Awareness meeting on 'Intangible Cultural Heritage' (ICH) organized by the Sri Lanka National Commission on UNESCO (SLNCU) was held at the auditorium of the Ministry of Education recently. The meeting was headed by the Secretary General of SLNCU Dr. P. N. Meegaswatte.
Rev Venerable Pattiyawela Mahinda, Head of Faculty of Open & Distance Learning, Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Senior Professor Raj Somadeva, Institute of Postgraduate Studies in Archeology, University of Kelaniya, Senior Professor Yasanjali Devika Jayathilaka, Department of Anthropology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Dr. Anusha Edirisinghe, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Department of Sociology, University of Kelaniya, Senior Lecturer Dr. Sepala Samarasekara & Dr. Raveendra Kumara Withanachchi, Department of Anthropology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, and the officials of the Sri Lanka National Commission for UNESCO attended this meeting.
Welcome address delivered by Dr. Meegaswatte, Secretary General of the Sri Lanka National Commission for UNESCO explained at length about UNESCO and its objectives, the current role of UNESCO and the value of 'Intangible Cultural Heritage'. He mentioned that the value of culture, whether it is tangible or intangible, is now understood by every country in the world and also the strongest tool that a country has is its own culture.
Further he made the following remarks as well. The activities of UNESCO should make a tremendous contribution to the well-being and development of this country. UNESCO focuses on 'Tangible Cultural Heritages' & 'Intangible Cultural Heritages' and has now declared 1167 ‘World Heritage Sites’. Many countries around the world have partnered with UNESCO to declare their 'cultural heritages' as 'World Cultural Heritages'.
The Secretary General finalised that this meeting was convened with the objective of starting a conversation about ICH & discussing the organizational plans on safeguarding ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage' of Sri Lanka.
Raj Somadeva, Senior Professor, University of Kelaniya delivered a short but very important lecture on ICH. He mentioned that knowledge & information on ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ of Sri Lanka is currently in a state of disintegration and therefore it needs to be incorporated into a certain intellectual framework. Using the clear platform that has now been created, a formal document describing the ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ is currently being prepared.
Further he expressed that the ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ is now categorized into 13 topics such as the use of ICH for the development of the country, The knowledge system we inherit, the management methods of the environment, the anthropological memoirs, Individual self-expression methods, traditional technological applications, understanding of the surrounding world, Resource exploitation and resource utilization model, empirical and metaphysical knowledge etc. The basis of categorization also was explained in detail with interesting examples.
Professor Raj Somadeva emphasized that we cannot draw our horizons by looking at the horizons of others and concluded by saying that "We must engrave our own horizon."
Senior Professor Yasanjali Jayathilaka of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura also gave a short lecture and explained the steps taken by the Department of Anthropology at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura to analyze and preserve the intangible cultural heritage so far. She further explained that the image and identity of the country is based on tangible & intangible cultural heritages.
The values of the Malwara rituals, Kotahalu Yaga etc. in Sri Lanka, the religious beliefs and the Sinhala identities embedded in the lives of the people living around the tanks (wewa) were also described in detail. She highlighted the potential for attractive use of 'Intangible Cultural Heritage' in tourism and the need to include 'Intangible Cultural Heritage' in the school curriculum.
Review speech of the meeting made by the Secretary General Dr. Meegaswatte gave a step-by-step clarification on the Safeguarding of ICH, using a Power Point Presentation. He concluded the meeting by inviting all to contribute to the cause of strengthening the 'safeguarding & promoting intangible cultural heritage' of Sri Lanka.
