The craft and tradition of the handwoven piña or pineapple textile of Aklan has been inscribed into the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on Dec 5 (Dec. 6 in the Philippines) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The declaration was done during the 18th Session of the Intergovernmental Committee in Kasane, Botswana, from Dec. 4 to 9.
This is the fifth intangible cultural heritage (ICH) element from the Philippines to be inscribed, after the hudhud chants and the punnuk ritual of the Ifugao, the Darangen epic of the Meranaw, and the buklog ritual of the Subanen, which was inscribed in the separate List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. On the other hand, NCCA’s School of Living Traditions was inscribed in UNESCO’s Register of Good Safeguarding Practices.
The aims of the UNESCO Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) are for better protection and wider awareness and recognition of ICH elements. As a result of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, UNESCO maintains two lists: the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which comprises “elements that help demonstrate the diversity of this heritage and raise awareness about its importance,” and the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, which includes elements that “require urgent measures to keep them alive.” Additionally, UNESCO also maintains the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices, which “allows States Parties, communities, and other stakeholders to share successful safeguarding experiences and examples of how they surmounted challenges faced in the transmission of their living heritage, its practice, and knowledge to the future generation.”
The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage is an annual gathering attended by representatives of States Parties, non-governmental organizations, cultural institutions, and other stakeholders from across the globe.
In the 18th session, chaired by Mustaq Moorad, ambassador and permanent delegate of the Republic of Botswana to UNESCO, the committee inscribed six elements on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, and 45 elements on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It also selected four programs for the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices.
UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists now feature 694 elements corresponding to 140 countries, and the Register now features 37 practices corresponding to 31 countries.