保护非物质文化遗产公约

主要内容

公约共有九章四十条。

根据公约第2章有关规定，联合国教科文组织增设政府间保护非物质文化遗产委员会，并从2008年开始编制公布联合国教科文组织非物质文化遗产名录和优秀保护实践名册、急需保护的非物质文化遗产名录（2009年开始公布）以及优秀保护实践名册（Register of good safeguarding practices）。各缔约国还需定期举行会议。

根据公约第11、12条，各缔约国需要编制本国的非物质文化遗产名录，并定期更新。

根据公约第6章有关内容，联合国教科文组织成立了“保护非物质文化遗产基金”，资金主要来源为各缔约国的纳款、教科文组织下拨的款项以及其他国家的捐赠等，资金主要用于援助各国保护非物质文化遗产。

公约最后规定在公约生效前，“人类口述和非物质遗产代表作名录”纳入人类非物质文化遗产代表作名录。

The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage is a UNESCO treaty adopted by the UNESCO General Conference on 17 October 2003.

The convention entered into force in 2006, after thirty instruments of ratification by UNESCO Member States. Romania was the 30th state, ratifying the agreement on 20 January 2006. As of October 2022, 180 states have ratified, approved or accepted the convention.

Content

Layout

The convention contains the following provisions:

Purposes

Unlike other UNESCO conventions, this convention begins with stating its purposes, which are;

Definition

Intangible cultural heritage refers to "traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts". The convention defines it as follows:

Intangible Cultural Heritage means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, and skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artifacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity.……

Function

The convention works on both national and international levels.

History

Precursors

One of the first international occasions that mentioned the preservation of 'intangible heritage' was the World Conference on Cultural Policies in Mexico City in 1982. This Conference defined cultural heritage as including "both tangible and intangible works through which the creativity of people finds expression", and asked UNESCO and member states to take measures for protecting this kind of heritage.

In 1989, UNESCO adopted the Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore as the first legal instrument towards the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. This recommendation reflected the ideas of the earlier conference in Mexico City. UNESCO conducted some promotional programs for raising awareness of this recommendation, but was not very successful. However, in the late 1990s, there was a conference held for the assessment of this recommendation, which pointed out some problems to be considered in drafting the convention.

In 1997, UNESCO launched the program of Proclamation of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, intending to raise awareness of the importance of intangible heritage.……

Creation

A preliminary study was undertaken to establish how intangible cultural heritage could be safeguarded.In 2001, the General Conference adopted the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, which also includes articles dealing with the preservation of "heritage in all forms".……

Reception

The definition of intangible cultural heritage has been criticized as potentially incomplete and/or creating a "Pandora's box of difficulties". For example, in a 2004 article in Museum International, Richard Kurin says that because the convention does not recognize cultural activities not compatible with international human rights instruments, some activities, such as female genital mutilation, that groups may themselves consider critical to their culture, are not eligible. Similarly, Kurin notes that since many groups' culture is defined in opposition to other cultures, the requirement for "mutual respect" may leave out traditional songs and stories that glorify "empire, victorious kings, religious conversion, or alternatively resistance to perceived injustice, martyrdom and defeat". However, Kurin also notes that the definition can be more expansive than intended by its designers, who originally planned only to protect "traditional cultural activities". He says that it is robust enough to encompass more modern forms of culture, including things like "rap music, Australian cricket, modern dance, post-modernist architectural knowledge, and karaoke bars".