Dozens of global traditions could be part of UNESCO’s intangible global heritage list this week. These include Italian opera singing and Bangladeshi rickshaw art as well as the Peruvian delicacy of ceviche. The UN cultural agency’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Committee is expected to examine and approve 55 nominations in total. The committee is set to meet in the town of Kasane in Botswana. These include a bid from Italy to include opera singing while Bangladesh is hoping to inscribe the art of painting rickshaws that contribute to a “roving exhibition of paintings- an emblematic feature of urban life in Dhaka”.
Peru said that it has put forth the “preparation and consumption of ceviche”, a traditional dish of raw fish marinated in lemon and seasoned with chilli, pepper and salt- a recipe “inherited from generation to generation”.
Azerbaijan, Iran, Uzbekistan and Turkey are together pushing for iftar, the meal shared by Muslims at the end of Ramadan, to be recognised. Other applicants include the “traditional skills of loincloth weaving” in Ivory Coast, as well as bolero from Cuba and Mexico.
The UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and its list were adopted in 2003. It was ratified by 30 member states in 2006. The list’s 676 traditions include Neapolitan pizza, Brazilian capoeira and Spanish flamenco.
The UN agency has said that the list has helped safeguard disappearing traditions. When Belgium succeeded in having “shrimp fishing on horseback” recognised, the practice gained more followers.
Indonesia says that the inscription on the UNESCO list of the noken, a knotted or woven bag, provided “powerful incentive” to better preserve the handicraft.
