The Centre for the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Serbia at the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade organized the conference Raising Awareness of the Importance of Registered Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Serbia through the Enhancement of the National Register of ICH as an activity under the project Digitizing the Documentation of the National Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Application of New Information and Communication Technologies in the Protection and Promotion of Intangible Cultural Heritage, implemented with the support of UNESCO under the 2015 Participation Programme.
Conference participants were welcomed by Asja Drača Muntean, Assistant Minister of Culture for International Cooperation, who drew attention to the fact that over the past five years, Serbia had made important steps in the implementation of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which resulted in the inscription of the "slava" on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, in November 2015. She stressed that the enhancement of the National Register, as one of Serbia’s international obligations, was an exceptionally important segment of the implementation of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and she also expressed her satisfaction that the Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage, i.e. the Ethnographic Museum, is implementing a project that has received international support. While highlighting experiences related to the implementation of the Convention, the President of the National Committee for Intangible Cultural Heritage, Prof. Dr. Danijel Sinani, highlighted the most important steps to be undertaken in the future regarding the registration and inscription of new ICH elements in the National Register.
Conference participants presented their previous work regarding the identification and registration of intangible cultural heritage in the territory of the Republic of Serbia and identified the possibilities for its improvement. Furthermore, emphasis was placed on setting up mechanisms that would enable full cooperation among various stakeholders in the process of the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage: national institutions, professional organizations and associations, local communities and individuals.
