Intangible cultural heritage in national and international legislation

Abstract

The paper analyses the international laws, particularly the legal corpus related to the intangible cultural heritage, reviews how the ICH safeguarding policies are developed, core terms like “intangible cultural heritage”, ICH domains and inventorying on the national level. The paper pays attention to the living heritage transmitted from one generation to another and has cultural and social meaning for communities needed to preserve identity and provide continuity of development. A special attention is paid to the impact of emergencies – climate changes, technological disasters, armed conflicts – for liveability of the intangible cultural heritage, means of its safeguarding. The paper observes efforts of some countries in building a system of national laws and programs for ICH safeguarding. Each country, as the paper has concluded, develops its own legislative framework for safeguarding of the living heritage while basing on the letter and the spirit of the Convention 2003.