The annual session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which took place in Asunción, Republic of Paraguay, from December 2 to 6, 2024, chose a selection highlighting varied practices.
For this nineteenth session of the Committee, Member States added 63 new cultural elements: 53 joined the Representative List of the Heritage of Humanity, two, the Urgent Safeguarding List, and three, the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices. With these recent inscriptions, UNESCO’s intangible heritage now includes 788 cultural practices, spread across 150 countries. Like every year, new registrations cover many fields, from artisanal know-how to performing arts, including cultural practices.
France, which already had 28 registered traditions, is adding three new ones. The Committee has integrated the art of dry stone construction, know-how shared with 13 other countries, including Switzerland and Spain. The know-how of Parisian roofers and zinc workers and ornamentalists has also been included. Parisian zinc work, typical of the capital, encompasses the knowledge and skills necessary for the restoration of 19th century Haussmann roofs and buildings. More unusual, the Committee retained fairground culture, following a Franco-Belgian request. This recognition will: “communities and towns to take fairground art into account”enthuses Nicolas Lemay, president of the Fédération des Forains de France in The Messenger.
As in 2023, the living cultural heritage of African countries was particularly highlighted. This year marks the first UNESCO living heritage listing for Ghana, with Kente crafts; for Rwanda, with the Intore dance; and for Somalia, with oral customary law. Two Asian countries also appear on the list for the first time: Brunei Darussalam with the kebaya, a traditional garment, and Myanmar (formerly Burma) with the atā thingyan, its traditional New Year celebration. Culinary practice is also highlighted this year with 11 new registrations, including Asturian cider culture in Spain and know-how relating to sake in Japan.
In 2003, UNESCO created a convention to legally broaden the notion of cultural heritage, integrating living heritage: “Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) encompasses practices and knowledge that everyone inherits in common, and which they collectively strive to bring to life, recreate and transmit”. France ratified this convention in 2006, thus benefiting from a non-binding legal framework aimed at recognizing and supporting this heritage.
Since then, the French state has had the responsibility to preserve and transmit these cultural practices. It must, for example, encourage scientific studies and create educational establishments linked to customs. The inclusion of know-how around perfume in Grasse in 2018 is an example: since its entry into the list, two new laboratories have seen the light of day, including those of the University of Côte d’Azur in 2021. The elements listed on the urgent list oblige the States concerned to take safeguard measures. Four years after registration, a report must be produced to assess conservation progress.
In 2008, France established its own Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage. This inventory, updated by the ministry, lists the practices present on the national territory. In 2023 and 2024, 27 elements have been inscribed, including hunting wasp nests and the art of pottery in Mayotte.
