UK government announcement on SAFEGUARDING INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE:
What does it mean for Cornish Music and Dance?
With the UK government’s announced intention to ratify the 2003 UNESCO Treaty on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Cornish communities will have the opportunity to officially recognise their traditions, customs, practices and heritage as part of the UK’s ‘intangible cultural heritage’.
If you want to find out more, make your views heard and hear how Lowender is working to advocate for Cornish culture and recognition in this process, please come to our free and open roundtable discussion at 7.30pm on Sunday 25th February.
We’re really excited about what this might mean for Cornwall, but the window for consultation is closing quickly! Make your voice heard by filling out the government’s online survey before the 29th of February.
More details and information below!
What's Happening?
Just before Christmas, the UK Government announced it intends to ratify the 2003 UNESCO Convention for Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Simply put, intangible cultural heritage can mean any ‘living heritage’ which is practiced by communities. You can find the full UNESCO definition of intangible cultural heritage here.
Signing up to the convention means creating an inventory, or list, of intangible cultural heritage in the UK. This list will be regularly reviewed helping to identify any heritage which might be ‘at risk’.
What does it mean for Cornwall?
There is much living heritage Cornwall shares with the wider British Isles, and much which is unique to Cornwall, or which has a unique context in Cornwall.
We have an opportunity to make sure Cornwall’s rich and distinctive living heritage is fully recognised in this list.
How do I have my say?
The UK Government is currently consulting on:
– Criteria – What counts as intangible cultural heritage?
– Approvals – How do we decide what does / doesn’t go on the list?
You can find the full survey and explanations here. The deadline for survey responses is 29th February 2024 so please respond as quickly as you can!
Anyone can respond to the consultation, and it’s vital that decisions on this inventory are led by the communities who practice these traditions.
The UK government is proposing to set up approval panels for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which will include members with knowledge and experience of each of the proposed category areas (e.g. performing arts, festive events, traditional craftsmanship e.t.c.).
What suggestions are there for making Cornwall’s voice heard?
Representatives from Lowender have been to several public events and discussions about this already. We welcome the DCMS plans but believe there is room for improvement in 4 main areas when thinking about Cornwall’s living heritage, including its music and dance traditions. These are:
- Cornwall’s National Minority Status
- The Cornish language
- Cornwall’s Celtic and Global connections
- Communities
Suggested ways this could be recognised have included:
- Representation of Cornwall as a fifth panel alongside the England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland panels, or;
- Representation of Cornwall’s Celtic / linguistic connections by including Cornwall’s intangible cultural heritage under the Wales panel, or;
- An ‘expert node’ is set up advising the England panel, similar to the model used in Sweden, advising them on the status of Cornwall / the Cornish and the impact this has on its intangible cultural heritage, and;
- The Cornish language is considered alongside other British Isles minority languages allowing for interchangeable use of Cornish and English language terms in the inventory, and;
- The government should put funding towards supporting community reach and engagement in this process, so this is a genuinely grass roots approach.
We feel it’s important for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (who are responsible for the work towards ratifying the UNESCO convention) to include these points in their process to make sure Cornwall’s rich and distinct contribution to the UK’s living heritage is recognised.
This is meant as an initial guide, and we encourage you to form your own opinion and response.
Below, we’ve laid out some of the reasons why we consider these points important. Please feel free to copy and paste these into your responses or reword as you see fit, we don’t feel this list is exhaustive but feel these are key points that if enough people voice the DCMS will have to take into
consideration.
It still doesn’t make sense / I want a chance to discuss this and find out more!
There are free to attend round table discussions hosted by the DCMS to come which you may be interested in attending online.
Lowender is also hosting an open discussion on Sunday 25th February, 7.30pm on Teams, for anyone participating in Cornish music and dance to have a chat about this process and share their thoughts. You are warmly invited to attend.
To avoid ‘bots’ joining us we’re asking you to reserve a space here, and we’ll send you the link.
Points to consider:
National Minority Status
In 2014, the UK Government recognised the Cornish as a national minority. This was under the Council of Europe’s European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Much of the case for National Minority Status was built on Cornwall’s intangible cultural heritage, with examples such as Cornish wrestling, the Cornish language and St Piran’s Day used to demonstrate distinctiveness.
National Minority Status gives the Cornish the same status as the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish, and being recognised as a national minority means the Cornish have the right to; express, preserve, share and develop their distinct culture and identity.
The Cornish Language
In 2002 the Cornish language was listed under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.
The language is baked into much of Cornwall’s intangible cultural heritage practices, whether that’s song, spoken word or terminology.
The Celtic and Global Connection
Cornwall’s intangible cultural heritage can often been distinctive through the Celtic and global context it can operate in, for example:
– The Cornish language creates a Celtic language connection which means Cornwall’s
intangible cultural heritage practitioners are represented at international Celtic festivals, the
Celtic media festival e.t.c.
– The Cornish language creates a wider international connection to other indigenous minority
languages, where intangible cultural heritage practitioners are represented through e.g.
special creative collaborations or international minority song competitions.
– Cornwall’s intangible cultural heritage is practiced across its diaspora communities in places like the US, Australia and Mexico (e.g. Cornish choirs and dance teams). This gives Cornwall’s intangible cultural heritage a unique global context.
The Community
No funding has come with this consultation, so community reach is likely to be very patchy with phrases like ‘intangible cultural heritage’ itself a barrier themselves in involving living heritage practitioners in the process.