Saman Dance Officially Recognized by Unesco as World Heritage

UNESCOofficially recognized Aceh’s traditional Saman Dance as an intangible elementof world cultural heritage during a session in Bali on Thursday.

The decision was announced during the sixth session of UNESCO’sIntergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible CulturalHeritage, taking place in Bali from Nov. 22 to 29.

“The UNESCO secretariat, and then NGOs and experts, have checked the documents[on Saman Dance], and we proposed them to the session in Bali this morning,“ Tourismand Creative Economy Ministry spokesman I Gusti Ngurah Putra said in a pressstatement on Thursday.

“And thank God [Saman] was declared as having met the requirements. Saman hasbeen officially included in the list of intangible cultural heritage, whichneeds UNESCO’s urgent protection,” he added, as quoted by Antara.

Indonesia proposed the UNESCO listing of the Saman Dance in March 2010.

Indonesia hosting UNESCO meeting on cultural heritage

Indonesiais hosting the 6th session of the UNESCO Committee for the Safeguarding ofIntangible Cultural Heritage at Nusa Dua, Bali, on Nov 22-29.

Indonesia has been elected by acclamation as chief of the committee and host ofthe meeting by 24 would-be host countries at the committee`s fifth session inNairobi, Kenya, in November 2010, the deputy for cultural affairs to theeducation and culture minister, Wiendu Nuryanti, said in a press conferencehere on Tuesday.

"Indonesia sees intangible cultural heritage as a strategic issue andIndonesia itself has a wide range of cultural heritage," she said.