Epiphany, the feast of St. Blaise, Sinjska alka, Serbian kolo, Neapolitan pizza, klapa singing, Bećarac, silent kolo... just some of the well-known traditions that our neighbors from Serbia, Croatia and Italy have entered into the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of humanity of UNESCO.
Croatia has a total of 14 enrollment elements so far, and Serbia announces one each next year.
Montenegro, so far, has no registered cultural assets on this list. According to the announcement of Prime Minister Duško Marković, the plan is to enroll the Bokel navy.
In addition to the Bokel Navy, candidates could also be skilled in the production of Dobrot lace and Bihor carpets, as well as the cattle raising tradition of katun (katun weaving). The list is open to all proposals that reflect the centuries-old tradition of Montenegro.
The Secretary General of the Montenegrin National Commission for UNESCO in the Ministry of Culture, Milica Nikolić, in an interview with "Vijesti" explains that entering this list is the final step in the proper approach to the protection and preservation of intangible heritage.
"Before that, it was necessary to ratify the convention, reform the national legislative framework in this area and legislate the protection of intangible heritage, and improve expert knowledge with the standards of the Convention and UNESCO procedures. After that, an inventory of intangible heritage was carried out on the territory of Montenegro and a preliminary list of potential cultural assets of an intangible character was made, based on which the procedures of legal protection, i.e. verification of cultural value, were carried out. At the national level, we currently have 16 protected cultural properties, while one is currently in the process of checking cultural values. Respecting the 12-century tradition of the Bokel Navy, its national and international importance, and the strong commitment of the local community in its preservation and maintenance, it was judged that this cultural asset deserves to be the first intangible cultural asset that Montenegro will apply for the UNESCO Representative List," she said. is Nikolić.
What, apart from the Bokel navy, is in the plan to enter this list?
As the international promotion of intangible heritage does not rest only on the Representative List, the Ministry of Culture plans to nominate Bihor carpet making for the Register of Good Practices, as well as the skill of Dobrot lace making, on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Preservation after the completion of this process. Also, the possibilities of joining the multinational nominations of drywall and the Mediterranean diet are being considered.
Of the individual entries, the entry of katunovanje is considered as a unique phenomenon. Please note that the Representative List is open for new entries, so other Montenegrin intangible cultural assets whose importance is estimated to go beyond the national framework, which have a strong foothold in the local community and which can be preserved, i.e. transferred to new ones, will gradually be nominated. generations.
How many positive effects, from social and cultural to commercial and tourist, does the inclusion of a good, both tangible and intangible, on the UNESCO list have on the country itself?
The inclusion of a property on the UNESCO World Heritage List or on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity has an extremely significant impact on tourism and the economy, although this status with UNESCO does not imply funding by the Organization. Since the natural and cultural historical area of Kotor and the Kotor Fortress are already on the UNESCO list as part of the multinational nomination of the Venetian Fortifications, the tourist promotion of Boka necessarily begins with information on the UNESCO status, which attracts a large number of tourists focused on cultural tourism.
Cultural assets such as the Bokel navy represent a strong support of Boka's cultural offer and additionally promote Kotor. The Bokel navy actively participates in the tourist offer, bearing in mind that tourists and visitors often have the opportunity to participate in the exchange of cultural content, when playing the Bokel navy round in the Old Town of Kotor, or in Tivat and Herceg Novi. The exchange of cultural content implies the interaction of participants and observers in a certain symbolic space, in which there is a clear connection between the space and the transmission of the element.
Additionally, it is important to emphasize the promotion of old crafts from which members of the local community can directly benefit, artisans who prepare certain content in a traditional way, whether it is uniforms, weapons, or in some other cases, making costumes, making chuns on Lake Skadar, and so on. Also, there are certain risks that registrations carry.
When it comes to the Representative List, it could be the commercialization of the property, while in the case of material heritage, the biggest danger is tourism expansion and the pressures that mass tourism brings.
Serbia's ambassador to UNESCO, Darko Tanasković, said that this country "must be more enterprising and hurry up...to at least protect the fiddle, for whose nomination serious preparatory actions are already being taken". Is Montenegro taking any action regarding gusal, which, although they are present in the entire Dinaric belt, are nevertheless the most characteristic of Montenegro and are most closely associated with it? To what extent can the fact that different communities share a common heritage, in your experience, encourage them to communicate more and be ready to participate in joint activities, programs and projects for heritage preservation?
The fiddle is a traditional instrument that is characteristic both for Montenegro and for individual countries in the region. In our country, they are on the Preliminary list of potential cultural assets and will be protected at the national level in the coming period. It is with regret that we received the information that the Republic of Serbia entered the gusla candidacy process on its own, but there is a possibility that, if that nomination is successful, we will later join this enrollment, subject to certain procedures.
Intangible heritage rests on local communities, they are the ones who preserve and transmit elements of intangible heritage. Institutions are there to provide them with legal protection and national and international promotion, so that they are adequately valued, but local communities are the key bearers of the process. The interpretation of heritage, material and immaterial, depends on the social context, so I would like to recall the example of the Old Bridge in Mostar, which in a socio-political context was an example of the discord of certain communities, and later a symbol of their reconciliation.
How much more internationally visible do we become due to the inclusion of an element on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage?
UNESCO lists are a powerful mechanism for the promotion of the state, but they also imply significant obligations regarding the preservation of listed properties.
The Croats were the first to think of ojkanje, the silent car and the Mediterranean diet
Countries from our neighborhood have so far protected:
CROATIA
2009. The bell ringers of Kastavština 2009. Croatian lacemaking 2009. The spring procession of the queens (Ljelje) in Gorjani 2009. The Hvar procession of the cross 2009. The festival of St. Blaise, the patron saint of Dubrovnik 2009. The production of wooden children's toys in Hrvatski Zagorje 2009. Istrian two-part singing and playing on the Istrian scale 2010 Auction craft of northern Croatia 2010. Sinj's alka, knight's tournament from Sinj 2010. Ojkanje 2011. Bećarac, singing and playing from Slavonia 2011. Nijemo kolo from Zagora 2012. Klap singing from Dalmatia 2013. Mediterranean diet
MACEDONIA
2013. Festival of the Forty Holy Martyrs in Štip 2014. Kopačkata, social dance from the village of Dramče, Pijanec 2015. Vocal, two-part male singing from Dolni Polog
SLOVENIA
2016 Passion play in Škofja Loka
BULGARIA
2008. Bistrica grandmothers, archaic polyphonic songs, dances and rituals in Šopluk 2009. Nestinarstvo, an old pagan fire ritual on the day of St. Konstantina and Helena 2014. Traditional carpet weaving from Čiprovac 2015. Surva festival of Pernik region
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