unesco, is living heritage that is preserved by transmission between individuals—often family members.
The key role of women in the preservation and the transmission of cultural practices is at the heart of the latest inscriptions. They are the true guardians of traditions, which are also often a source of emancipation and empowerment.
For the first time since 2008, this year the Committee inscribed a record number of 10 cultural practices from sub-Saharan Africa. It also welcomed the 12 multinational inscriptions, with 2023 also marking the first time a practice has been inscribed as Unesco living heritage by five countries. These are Angola, The Bahamas, Cameroon, Djibouti, and Grenada.
“Thanks to this Convention, the very definition of cultural heritage is now broader. It is no longer just a matter of monuments, sites or stones. The convention recognises that heritage is also alive—that it can be sung, written, listened to and touched. Each of us carries a part of this heritage in us, and protects it,” Azoulay said.
The next committee session, chaired by Paraguay, will take place in December.
The latest inscriptions
Shuwalid festival—Ethiopia
Shuwalid is an annual three-day festival celebrated by the Harari people of Ethiopia. It marks the end of six days of fasting to compensate for omissions during Ramadan. The celebration unites community members of all ages and genders and is passed on within families and by participating in the events. It is a platform for the transmission of performing arts, traditional dress and other cultural elements.
Xeedho—Djibouti
Xeedho is a dish given by a mother-in-law to her son-in-law to celebrate the first week of her daughter’s marriage. It consists of a container with pieces of dried dromedary meat. The container is wrapped and decorated, then covered with traditional fabrics symbolising women’s clothes. It is an integral part of Djibouti wedding ceremonies. It strengthens social ties and represents a commitment to honour the bride and her family.
Hiragasy – Madagascar
Hiragasy is a performing art composed of storytelling, song, dance and speech that originated in the central highlands of Madagascar. A source of national identity, the performance is present in all Malagasy festive and cultural events. It is transmitted informally within families and is viewed as a means of conveying morals, civic and cultural values and history.
Al-Molid procession – Sudan
Al-Molid procession is a celebration of the Prophet Mohammed, in the third month of the Islamic lunar calendar. During the parade, participants perform religious songs and ritual dances and recite Sufi prayers.
Ingoma Ya Mapiko—Mozambique
The Mapiko dance is a celebratory dance practiced by the Makonde people of Mozambique. It is performed in an enclosure, with dancers, musicians and the public coming together to celebrate the traditional rite of passage from puberty to adulthood.
Sona —Angola
Practised by the Lunda Cokwe and neighbouring peoples in eastern Angola, Sona is a form of expression that seeks to convey beliefs, thoughts and emotions through drawings and geometric figures on sand. The practice is passed on during initiation rites for the youth who are preparing to assume social functions. It is a means of promoting cultural identity, creating and consolidating collective memory and enhancing a sense of belonging.
Other African elements
Nguon, rituals of governance and associated expressions in the Bamoun community (Cameroon); the Sango Festival of Oyo (Nigeria); traditional skills of loincloth weaving (Côte d’Ivoire); Malhun, a popular poetic and musical art (Morocco); Mahadra, a community system for transmission of traditional knowledge and oral expressions (Mauritania); the arts, skills and practices associated with engraving on metals (gold, silver and copper) in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen.
The six elements from Uganda
Uganda has six elements inscribed on the Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage List. These include: Ma’di bowl lyre music and dance (2016); Koogere oral tradition of the Basongora, Banyabindi and Batooro peoples (2015); Male-child cleansing ceremony of the Lango of central northern Uganda (2014); Empaako tradition of the Batooro, Banyoro, Batuku, Batagwenda and Banyabindi of western Uganda (2013); Bigwala, gourd trumpet music and dance of the Busoga Kingdom in Uganda (2012); Barkcloth making in Uganda (2008).
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