Protecting 'intangible' cultural heritage

culture minister Małgorzata Omilanowska (right) on Monday: photo - PAP/Radek Pietruszka

UNESCO introduced its Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2003.

In fact, there are two lists, the extensive Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.

Poland is something of a latecomer, as this country did not adopt the convention until 2011.

As Ela Krajewska reports, the first Polish inscriptions number five - traditional Cieszyn gunsmithing, rafting in Ulanów, the ride of the half-man, half-horse Lajkonik and the elaborate Christmas cribs in Kraków, and the Corpus Christi religious procession in Łowicz. This year's procession even attracted Poland's Presidential couple.

The nominations were formally presented at a ceremony at Warsaw's Royal Castle on Monday, August 4.

Among the world’s non-material traditions on the Intangible Heritage list are Viennese coffee house culture in Austria, the tango in Argentina, Nestinari - fire-dancers - in Bulgaria, or violin making in Cremona, Italy, to name a few.