Michelle L. Stefano & Peter Davis 
Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage 

Awareness of the significance of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) has recently grown, due to the promotional efforts of UNESCO and its
Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003). However, the increased recognition of intangible heritage has brought to light its undervalued status within the museum and heritage sector, and raised questions about safeguarding efforts, ownership, protective legal frameworks, authenticity and how global initiatives can be implemented at a local level, where most ICH is located.

This book provides a variety of international perspectives on these issues, exploring how holistic and integrated approaches to safeguarding ICH offer an opportunity to move beyond the rhetoric of UNESCO; in partiular, the authors demonstrate that the alternative methods and attitudes that frequently exist at a local level can be the most effective way of safeguarding ICH. Perspectives are presented both from ‘established voices’, of scholars and practitioners, and from ‘new voices’, those of indigenous and local communities, where intangible heritage lives. It will be an important resource for students of museum and heritage studies, anthropology, folk studies, the performing arts, intellectual property law and politics.


Michelle Stefano is Folklorist-in-Residence, University of Maryland Baltimore County; Peter Davis is Professor of Museology, International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies, Newcastle University; Gerard Corsane is Senior Lecturer in Heritage, Museum and Galley Studies, International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies, School of Arts and Cultures, Newcastle University. Contributors: Marilena Alivizatou, Alissandra Cummins, Kate Hennessey, Ewa Bergdahl, George Abungu, Shatha Abu-Khafajah, Shaher Rababeh, Vasant Hari Bedekar, Christian Hottin, Sylvie Grenet, Lyn Leader-Elliott, Daniella Trimboli, Léontine Meijer-van Mensch, Peter van Mensch, Andrew Dixey, Susan Keitumetse, Richard Mac Kinnon, Alexandra Denes, Christina Kreps, Harriet Deacon, D. Jared Bowers, Gerard Corsane, Paula Assuncao dos Santos, Elaine Müller, Michelle L. Stefano, Maurizio Maggi, Aron Mazel

Table of Content

Touching the Intangible: an Introduction – Michelle L. Stefano and Peter Davis and Gerard Corsane

The Paradoxes of Intangible Heritage – Marilena Alivizatou

Memory, Museums and the Making of Meaning: a Caribbean Perspective – Alissandra Cummins

From Intangible Expression to Digital Cultural Heritage – Kate Hennessy

Conversation Piece: Intangible Cultural Heritage in Sweden – Ewa Bergdahl

Africa’s Rich Intangible Heritage: managing a continent’s diverse resources – George Abungu

The Silence of Meanings in Conventional Approaches to Cultural Heritage in Jordan: The Exclusion of Contexts and the Marginalisation of the Intangible – Shatha Abu-Khafajah

The Silence of Meanings in Conventional Approaches to Cultural Heritage in Jordan: The Exclusion of Contexts and the Marginalisation of the Intangible – Shaher Rababeh

Conversation Piece: Intangible Cultural Heritage in India – Vasant Hari Bedekar

Reflections on the implementation of the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in France – Christian Hottin

Reflections on the implementation of the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in France – Sylvie Grenet

Government and Intangible Heritage in Australia – Lyn Leader-Elliot and Daniella Trimboli

Proud to be Dutch? Intangible heritage and national identity in the Netherlands – Leontine Meijer Van Mensch and Peter Van Mensch

Intangible Cultural Heritage in Wales – Andrew Dixey

Conversation Piece: Intangible Cultural Heritage in Botswana – Susan Keitumetse

The UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage and its Implications for Sustaining Culture in Nova Scotia – Richard Mac Kinnon

Acquiring the Tools for Safeguarding Intangible Heritage: Lessons from an ICH Field School in Lamphun, Thailand – Alexandra Denes

Intangible Threads: Curating the Living Heritage of Dayak Ikat Weaving – Christina Kreps

Conversation Piece: Intangible Cultural Heritage in South Africa – Harriet Deacon

Revitalising Amerindian Intangible Cultural Heritage in Guyana and its value for Sustainable Tourism – D Jared Bowers

Revitalising Amerindian Intangible Cultural Heritage in Guyana and its value for Sustainable Tourism – Gerard Corsane

When ICH takes hold of the local reality in Brazil: notes from the Brazilian State of Pernambuco – Paula Assuncao dos Santos

When ICH takes hold of the local reality in Brazil: notes from the Brazilian State of Pernambuco – Elaine Müller

Reconfiguring the Framework: Adopting an Ecomuseological Approach for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage – Michelle L. Stefano

Conversation Piece: Intangible Cultural Heritage in Italy – Maurizio Maggi

Looking to the future: the
en-compass project as a way forward for safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage – Gerard Corsane

Looking to the future: the
en-compass project as a way forward for safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage – Aron Mazel

List of Contributors