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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

2008⁹⁰

2008
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
Ahellil of Gourara	Algeria
Al-Sirah Al-Hilaliyyah epic	Egypt
Albanian folk iso-polyphony	Albania
Andean cosmovision of the Kallawaya	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
Art of Akyns, Kyrgyz epic tellers	Kyrgyzstan
Arts of the Meddah, public storytellers	Turkey
Azerbaijani Mugham	Azerbaijan
Baltic song and dance celebrations	Estonia – Latvia – Lithuania
Barkcloth making in Uganda	Uganda
Baul songs	Bangladesh
Bistritsa Babi, archaic polyphony, dances and rituals from the Shoplouk region	Bulgaria
Căluş ritual	Romania
Canto a tenore, Sardinian pastoral songs	Italy
Carnival of Barranquilla	Colombia
Carnival of Binche	Belgium
Carnival of Oruro	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
Chopi Timbila	Mozambique
Cocolo dance drama tradition	Dominican Republic
Cross-crafting and its symbolism	Lithuania
Cultural space and oral culture of the Semeiskie	Russian Federation
Cultural space of Boysun District	Uzbekistan
Cultural space of Jemaa el-Fna Square	Morocco
Cultural space of Palenque de San Basilio	Colombia
Cultural space of Sosso-Bala	Guinea
Cultural space of the Bedu in Petra and Wadi Rum	Jordan
Cultural space of the Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit of the Congos of Villa Mella	Dominican Republic
Cultural space of the Yaaral and Degal	Mali
Darangen epic of the Maranao people of Lake Lanao	Philippines
Duduk and its music	Armenia
El Güegüense	Nicaragua
Fujara and its music	Slovakia
Gangneung Danoje festival	Republic of Korea
Gbofe of Afounkaha, the music of the transverse trumps of the Tagbana community	Côte d'Ivoire
Georgian polyphonic singing	Georgia
Gule Wamkulu	Malawi – Mozambique – Zambia
Guqin and its music	China
Hudhud chants of the Ifugao	Philippines
Ifa divination system	Nigeria
Indigenous festivity dedicated to the dead	Mexico
Indonesian Kris	Indonesia
Iraqi Maqam	Iraq
Kabuki theatre	Japan
Kankurang, Manding initiatory rite	Gambia – Senegal
Kihnu cultural space	Estonia
Kun Qu opera	China
Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatre	India
La Tumba Francesa	Cuba
Lakalaka, dances and sung speeches of Tonga	Tonga
Language, dance and music of the Garifuna	Belize – Guatemala – Honduras – Nicaragua
Mak Yong theatre	Malaysia
Makishi masquerade	Zambia
Maroon heritage of Moore Town	Jamaica
Mask dance of the drums from Drametse	Bhutan
Mbende Jerusarema dance	Zimbabwe
Mevlevi Sema ceremony	Turkey
Moussem of Tan-Tan	Morocco
Mystery play of Elche	Spain
Nha Nhac, Vietnamese court music	Viet Nam
Ningyo Johruri Bunraku puppet theatre	Japan
Nôgaku theatre	Japan
Olonkho, Yakut heroic epos	Russian Federation
Opera dei Pupi, Sicilian puppet theatre	Italy
Oral and graphic expressions of the Wajapi	Brazil
Oral heritage and cultural manifestations of the Zápara people	Ecuador – Peru
Oral heritage of Gelede	Benin – Nigeria – Togo
Oxherding and oxcart traditions in Costa Rica	Costa Rica
Palestinian Hikaye	Palestine
Pansori epic chant	Republic of Korea
Patum of Berga	Spain
Polyphonic singing of the Aka Pygmies of Central Africa	Central African Republic
Processional giants and dragons in Belgium and France	Belgium – France
Rabinal Achí dance drama tradition	Guatemala
Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana	India
Royal ancestral ritual in the Jongmyo shrine and its music	Republic of Korea
Royal ballet of Cambodia	Cambodia
Samba de Roda of the Recôncavo of Bahia	Brazil
Sbek Thom, Khmer shadow theatre	Cambodia
Shashmaqom music	Uzbekistan – Tajikistan
Slovácko Verbuňk, recruit dances	Czech Republic
Song of Sana’a	Yemen
Space of gong culture	Viet Nam
Taquile and its textile art	Peru
Tradition of Vedic chanting	India
Traditional music of the Morin Khuur	Mongolia
Urtiin Duu, traditional folk long song	Mongolia – China
Uyghur Muqam of Xinjiang	China
Vanuatu sand drawings	Vanuatu
Vimbuza healing dance	Malawi
Wayang puppet theatre	Indonesia
Woodcrafting knowledge of the Zafimaniry	Madagascar