Society

Chengdu holds deep respect for intangible cultural heritage protection

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-06-02 15:49

The 3rd China Chengdu International Intangible Cultural Heritage Forum is an important platform for exchanging information on recent achievements concerning intangible cultural heritage protection. When the opening ceremony of the forum concluded on the afternoon of May 29, Cécile Duvelle, a senior official of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on intangible cultural heritage protection, accepted an interview with Chengdu Daily. She spoke highly of the Chinese government in its efforts to protect intangible cultural heritage. She praised Chengdu for successfully hosting the international intangible cultural heritage festival, an action of great international importance. She said it fully showed that "Chengdu is a modern city of open minds and high quality. Intangible cultural heritage protection is fruitful here. It makes the city more respectable!"

Chengdu, ideal city

Cécile Duvelle is very fond of Chengdu. Speaking about intangible cultural heritage protection, Cécile Duvelle looked serious the whole time. However, a smile exploded across her face when the topic changed to Chengdu. "Chengdu is a lovely city. I am impressed with its gourmet food and beautiful scenery. It is admirable to host the international intangible cultural heritage festival so many times over the years. This is farsighted. By holding the intangible cultural heritage festival, Chengdu has enabled local residents to know more about the significance of intangible cultural heritage protection. I am proud of the city's achievements."

Cécile Duvelle said she believes a city's quality is closely associated with the awareness of its residents over intangible cultural heritage protection. She said she had spoken much with people from Chengdu recently and was glad to see the people, whether they came from the culture sector or not, knew much about intangible cultural heritage. "The people of Chengdu are very concerned with intangible cultural heritage protection. It explains why the city could do a good job in this aspect. I am not surprised by the result. I think it is a symbol of Chengdu as an international modern city. I hope every Chengdu resident feels proud of it."

China, good example

"Cultural heritage protection is a worldwide task. The Chinese government has set a good example in the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage items," said Cécile Duvelle. "China has achieved marvelous results in intangible cultural heritage protection in recent years. It shows China, at the country level, has exerted great efforts for intangible cultural heritage protection." She spoke highly of the Chinese Ministry of Culture and local governments to invest in intangible cultural heritage protection. She also said the Chinese Ministry of Culture had established multi-layer intangible cultural heritage directories that range from the central government to local governments, in allusion to the national conditions. It shows the country's full respect of historical memories of different social groups and cultural heritage items."

"Each social group has its own culture. It is a basic feature of cultural diversity. National intangible cultural heritage items need protection. County and city level intangible cultural heritage items also ask for attention." In her opinion, intangible cultural heritage items of a county or city may be unknown to people of other regions. But to local residents, they are important parts of their cultural life.

"China has set up various grades of intangible cultural heritage directories, which contributes to make people of different ethnic groups and regions to pay higher attention to their own cultural heritage items," said Cécile Duvelle. "This is important, just as UNESCO sets up the international grade intangible cultural heritage directory. But it is far from enough to have the directories only. This is why we keep on appealing to more countries to join Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, and stress the contracting states to intensify their contractual capacity. For the whole human beings, intangible cultural heritage items of each country and region are equally important."

Future, vital force

Cécile Duvelle said 135 countries have signed Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, an evidence of breakthrough in the protection of intangible cultural heritage items. But there is much misunderstanding in concrete works. The most prominent is how to distinguish protection and preservation. "To put it simply, we say the efforts are failure, even if you have the best archives and libraries in the world and make videos with the most advanced technologies. This is only preservation. In contrast, protection means adopting measures to ensure long-term vitality of intangible cultural heritage items," said Cécile Duvelle. "Living" is a key word of intangible cultural heritage items. Intangible cultural heritage items, stemming from the past, must integrate and exist in the lives of masses, if they expect to be inherited now and in the future. How will we maintain the "vital force" of intangible cultural heritage items? Cécile Duvelle went on to say that first, intangible cultural heritage is not changeless. Now that they are to integrate into people's lives, intangible cultural heritage items must transform along with changes in life. Inheritance does not mean sticking to old ways. We must keep making innovations. "Creative power is the root to promote and extend the vital force. We must make intangible cultural heritage items develop along with the time. Education and rejuvenation are the most important factors among others. By hosting the intangible cultural heritage festival and covering it extensively in the media, Chengdu has made the public know clearly about intangible cultural heritage items and created a favorable social atmosphere to protect intangible cultural heritage items around ourselves. This is great education. Besides, the city has nominated inheritors to promote intangible cultural heritage skills, and made considerable research and development for industrial expansion. It is of great significance to promote intangible cultural heritage items."

"As for intangible cultural heritage directories, some countries and regions have apparently taken entry into the directories as a means of publicity promotion. In fact, UNESCO will make detailed provisions on it. We are considering to sound a warning or take measures to expel the intangible cultural heritage projects that are listed in the directories but not truly emphasized or protected," said Cécile Duvelle. However, she remains optimistic, saying intangible cultural heritage items have their own tenacity. They will not be so easily oppressed by social and economic development like natural heritage items and tangible cultural heritage items. "A social custom or handicraft will not die in one or two years. So long as all countries take timely measures to protect them and attract more people to get involved, we can prevent dangerous things from happening," said Cécile Duvelle.