This autumn, UNESCO week – October 14-21 – the national Commission of Latvia of UNESCO invites to look into the various manifestations and practices of intangible cultural heritage in Latvia and to assess their importance in strengthening the resilience of communities and society as a whole, jointly celebrating the 20 th anniversary of the UNESCO Convention for the Conservation of intangible cultural Heritage.
'Over these years, the Convention has changed public understanding of cultural heritage, showing that heritage, alongside monuments and collections of objects, also includes traditions inherited from ancestors and maintained in modern communities such as celebrating celebrations, knowledge of nature and universe and craft skills. Consequently, this year UNESCO week's chosen guiding motive is “from generation to generation,” encouraging not only to explore the intangible cultural heritage, but also to engage in its inheritance,” stresses UNESCO Latvian national Commission Secretary General Baiba Moulnik.
UNESCO intangible cultural Heritage Conventionsthe aim is to preserve intangible cultural heritage and promote diverse heritage expressions and mutual respect among their communities. The Convention recalls the importance of ensuring the widest possible participation of communities, groups and everyone in the creation, maintenance and transfer of cultural heritage.
“One of Latvia's most widely known intangible cultural heritage assets is the Song and Dance Celebration. This unique tradition celebrates its 150 th anniversary this year, demonstrating its viability and lauding the strong communities that have nurtured and betrayed the tradition from generation to generation. This year also marks the 15 th anniversary of the inclusion of the Baltic Song and Dance Celebration tradition in UNESCO's representative list of humanity's intangible cultural heritage, demonstrating its importance on the world stage, “– notesInge Surgunts, Head of Culture sector of the national Commission of Latvia of UNESCO.
Between October 14 and 21, education campaign “from generation to generation” the social networking platform “Facebook” in which the UNESCO national Commission of Latvia will present the Convention and the elements included in the intangible cultural heritage lists internationally and in Latvia.
During this week, various materials related to the Convention and intangible cultural heritage lists at global and Latvian level will be published on social network platforms, mainly on the Facebook page of the UNESCO Latvian national Commission.
October 17 will be dedicated to Latvia's intangible cultural heritage list. On this day, we call on all communities - individual practitioners, associations, associations, collectives and associates - to: publish photos and videos to your social network profiles related to one of THE ITEMS in the NKM list. We encourage you to add a UNESCO week 2023 publicity picture (in the Annex) to your publications and use the #UNESCON El 2023 theme handle.
On Thursday, October 19, the Siguldas county cultural Centre “Sigulda Devons” will host the UNESCO Latvian national Commission Cooperation Network Conference on “Cooperation literacy: seeking a common language”in which school teachers, librarians of the “story library” network, employees of Latvian memory institutions of the UNESCO program “World memory” and representatives of UNESCO catheters will participate.
On Friday 20 October, everyone interested will have the opportunity to test their knowledge of intangible cultural heritage online erudition game 'UNESCO quiza 'organised by the UNESCO Latvian national Commission in cooperation with the organizer of the erudition games “Grand Quiz”.
The UNESCO week 2023 “from generation to generation” dedicated to the 20 th anniversary of the UNESCO Nuclear cultural Heritage Convention shall be organised by the national Commission of Latvia in co-operation with the national cultural Centre of Latvia and the communities whose heritage is included in UNESCO and Latvian intangible Heritage lists.
The UNESCO Latvian national Commission invites not only to participate in the 2023 events of UNESCO week, but also to share its experience using the momentary tags #UNESCON El 2023, #UNESCOLatvijasD.
UNESCO week has been held in Latvia every October since 2011, marking 14 October 1991, when Latvia was officially admitted to UNESCO. UNESCO week is a platform for cooperation between different institutions and sectors, the exchange of international and national experiences, opinions and ideas, and the implementation of new initiatives inspired by the values highlighted by UNESCO, both nationally and internationally.
Author:
Kitija Balcare, UNESCO LNK communications consultant