: The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia - Information related to Intangible Cultural Heritage
- Date of deposit of instrument: 13-06-2006
- UNESCO Regional Officer for Intangible Heritage: Minasyan, Anahit
Following information is provided for easy reference, but has no official status. For comments or to update information, please contact the regional officer concerned via ich@unesco.org.
Legislation
National legislation includes the Law on Culture (revised, 2003) and the Law on Protection of Cultural Heritage (2004). The latter covers the identification and safeguarding of cultural heritage, including the intangible heritage. In the framework of the 2004 Law, the Intangible Cultural Heritage is defined as “an expression and/or a testimony of the human creation in the past and the present, or a representation of the interaction between the man and the nature”, and it covers three types of properties: folklore, language and toponyms.
National laws in the field of culture: http://www.kultura.gov.mk/content.php?id=18
2004 Report on “The Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection in the Republic of Macedonia: http://unesco.ru/files/docs/clt/kazan/makedonia-re…
Other national initiatives
The Ministry of Culture (Department for Protection of the Cultural Heritage) is the main national body responsible for the protection of the cultural heritage of Macedonia. Upon the entry into force of the 2004 Law on Protection of Cultural Heritage, the Cultural Heritage Protection Office was established with the aim of overseeing the implementation of the Law. One of the priorities of the Office is the inventorying of the intangible cultural heritage.
In 2005, the Institute of Folklore and the Institute of Macedonian Language also started activity, as well as the National Council for Cultural Heritage and its Board for the Protection of ICH.
Voluntary groups and associations play an important role in the safeguarding of ICH. The teaching of traditional folklore is included in the curricula of primary schools, as it is in higher education, in particular at the University of Skopje.
