Intangible heritage: a tangible boost

　　The entry into force of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage represents a new phase for this living and intrinsically fragile heritage.

　　Oral traditions and expressions (including language as a vehicle of intangible cultural heritage), traditional performing arts, social practices, rituals and festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe, traditional craftsmanship - all merit safeguarding for future generations, in the same way as the Galapagos Islands or the Egyptian Pyramids.

　　Since April 20, 2006, the date of its entry into force, the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage stands watch to ensure the continuity of this living testimony to human creativity.

　　To date, 47 States - from Algeria, first to approve it in February, 2004, to Albania, which ratified it on April 4, 2006, - are parties to this convention that completes UNESCO's standard-setting measures for the safeguard of cultural heritage.

　　The text is based on certain articles of the 1972 Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage that protects "tangible" forms of expression of heritage, both monuments and natural sites. It thus anticipates the creation of a general assembly which will have its first meeting next June, an Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and a Fund that will make it possible to finance safeguarding projects.

　　The convention also stipulates that two lists will be drawn up: the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

　　The 90 Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity so far proclaimed by UNESCO are likely to be incorporated gradually into the Representative List, provided they are located within states that have ratified the convention.

　　Another of the convention's important measures is the requirement that each country establish one or several inventories of intangible cultural heritage existing on its territory.

　　In certain cases, this process is well under way and is producing some truly remarkable results. "In Venezuela, we are now conducting a very detailed census of heritage in all its forms," explains José Manuel Rodríguez, president of Venezuela's Institute of Cultural Heritage. "We have recorded more than 68,000 entries coming from all of our country's 335 communities and what we have discovered is the genuine soul of the population. People are astonished that the state is taking an interest in things that belong to them in a very intimate way."