Human pyramids and throatsingers to be named 'cultural treasures' [View All]

Source: The Guardian

An invisible golden thread links the gingerbread makers of Croatia, the carpet weavers of Azerbaijan, the young men dressed as women rampaging with prams and brooms through the Flanders town of Aalst, the Peruvian scissors dancers regarded as too diabolical to be allowed into churches, the devout hoppers of Echternach in Luxembourg and the French cooks preparing a four-course banquet bookended by aperitifs and liqueurs: all will solemnly be considered by a Unesco committee meeting in Kenya this week for inclusion among the world's cultural treasures.

The world heritage sites scheme, also administered by Unesco, is very well known, judging places including Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids as among the most precious on Earth.

But the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity scheme, established only in 2003, is far less famous – though the number of signed-up states and nominations for inclusion is growing steadily.

This week when the committee meets for three days in Nairobi, it will consider 47 nominations from 29 countries, as well as four traditional skills now practised by so few people – including throatsinging in Croatia and the construction of traditional Chinese wooden junks with waterproof bulkheads – that they are regarded as in danger of extinction.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/nov/14/unesco-intangible-cultural-heritage-of-humanity