UNESCO adds 11 new items to Intangible Heritage List

The Paris-based UNESCO on Tuesday added 11 new items to the List of Intangible Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding as it concluded the sixth session of its Intergovernmental Committee. During the week-long meeting held from Nov. 22 to 29, more than 80 nominations, including Saman Dance from Indonesia, Fado from Portugal or Mariachi music from Mexico were considered for inclusion into the UNESCO Intangible Heritage list. China's Hezhen Yimakan storytelling and Chinese shadow puppetry were among the new entries added to the List of Intangible Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding and the Representative List. The UNESCO committee meets annually to evaluate nominations proposed by states parties to the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and decide whether or not to inscribe those cultural practices and expressions of intangible heritage on the Convention's list. It aims to raise the awareness of concerned communities and governments to take proper measures for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. The Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage was adopted by UNESCO's general conference in 2003. It has been ratified by 139 countries who are eligible to nominate items for inscription on the Intangible Heritage List. The next meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage will take place in Grenada in 2012.