Alerte : patrimoine immatériel en danger

Warning: intangible heritage in danger.

The performing arts, oral expression, festive events, know-how, etc, the intangible cultural heritage reveals itself in very different fields. That’s exactly what brings it its richness and makes it impossible to give any rigid defi-nition of this term. At a time when three dangers – museumification, folklorization and commercialization – are threatening it, will the Unesco Convention for the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage succeed in protecting this heritage?   Chérif Khaznadar, who has followed and taken part in the development and implementation of this Convention as an expert consultant, shares his impressions, his analyses and his warnings.  

Written by Chérif Khaznadar

Translated from French to English by Frank KaneCo-published by Actes Sud and the Maison des Cultures du MondeBabel n° 1285 / 144 pagesDistribution :
 Quebec (Flammarion), 
Switzerland (Servidis), 
France and other countries (Actes Sud)