Developing a new standard-setting instrument for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage: Elements for consideration

The adoption of UNESCO’s 1989 Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore was a major step forward in providing formal recognition of intangible heritage and the need to safeguard it, representing the culmination of many years’ work. It was also a significant conceptual development in that it was the first time that non-material aspects of cultural heritage were explicitly the subject matter of an international instrument. Identification of the content and scope of intangible heritage is a major challenge facing UNESCO and other bodies concerned with its safeguarding. It is important in this endeavour that the significance of the skill and know-how of tradition-holders, the transmission of information and the social, cultural and intellectual context of its creation and maintenance is recognized. It follows from this that the human context within which intangible heritage is created must be safeguarded as much as its tangible manifestations.