UNESCO adds endangered living traditions to its Intangible Cultural Heritage lists

Key facts

• UNESCO added the Philippine artisanal sea-salt craft Asin Tibuok to the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.
• Viet Nam’s Đông Hồ folk woodblock printing, carved wooden blocks, natural pigments and scallop-powder paper, was inscribed on the Urgent Safeguarding List.
• Kenya’s Mwazindika spiritual dance of the Daida community, combining dance, ritual, music and storytelling, joined the Urgent Safeguarding List.
• Pakistan’s Boreendo clay musical instrument, Panama’s quincha mud-house construction, Paraguay’s Ñai’ũpo ceramic craft, Portugal’s moliceiro wooden boats, Uzbekistan’s Kobyz string instrument, Albania’s lahuta epic singing, Barbados landships traditions and Belarus’s Negliubka textile tradition were all added to the Urgent Safeguarding List.
• UNESCO placed the Bisht ceremonial men’s garment shared by Qatar, Iraq, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
• Venezuela’s Joropo music-dance-poetry tradition, Bolivia’s Festivity of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Sucre, Argentina’s cuarteto dance-music, Bangladesh’s Tangail saree weaving, Afghanistan’s Behzad-style miniature art, Belgian rod marionette theatre, Belize’s Christmas Bram and Sambai, Bulgarian bagpipe traditions and the Zaffa wedding procession across parts of Africa and the Middle East were also inscribed on the Representative List.