Indonesia has been elected by acclamation as chief of the committee and host of the meeting by 24 would-be host countries at the committee`s fifth session in Nairobi, Kenya, in November 2010, the deputy for cultural affairs to the education and culture minister, Wiendu Nuryanti, said in a press conference here on Tuesday.
"Indonesia sees intangible cultural heritage as a strategic issue and Indonesia itself has a wide range of cultural heritage," she said.
The session will bring together more than 500 delegates from 137 parties to the 2003 UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, leading international non-governmental organizations, and experts in culture.
Indonesia has been the 83rd party to the convention since January 15, 2008. Since then, it has been actively participating in the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage.
Indonesia was appointed a member of the 24-nation inter-government committee for a four-year term at the general assembly of parties to the convention in Paris in July last year.
The convention is aimed at protecting intangible cultural heritage, such as tradition, language, arts show, custom, knowledge and traditional handicraft.
"The meeting will be divided into several sessions which will last for seven days, the longest in the convention`s history, with 27 items of agenda to be debated and decided at the meeting," she said.
Indonesia saw the session as of strategic significance to build a common knowledge of intangible cultural heritage as well as to encourage international cooperation and relations by means of culture, she said.
In addition, the meeting was also important to introduce, promote and gain support for cultural potentials, she said.(*)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
