In a move that would go a long way in ensuring that the cultural identity and basic flavor of any community remained intact, UNESCO will accept International Cultural Heritage (ICH) dossiers in the language of the practitioners along with English or French versions for the evaluation.
This was informed by Tim Curtis, Secretary, Convention for Safeguarding the Intangible Culture Heritage, UNESCO at an event here to celebrate the successful inscription of ‘Durga Puja in Kolkata’ on the Representative List of ICH of Humanity in 2021.
The event was organized by the Union Ministry of Culture along Sangeet Natak Akademi, the designated nodal agency for ICH, in collaboration with the National Museum and National Museum Institute.
‘Durga Puja in Kolkata’ was inscribed on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity during its 16th session held in Paris, France from 13th to 18th December 2021.
Curtis pointed out that non-formal education is something the UNESCO convention has been working on for four years.
“Since safeguarding living heritage involves transmitting the knowledge to the next generation, education becomes central to this process,” he said.
Director and UNESCO Representative to Bhutan, India, Maldives, and Sri Lanka, Eric Falt said, “I think it is very important to bring together all of the stakeholders and different groups who are involved in such nominations…”
On the occasion, Lily Pandeya, Joint Secretary, Union Culture Ministry said, “With 40 UNESCO World Heritage sites, 14 intangible cultural heritage elements inscribed on Representative List – the latest being Durga Puja of Kolkata, 9 documentary heritage elements recognized in the International Memory of the World Register, and 6 Creative Cities, India continues to strengthen the intercultural dialogue among nations.”
India now has 14 intangible cultural heritage elements on the prestigious UNESCO Representative List of ICH of Humanity.
Among those present on the occasion included Ritu Sethi, ICH expert, Shikha Jain and Prof. Manvi Seth from the National Museum Institute, Arvind Kumar, Director/ UNESCO, Ministry of Culture, Suman Kumar of Sangeet Natak Akademi besides officials from the Union Ministry of External Affairs.