SIH celebrates 20th anniversary of signing UNESCO convention

Dr. Abdulaziz Al Musallam honoured His Excellency Dr. Awad Ali Saleh, researcher and lecturer in the field of heritage, in appreciation of his efforts in achieving the desired goals of the Convention over the past years and his great influence on UNESCO’s activities in general.

The celebration, hosted on Tuesday, in the theatre of SIH Centre for International Cultural Heritage Organisations, included a number of events and performances, in the presence of a large number of heritage lovers and officials, directors and SIH employees.

In a speech delivered on this occasion, His Excellency Dr. Abdulaziz Al Musallam stressed that the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage played a pivotal and influential role, highlighting the elements of the intangible cultural heritage of countries in all local, regional and international forums.

Al Musallam referred to the intensive efforts and the long series of demands, follow-ups and meetings that called for placing the intangible cultural human heritage in the right place, alongside the intangible heritage.
 
Al Musallam spoke about the role of the Ministry of Culture in the UAE in supporting these efforts by sending many delegations periodically to participate in attending the preliminary meetings before signing the convention, some of which Al Musallam participated in personally, noting the active role of Dr. Awad Saleh, which ultimately led to concluding this convention on October 16, 2003.

Before the start of the celebration, the attendees toured the Cultural Heritage Elements exhibition at SIH Centre for International Cultural Heritage Organisations, followed by live performances on a number of traditional Emirati crafts, such as Sadu and Talli, and a performance on the story of the little falconer, presented by the child Abdullah Jamal Al Hammadi, talking about some of the information, memories, and situations that he experienced in training falcons.

As part of the celebration’s agenda, SIH Centre for International Cultural Heritage Organisations presented an interesting visual presentation on the elements of intangible cultural heritage recorded over the past two decades in the UNESCO. 

The attendees enjoyed watching live artistic performances of the Ayyala dance, followed by an intellectual session entitled “Preserving Cultural Heritage...Two Decades of Giving’, moderated by Dr. Mona Bounaama, Director of Content and Publishing Department at the Sharjah Institute for Heritage, with the participation of Dr. Abdulaziz Al Musallam, Dr. Awad Ali Saleh, and Aisha Al Hussan Al Shamsi, Director of SIH Centre for International Cultural Heritage Organisations, in addition to the launch of a new book published by the Sharjah Institute for Heritage entitled “Elements of the intangible cultural heritage of the Gulf and Arab countries registered in UNESCO.”