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Lists of intangible cultural heritage and Register of best safeguarding practices

The Committee meets annually to evaluate nominations proposed by States Parties to the 2003 Convention and decide whether or not to inscribe those cultural practices and expressions of intangible heritage on the Convention’s Lists.

The List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding (see criteria) is composed of intangible heritage elements that concerned communities and States Parties consider require urgent measures to keep them alive. Inscriptions on this List help to mobilize international cooperation and assistance for stakeholders to undertake appropriate safeguarding measures. During the period from 2009 to 2012, the Committee inscribed 31 elements on this List.

The Register of Best Safeguarding Practices (see criteria) contains programs, projects and activities that best reflect the principles and the objectives of the Convention. During the period from 2009 to 2012, the Committee selected 10 programmes, projects and activites for this Register.

The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (see criteria) is made up of those intangible heritage elements that help demonstrate the diversity of this heritage and raise awareness about its importance. In 2008 the Committee incorporated 90 elements (formerly proclaimed Masterpieces) into the Representative List. During the period from 2009 to 2012, it has also inscribed 167 new elements on this List.

By clicking on the inscribed elements below, you can discover the nominations, photos and videos, together with Committee decisions and evidence of community consent.

• List of elements
• Statistics
• Map

2012²⁷

2012
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Al ‘azi, elegy, processional march and poetry	Oman
Al-Taghrooda, traditional Bedouin chanted poetry in the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman	United Arab Emirates – Oman
Arirang, lyrical folk song in the Republic of Korea	Republic of Korea
Buddhist chanting of Ladakh: recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir, India	India
Cherry festival in Sefrou	Morocco
Craftsmanship and performance art of the Tar, a long-necked string musical instrument	Azerbaijan
Craftsmanship of Horezu ceramics	Romania
Cultural practices and expressions linked to the balafon of the Senufo communities of Mali, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire	Mali – Burkina Faso – Côte d'Ivoire
Falconry, a living human heritage	United Arab Emirates – Austria – Belgium – Czech Republic – France – Hungary – Republic of Korea – Mongolia – Morocco – Qatar – Saudi Arabia – Spain – Syrian Arab Republic
Fest-Noz, festive gathering based on the collective practice of traditional dances of Brittany	France
Festival of Saint Francis of Assisi, Quibdó	Colombia
Fiesta of the patios in Cordova	Spain
Folk art of the Matyó, embroidery of a traditional community	Hungary
Frevo, performing arts of the Carnival of Recife	Brazil
Ichapekene Piesta, the biggest festival of San Ignacio de Moxos	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
Klapa multipart singing of Dalmatia, southern Croatia	Croatia
Marches of Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse	Belgium
Mesir Macunu festival	Turkey
Nachi no Dengaku, a religious performing art held at the Nachi fire festival	Japan
Performance of the Armenian epic of 'Daredevils of Sassoun' or 'David of Sassoun'	Armenia
Qālišuyān rituals of Mašhad-e Ardehāl in Kāšān	Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Rites and craftsmanship associated with the wedding costume tradition of Tlemcen	Algeria
Schemenlaufen, the carnival of Imst, Austria	Austria
Traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona	Italy
Traditional weaving of the Ecuadorian toquilla straw hat	Ecuador
Venezuela's Dancing Devils of Corpus Christi	Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
Worship of Hùng kings in Phú Thọ	Viet Nam