Unesco, three new Italian nominations for Intangible Heritage: truffle, street games and Lipizzaner horse

Italy has officially approved the three new candidacies forUnesco’s Intangible Heritage of Humanity, which will be submitted to the Unesco Secretariat by March 31. The first is Searching for and Hollowing the Truffle in Italy: traditional knowledge and practices, a candidacy that, reads the statement issued by the Italian National Commission for UNESCO, “enhances a heritage that for centuries has characterized the rural life of large portions of the Italian territory.” the candidate practice “brings together vast knowledge, centered on a deep understanding of the natural environment and the ecosystem, and also emphasizes the relationship between man and animal, bringing together the skills of the truffle hunter and those of his dog,” and also represents “a centuries-old tradition, handed down through stories, anecdotes, practices and proverbs that tell of a knowledge that brings together rural life, protection of the territory and haute cuisine.”

The second is a transnational candidacy of which Italy is the lead partner and which includes Belgium, Cyprus, Croatia and France: it is called Tocatì, a shared program for the safeguarding of traditional games and sports and intends “to safeguard ancient games, rooted in the daily life of communities and fully falling within those social practices capable of becoming expressions of daily life, rituals and festive contexts common to large areas of Europe.”

The third is also a transnational application led by Slovenia and includes Italy, Austria, Bosnia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia: it is called Lipizzan horse breeding traditions and seeks to protect the breeding of the Lipizzan horse, which “represents a complex heritage of knowledge and practices handed down over the centuries in areas politically and geographically subject to theHabsburg influence” (the horse, “from the creation of the breed in 1580 at the city of Lipica, in present-day Slovenia,” spread “throughout the countries of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, implementing infrastructure, architecture and knowledge that continue to this day.”

The president of the Italian National Commission for UNESCO, Franco Bernabè, in closing the work of the Commission’s Governing Council, which approved the three candidacies, expressed appreciation for the active contribution made by the administrations participating in the Commission in defining the candidacies, and stressed the importance in this difficult moment of emergency of the defense and enhancement of our intangible cultural heritage, expressing the Commission’s commitment that the path started with this decision will come to a successful conclusion.

Unesco, three new Italian nominations for Intangible Heritage: truffle, street games and Lipizzaner horse

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