Métiers d art et savoir faire

The protection of intangible cultural heritage has often been regarded as the long neglected area of international cultural heritage law. Indeed, while international conventions for the protection of movable and immovable, tangible heritage have been operational for several decades, a specialist multilateral instrument covering intangible heritage was only finalised in 2003. Yet, the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage has preoccupied international law for well over a century. I argued that the question of intangible cultural heritage in international law has influenced, and is influenced by, the protection of minorities and the articulation of cultural rights. Treaties covering these various areas contain similar rationales and objectives; disputes about the right holders and the nature of the rights; debate about obligations placed on States parties and the role of the international community; mechanisms of implementation; and the definition of culture . I examine the resurgent interest in minorities, cultural rights and the protection of intangible cultural heritage in international and European law. Their interconnectedness is reflected in their concomitant rise and decline during specific moments in modern international law. These moments are defined by the importance placed on cultural diversity in attaining stability and prosperity by the international community and States. The primary areas of investigation are: (1) the phases of minority protection in international law from the early twentieth century to the present, and its interplay with cultural diversity, cultural rights and intangible cultural heritage; (2) the legacy of these phases upon the current conceptualisation and promotion of cultural rights in international, and European, law; and (3) the transformative impact of the 2003 UNESCO International Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage on long-held rationales and mechanisms for the protection of cultural heritage in international law. I focus on Europe not because it alone has minorities within its borders. Rather, its haunting of European consciousness has consistently and significantly defined the development of international law in these areas. They are a central concern to current European integration and constitutional negotiations. 2 Cultural Diversity and Minority Protection Minority protection incorporates some of the earliest articulations of cultural rights and the protection of intangible cultural property in international law. Although cultural diversity was encouraged by such treaty provisions, it was often not their explicit purpose. Instead, peace and progress have been the consistent rationales attached to the inclusion, or otherwise, of such provisions.