Doha: Since it ratified the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2008, a major reference for States Parties in developing public policies and enacting legislation and laws to take the necessary measures thereto, the State of Qatar has been paying special attention to cultural heritage.
The Ministry of Culture is holding a special celebration of the 20th anniversary of Convention. On this occasion, an exhibition highlighting Qatari cultural heritage will be held at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris on Monday. The exhibition highlights “The Majlis: A Social and Cultural Space,” traditional crafts and industries, and examples of the “falconry”, which was registered on the UNESCO representative list in 2015, in addition to popular arts and popular culinary arts. The exhibition will also display photos showing the Qatar’s achievements in preserving heritage.
The State of Qatar give attention to the national c
ultural heritage, in addition to its role at the international level.
At the national level, Qatar has launched many initiatives to achieve cooperation and harmony between the efforts of various state institutions concerned with preserving intangible cultural heritage. It also sought to register a number of cultural elements on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity with the UNESCO, the most important of which are the falconry, Arabic coffee, the Majlis, the palm tree, and other files.
As part of its commitment to preserving, documenting, raising awareness of, and sharing cultural heritage, Qatar also seeks, individually and jointly to include a number of other cultural elements on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage.
Being the owner of the initiative to register the “Bisht’ on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage at UNESCO, The State of Qatar leads Arab efforts to follow up on registration procedures, in cooperation with Arab League of Educatio
nal, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO).
Qatar has previously worked on registering a number of joint Arab files, such as the “palm tree” and “Arabic calligraphy” , in addition to the “metal engraving art”, which will soon be registered on the Representative List of World Heritage under an Iraqi initiative, with 14 Arab countries participating in it.
Source: Qatar News Agency