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Category: Intangible Cultural Heritage

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Folklife at the International Level: Intangible Cultural Heritage Defined

Posted by: Michelle Stefano

If this series is a mountain, I am pleased to say that we are now climbing up to its peak: an examination of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It is through the 2003 Convention that the concept and category …

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Folklife at the International Level: Happy Anniversary to the 1999 UNESCO-Smithsonian Meeting

Posted by: Michelle Stefano

The Folklife at the International Level series has set out on a winding road, tracing the concept of “intangible cultural heritage” (ICH) as developed through a series of international initiatives over the course of the late 20th century. As the signs posted throughout have indicated, this road leads to the global framework for ICH promotion and …

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Folklife at the International Level: Roots of Intangible Cultural Heritage Part VIII, Masterpieces and Paradoxes

Posted by: Michelle Stefano

In Part VII, we got a feel for the strong momentum that was building during the 1990s with respect to the more concerted efforts of UNESCO in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage (ICH) – and raising awareness of the need to – globally. In particular, we took a look at the Living Human Treasures model, long …

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Folklife at the International Level: the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowships, with Clifford Murphy

Posted by: Michelle Stefano

Our journey in the Folklife at the International Level series last took us to long-established East Asian “Living Human Treasures” programs for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage (ICH). As discussed, during the 1990s, UNESCO recommended to Member States that they adopt similar systems of subsidizing (or, at the least, officially recognizing) people in their own territories …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Folklife at the International Level: Roots of Intangible Cultural Heritage Part VII, Treasures

Posted by: Michelle Stefano

In Part VI, we examined UNESCO’s 1972 World Heritage Convention and some of its underlying notions and approaches that have influenced the development of UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) framework of today. In particular, I singled out its use of listing – namely, the World Heritage List – as a mechanism for preservation by drawing …