Intangible Cultural Heritage: The Living Culture of Peoples

TLDR

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) comprises all immaterial cultural manifestations that embody human diversity, self‑identification, authenticity, and human rights, and its safeguarding was formalized by UNESCO’s 2003 Convention, which, however, relies on a model that may be insufficient for ICH’s unique needs. The article seeks to address this inadequacy by proposing that ICH safeguarding should be grounded in international human rights law. It argues that safeguarding should be achieved through the indirect application of human rights law alongside existing frameworks. The authors find that while the Convention correctly identifies ICH elements, its operational structure, modeled after the 1972 World Heritage Convention, fails to adequately protect intangible heritage.

Abstract

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH), made up of all immaterial manifestations of culture, represents the variety of living heritage of humanity as well as the most important vehicle of cultural diversity. The main ‘constitutive factors’ of ICH are represented by the ‘self-identification’ of this heritage as an essential element of the cultural identity of its creators and bearers; by its constant recreation in response to the historical and social evolution of the communities and groups concerned; by its connection with the cultural identity of these communities and groups; by its authenticity; and by its indissoluble relationship with human rights. The international community has recently become conscious that ICH needs and deserves international safeguarding, triggering a legal process which culminated with the adoption in 2003 of the UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. This Convention correctly highlights the main elements of ICH and is based on the right philosophical rationale, but its operational part – structured on the model provided by the 1972 World Heritage Convention – appears to be inadequate to ensure appropriate safeguarding of the specificities of intangible heritage. This article argues that to correct such inadequacy, international safeguarding of ICH must rely on the concomitant application, even though in an indirect manner, of international human rights law, for the reason that ICH represents a component of cultural human rights and an essential prerequisite to ensure the actual realization and enjoyment of individual and collective rights of its creators and bearers.