Eleventh coordination meeting of Category 2 Centres for intangible cultural heritage

In month of September Bulgaria will be a host of a Category 2 Centres meeting for intangible cultural heritage

  • Experts in the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage from all over the world are gathering in Plovdiv at the invitation of the Regional Centre Sofia – UNESCO;
  • In 2023 marks 20 years since the signing of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

 

On September 5th and 6th, Plovdiv will host the Eleventh international meeting of UNESCO Category 2 centres dedicated to safeguarding of living heritage. The forum will be hold in Bulgaria at the initiative of the Regional Centre Sofia – UNESCO, with the support from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Municipality of Plovdiv, and the Municipal Institute “Ancient Plovdiv”.

The forum also marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Experts from Algeria, China, Iran, Japan, Peru, the Republic of Korea, and the UAE will gather in the Old Town. During the working sessions, they will discuss the latest trends in the field, the challenges facing Category 2 centres, and strategically planned activities for international cooperation.

The event will take place at the Small Basilica of Philippopolis and will be opened by the Minister of Culture Krastyu Krastev, UNESCO’s Capacity Building Department’s Director Susanne Schnuttgen, Deputy Mayor of Plovdiv Plamen Panov, Director of the State Cultural Institute under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Snezhana Yoveva-Dimitrova, and the Director of the Regional Centre Sofia – UNESCO Irena Todorova.

During their visit, the delegates will have the chance to walk to the Episcopal Basilica of Philippopolis, iconic sites and events in Plovdiv’s Old Town and the Regional Ethnographic Museum.

The tradition of the Annual meetings of Category 2 Centres began in 2013, also in Bulgaria, in Sozopol. The next forums was in Paris, Guiyang, Shiraz, and Algiers. The goal of these regular meetings is to improve communication between the Centres and facilitate effective exchange between the network and UNESCO. The Regional Centre Sofia – UNESCO is one of eight centres dedicated to preserving global living heritage and managed by an entirely Bulgarian team.