Living Treasures

The Tower of Pisa. Machu Picchu. The Taj Mahal. You probably know them as famous UNESCO1 World Heritage sites—structures and monuments of great cultural value. But what about the Mediterranean diet? The Beijing opera? Or the art of pizza-making in Naples? What do these have in common? Traditions like these are known as “intangible cultural heritage.” In contrast to UNESCO World Heritage sites, intangible heritage does not include buildings like palaces and temples. Instead, it includes traditional art forms, such as music, dance, and craftmaking—living traditions that are an important part of a place’s culture. UNESCO began to identify cultural traditions in 2008. Among the first on their list were the Puppet Theater of Sicily and Mexico’s Day of the Dead festival. By 2017, UNESCO had approved more than 300 diverse practices. These include cultural events like the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival; performing arts including Spanish flamenco; martial arts such as Brazilian capoeira and Korean Taekkyeon; and handicrafts like Japanese washi paper-making. In 2010, UNESCO also began to include important regional cuisines, starting with French and Mexican food. Several other types of food and drink have since been added, such as Korean kimchi and Croatian gingerbread. Arabic coffee was included in 2015. The sharing of coffee has been an important aspect of Arab hospitality for centuries, according to UNESCO, and is “a symbol of generosity.” 1 The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization helps nations work together in the fields of education, culture, and science.

Protecting Cultural Roots

Cultural rituals are an important part of the UNESCO list. An example is the Tlemcen wedding ritual in Algeria. The ritual begins in the bride’s parents’ home, where friends and female relatives help the bride prepare for the ceremony. The bride is first dressed in a golden silk dress. Symbolic henna2 designs are applied to her hands. Before leaving the house for the ceremony, her face is wrapped in a golden silk veil.3 Later, during the wedding feast, the bride removes her veil, ready to be married. The tradition has passed from one generation to the next, and marks the community’s cultural identity. Some of the cultural items on the list are dying out and in need of protection. An example is Al Sadu—traditional weaving in the United Arab Emirates. The tradition was once widely practiced by communities of desert Bedouin women. However, many Bedouin have now moved to cities, and so the practice has begun to disappear. Today, Al Sadu is mostly practiced by older women whose numbers are declining. The main goal of UNESCO is to promote peace through respect for the world’s varied cultures and common humanity. It hopes that by bringing attention to cultural traditions such as Al Sadu, they will be more likely to survive. Cultural traditions are important to fight for, says Cécile Duvelle of UNESCO. “The more globalized the world becomes,” she says, “the more important it is not to lose these traditional roots.” 2 Henna is a type of dye often used for coloring hair and skin.