Damascus-SANA
The themes of the third day of the workshop on Syrian intangible cultural heritage organized by the Ministry of Culture and the Directorate of Intangible Heritage at Al-Assad National Library focused on national priorities and strategic objectives for work in this field.
The first session, moderated by researcher Reem Ibrahim, was titled “National Priorities in the Field of Intangible Cultural Heritage,” in which the President of Al-Adiyat Association in Aleppo, Architect Khair Al-Din Al-Rifai, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Architecture in Damascus, Dr. Abeer Arqawi, Director of the Directorate of Intangible Heritage in the Ministry of Culture, Eng. The neighborhood in the Syrian Trust for Development Rasha Barhoum.
The interlocutors discussed the current and future priorities and emergency operations that affected the intangible cultural heritage in many regions in Syria during the terrorist war against the communities bearing the heritage elements, and what those communities did in cooperation with government agencies in saving their tangible and intangible heritage.
The interlocutors stressed the importance of working at the first local levels through documentation and the integrated process that it includes from training and qualifying cadres, preparing inventories and inventorying items, leading to the preparation of the national list of the Syrian intangible cultural heritage in cooperation and coordination with government agencies, associations, non-governmental organizations and civil society.
The interlocutors explained the need for local communities to return to their cultural spaces, help and empower them, emphasizing the economic priority in supporting these communities and crafts and linking them to sustainable development goals, focusing on successful individual and collective experiences, targeting the youth segment, involving them and linking them to their regions and heritage inside and outside Syria.
As for the second level, it is represented by the global by including the elements of the Syrian intangible cultural heritage on the UNESCO lists, which contributes to cultural openness and breaks the economic siege imposed on the Syrian people through the export of heritage, crafts and practices associated with it abroad.
The second session, which was moderated by the international expert at UNESCO and ISESCO, Engineer Luna Rajab, was entitled “Strategic Objectives for Work in the Field of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Syria,” in which the Deputy Director of Bilad Al-Sham Private University for Scientific Research Affairs in Damascus, Dr. Radwan Al-Daya, and the Director of the National Center for the Development of Educational Curricula, Dr. Nadia participated. Al-Ghazzawi and Engineer Muhammad Marouf Al-Jallad from the Directorate of Private Industrial and Craftsman Investment at the Ministry of Industry and Sherine Naddaf from the Living Heritage Program at the Syrian Trust for Development Shirin Naddaf.
The interlocutors discussed the most important strategic objectives of work in the field of intangible cultural heritage, including the advancement of the legal and institutional framework governing the intangible cultural heritage in Syria, enhancing its importance at the national level, spreading awareness about it, and enhancing its role in contributing to achieving economic and social development and ensuring the sustainability of the intangible cultural heritage and its bearer and practice societies.
Tomorrow, the last day of the workshop will conclude, during which it will discuss the governance framework for managing the intangible cultural heritage file in Syria and present the final results and recommendations.
Rasha Mahfoud
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