In 2012, the Kingdom of the Netherlands signed the 2003 UNESCO Convention. Since then, work has been underway in the Netherlands, as well as in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (the countries of Aruba, Sint Maarten and Curaçao, and the public entities of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius) on implementation. In 2019, this was given an extra impetus when the ministers of all four countries signed an agreement to further cooperate on the implementation of the UNESCO Convention and the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. One of the specific topics mentioned in this agreement was to work on a joint nomination procedure for one of the international UNESCO lists under the Convention.
There is already a procedure in place for nominations from (European) Netherlands: the Council for Culture advises the Minister of Education, Culture and Science on nominations. The Council for Culture consults the Knowledge Centre on which intangible cultural heritage from the Inventory is available for this purpose. The Knowledge Centre consults the communities for advice and then provides recommendations to the ministry. However, there is currently no procedure for nominations from the Caribbean territories.
Fornù (traditionele oven): Curaçao leren kennen tijdens capaciteitsopbouwtraining met de eilanden. Foto uit het archief.
Since 2019, work has been underway to develop a joint procedure, and as part of this effort, people from different parts of the Kingdom will come together from 13 to 17 February. The group consists of representatives from the islands (members of the Dutch Caribbean ICH Platform, the National UNESCO Commission and/or the local government), the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Dutch UNESCO Commission, and the Knowledge Centre. The purpose of the meeting is to reach agreement on the procedure and to provide recommendations to the ministers of all countries in the Kingdom responsible for UNESCO and intangible cultural heritage.
In addition to working on the joint procedure, the basic principles of the Convention and the inventory of intangible cultural heritage will also be discussed. On Wednesday, there is a break day and the group will visit the Dutch Open Air Museum in Arnhem, where they will learn about intangible cultural heritage in the Netherlands and the museum.
On Friday, 17 February, we hope to have a good recommendation for the ministers, so that in the future, nominations can be submitted on behalf of the entire Kingdom to UNESCO lists for intangible cultural heritage.
On behalf of the Netherlands, the crafts of the miller and the corso culture have already been included on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Netherlands joined an existing file from several countries on falconry. At the annual meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee of the Convention, which will be held this year in Botswana, it will be discussed whether Summer Carnival can be included on the Representative List. The multinational nomination of the Traditional Irrigation of Grasslands, in which the Netherlands participates, will also be discussed.