St kitts 'Intangible Cultural Project' gets approval from UNESCO

An International Assistance Request submitted to the United Nations to implement an Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) project in St. Kitts and Nevis has been approved by the United Nation’s Bureau of the Committee for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage.

“The approval of this project to the tune of some US $100,000, will allow St. Kitts and Nevis to create institutional and professional environments for safeguarding our intangible cultural heritage,” said Antonio Maynard, Secretary General for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) National Commission for St. Kitts and Nevis.

“This puts in place the proper infrastructures, and developing inventory methods to develop effective safeguarding measures, including helping our local cultural groups like our masquerades and folklore to build capacity, and sharpens their craft,” he explained. “This is the first of many project approvals that St. Kitts and Nevis will have the opportunity to secure and, benefit from through the same UNESCO Convention.”

The proposal submitted by St. Kitts and Nevis was titled, “Strengthening Inventory Preparation Capacity for Implementing the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Saint Kitts and Nevis.”

The implementation of the ICH project will be overseen by the St. Kitts Ministry of Culture, the Nevis Historical and Conservation Society (NHCS) and the Nevis Cultural Development Foundation.

Three-phase development

The project will be implemented in three phases, training of trainers to understand the content of 2003 ICH Convention; community based inventorying; a pilot inventorying exercise; and St. Kitts and Nevis awareness campaign.

The implementation strategy includes awareness creation workshops; training in research and inventory skills, which will be provided by global facilitators recruited by the UNESCO Kingston Cluster Office for the Caribbean, training in video camera; and audio documentation skills, training on how to use archiving software, and data processing both provided by experts recruited nationally.

The training will enable St. Kitts and Nevis to have an official Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage including ICH elements, while building human capacity to continue ongoing safeguarding practices within local communities.

The SKN ICH database will be accessible to the public through different mediums – a database, website, and printed materials. Government, organizations, stakeholders, and the public will be sensitized about ICH, the importance of protecting it, and methods of safeguarding it through the public awareness advertising campaigns.