Today (October 17, 2024) marks the first International Day of ICH, which was declared by the UNESCO General Assembly last year. On this day, we pay attention to the intangible cultural heritage, the safeguarding of which is directed by an international document that has so far been accepted by 183 signatory countries, including the Republic of Slovenia. The main purposes of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003) is to safeguard the intangible cultural heritage, to ensure its respect, to raise awareness of its importance at the local, national and international levels and to ensure mutual respect for this heritage, to ensure international cooperation and assistance.
The Convention defines intangible cultural heritage as "the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage." (Article 2). It is classified into oral traditions and expressions, including language as a carrier of intangible cultural heritage, performing arts, social practices, rituals and festive events, knowledge and practices about nature and the universe, and traditional craft skills.
This year, on this day in the Slovene Ethnographic Museum, which performs the duties of Coordinator for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, we emphasize dance as that social element that brings joy to our everyday and festive life and connects us to each other. In October, we opened the exhibition Dance - Europe's living heritage in motion, which emphasizes the role of dance heritage and strengthens understanding of its importance in Europe. The exhibition presents in an interactive way two dances from the Prekmurje area, the sotiš and the šamarjanka, which are still alive and are danced spontaneously on various occasions. At the initiative of the local community, the two dances were also inscribed in the Register of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2021.
You are invited to learn some dance steps with us!
