Damascus-SANA
Syria bears a diverse heritage of culture, language, customs and interests that together constitute a cultural identity of its own that helps to understand the meaning of citizenship and belonging to this country, in which cultures followed and crossed in its times civilizations.
With the aim of striking this rich and ancient identity rooted in history, terrorist organizations, during the years of the war on Syria, used the behavior of destroying cultural property, government institutions, infrastructure and archaeological sites to distort the image of Syria's cultural and civilization rooted since prehistoric times.
The sacrifices made by the Syrian cadres and state institutions to protect antiquities and all historical evidence in Syria from destruction were nothing but a witness to the connection and attachment of the Syrian person to the spirit of his civilization and human heritage and his ability to defend and protect it from every sinful hand, according to the opinion of workers in the cultural sector.
In light of the war, systematic targeting, and attempts to steal the Syrian tangible and intangible heritage and obliterate and distort its features, registration on the lists of human heritage was the most effective way to protect the cultural identity of the Syrian people, according to cultural development experts.
Cultural development experts affirm that living heritage is the engine of the peoples of the world in the areas of partnership, discussion and dialogue with other societies that have similar heritage with the aim of developing the cultural properties of the peoples, and that ensuring the sustainability and continuity of the transmission of the Syrian intangible cultural heritage is rooted through registration on the lists of human heritage, which removes the pretext from the enemies Culture and peace who targeted Syria's material and immaterial heritage and stole a part of it, in addition to depriving them of their arguments by custodianship of the Syrian heritage, which they seized by illegal means to enrich their museums.
Returning to the definition of intangible cultural heritage according to the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, it is (all practices, perceptions, forms of expression, knowledge, skills and associated instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural places that communities, groups, and sometimes individuals consider part of their cultural heritage) and this intangible cultural heritage is inherited from generation to generation. Groups and groups are constantly renewed in accordance with their environment, interactions with nature and their history, and it develops in them a sense of their identity and a sense of continuity and promotes respect for cultural diversity and human creativity.
The nomination of the elements of the intangible heritage of UNESCO, according to the statement of researcher Reem Al-Ibrahim, one of the supervisors of the Living Heritage Program in the Syrian Trust for Development to SANA, is carried out according to a specific mechanism by going directly to the community bearing the elements of this heritage, so they are informed of the principles used in UNESCO for the nomination process, through which they are reflected The importance of this element for its holders and ensuring the participation of the local community in all stages of nomination, based on the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the subsequent executive directives and criteria for nominating files of intangible cultural heritage elements on the lists of human heritage.
The technique of writing the scientific file for the nomination, according to Al-Ibrahim, requires accuracy in information and adherence to criteria defined by UNESCO, where the element must have a social function and cultural meaning and be part of the identity of the Syrian society, and there should be a set of measures accompanying the nomination of the element from workshops and seminars and documenting.
In this context, Al-Ibrahim indicated that many files of intangible heritage elements were registered and nominated with the aim of preserving them by UNESCO and international organizations working and interested in cultural heritage. Khayal Al-Zil (Karkoz and Awaz) and included it on the list of items that need urgent safeguarding at UNESCO, as well as the Damascene Rose and Al-Qudud Al-Halabi on the UNESCO Representative List, while the file (Al-Saqara) was the first Syrian item included on the UNESCO list in partnership with a number of countries and is currently being implemented Work to nominate the file of making and playing lutes on the list of this heritage.
Rasha Mahfoud
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