Themes and focus areas, such as “Culture, Heritage and Crisis”, “Culture and Climate Change” or “Culture for Peace” at the “UNESCO World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development – Mondiacult 2025”, organised by the Spanish Government in Barcelona, point to a growing awareness about the relevance of culture in increasingly pluricultural societies – especially in times of climatic and political crises. Culture in this context means living culture and heritage and both include music to a substantial degree. Today we often associate the official international recognition and awareness of living culture and heritage with the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The ratification of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) in 2003 not only opened alternative perspectives on cultural expressions, but also paved the way towards new discussions. As stated by UNESCO, the “intangible cultural heritage includes the practices, knowledge, and expressions that communities recognize as part of their cultural identity, along with associated objects and spaces. Transmitted through generations, this heritage adapts over time, reinforcing identity and respect for cultural diversity.” And as indicated in its title the convention is concerned with the safeguarding of those cultural expressions for future generations. (UNESCO, Intangible Cultural Heritage). Yet the original version of the convention was not immediately accepted by all countries involved in the development of the document. Some of them which belonged to the original “drivers” of the convention, such as South Africa, did not ratify it, but developed their own concept, which is “Living Heritage” (South Africa only signed the convention in 2025). In the case of South Africa, for example, Living Heritage refers to “the intangible aspects of inherited culture and may include (a) cultural tradition; (b) oral history; (c) performance; (d) ritual; (e) popular memory; (f) skills and techniques; (g); indigenous knowledge systems; and (h) the holistic approach to nature, society and social relationships.” (South African Resource Act, 28. April 1999, 2 Definitions, xxi). It is supposed to promote “cultural diversity, social cohesion, reconciliation, peace and economic development in South Africa.” (Department of Arts and Culture, 2020). Thus, the concept of Living Heritage is linked with political agenda and besides that, it is emphasised that it is not a static phenomenon, but perceived as something dynamic in a constant development. UNESCO adopted this idea and taking the “evolutionary character” of Living Heritage into account, talks of “safeguarding without fixing or freezing”. Interestingly more than 60% of the above-mentioned examples of Living Heritage are music or based on or related with music – a fact which is hardly mentioned and easily overlooked.
Previously been looked at with Argus eyes by Western scholars, the concept of “Intangible Cultural Heritage” or “Living Heritage”, as it is preferably called by local communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America, has, over the past 22 years, become a field of studies in international academia and is approached from different angles. Whilst “Intangible Cultural Heritage” was the principal term and focal point at the beginning, with studies on policies, copy rights, cultural preservation and safeguarding among others (with reference to music see for instance Howard 2012), the term “Living Heritage” has, above all, gained momentum since 2018 (with reference to music see, for instance, Oliveira Pinto 2018); UNESCO has since then paid special attention to this development by the means of specific websites on “Living Heritage”. Ethno-/musicological studies elaborated on the nexus between the tangible and the intangible (for instance, on the intangible side of musical instruments, see Howard 2022 and Bleibinger 2023), and, due to the nature of the discipline, dealt with Living Heritage, its safeguarding (Dargie 2016), policies attached to it, its impact on society and its potential in bridge building processes and conflict resolution partly from an applied or practical perspective (see, for instance, Harrison, Mackinlay and Pettan 2010 and Harrison 2016 with regard to applied approaches and policies; Bleibinger & Ncozana 2025 with reference to the connecting power of Living Heritage).
The panel welcomes contributions by anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, musicologists and practitioners and invites them to share experiences and observations concerning projects and strategies that aim at the safeguarding and/or effective use of music and/as Living Heritage as tools for education, society building, bridge building, conflict resolution and/or reconciliation with the audience.