Culture & traditions (Videos)

40 percent of the estimated 6,700 languages spoken around the world are in danger of disappearing. Most of these languages are indigenous languages, which embody complex systems of knowledge developed and accumulated over thousands of years. The disappearance of these languages often means this knowledge is lost forever. As the world marks the International Year of Indigenous Languages, we sat down with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to talk about why she views culture as crucial to the fight for indigenous rights.

In this episode, UNESCO sits down with Thomas Vonier, President of the International Union of Architects, to discuss the designation of Rio de Janeiro as the first World Capital of Architecture, and why architects and urban planners are increasingly looking to the ways of the past for solutions to today's urban challenges. Could bicycles, sidewalks and "building for the ages" be the keys to making cities --now home to more than half of the world's population-- sustainable?

From the coaxing ritual for camels of Mongolia to the Bigwala music and dance of Uganda, the latest episode of Culture Speaks focuses on Living Heritage and UNESCO's efforts to safeguard it for the future. Tim Curtis, Secretary of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding on the Intangible Cultural Heritage

This episode provides an in-depth look at UNESCO's new initiative to "Revive the Spirit of Mosul", the largest reconstruction effort undertaken by UNESCO in recent years.

In this episode, Sameh Wahba, Director of the Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice of the World Bank, reveals why the world's largest development bank now sees culture as integral part of its efforts to support the reconstruction of cities following conflict or crisis

This special youth edition of Culture Speaks features a young change-maker and UNESCO Youth Forum participant, Tamara Richardson, who describes the key role ICTs can play in safeguarding humanity's intangible cultural heritage.

Last year, more than 1.2 billion people travelled across international borders, a trend that is only set to continue. As the number of people travelling for tourism continues to grow, UNESCO World Heritage sites are seeing their visitor numbers increase dramatically, creating enormous opportunities but also challenges for these sites and local communities. Balancing the ideals of conservation, economic development and local participation at world heritage sites is the goal of UNESCO's World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme, which is led by Peter Debrine. In this episode, we sat down with Peter to talk about UNESCO's efforts to make sustainable tourism a reality, and also to hear his tips for travellers who wish to visit World Heritage sites sustainable.

In this episode of Talking about Culture, we feature an interview with Danielle Cliche, secretary of the 2005 Convention, and Octavio Kulesz, a UNESCO expert and one of the authors behind Re|Shaping Cultural Policies, who reveal how the digital revolution has fundamentally transformed how artists make, distribute and are compensated for their work. They also explore how UNESCO and its Member States have sought to ensure that all artists can benefit from the potential of digital technologies, as well as the potential effects of artificial intelligence on the cultural and creative industries.

Did you know that the ability to access, participate in and contribute to cultural life is considered a human right? In the latest episode of the Culture Sector podcast, "Talking about Culture", Karima Bennoune, the UN special rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, answers some of the most frequently asked questions about cultural rights, including: What are cultural rights? What is their basis in international law? Can cultural rights ever be used to justify limits on the rights of women and girls? You can listen to this fascinating podcast here.

In this first instalment of "Talking About Culture", Francesco Bandarin, assistant director-general for culture of UNESCO, offers an eye-opening account of his two most recent missions to two very different World Heritage sites: Wrangel Island in the far north of Siberia and the mysterious Cueva de las Manos in Patagonia. Although one is home to polar bears and the other to 10,000 year-old cave paintings, both are irreplaceable reminders of the importance of safeguarding humanity's heritage, for our planet and ourselves.

Lynne Patchett (UNESCO, Culture Sector) presents UNESCO initiative related to culture and development during the annual meeting of UNESCO Goodwill ambassadors at UNESCO headquarters, 26 -27 June 2013.

This video is about the Serra da Capivara National Park, one of UNESCO's World Heritage sites in Brazil acknowledged for its exuberantly beautiful landscape and for hosting one of the richest archaeological sites of the world with great historic, scientific and cultural values for humanity. The Park was created in 5 June 1979. It is located in the southeast of Piauí State, bordering the municipalities of São Raimundo Nonato, Coronel José Dias, João Costa, and Brejo do Piauí. The Park has 129,140 acres and its perimeter is 214 km.

Culture is more frequently emerging as a essential resource in post-disaster and post-conflict situations. In addition to its contribution to economic development, culture gives meaning and value to the identity and continuity of human societies. Its impact is essential in situations such as the one Haiti has faced since January 2010. For this reason, UNESCO immediately advocated the integration of culture in the reconstruction strategies as a fundamental source of renewal and social cohesion and is mobilizing its energies alongside the Haitian people and its Government.

Sutartin?s (from the word sutarti - to be in concordance) is a form of polyphonic music performed by female singers in north-east Lithuania. The songs have simple melodies, with two to five pitches, and comprise two distinct parts: a meaningful main text and a refrain that may include nonce words. There are almost forty different styles and ways of performing Sutartin?s. Mainly, they can be performed by two singers in parallel seconds; by three singers in strict canon, all performing both phrases of the melody at staggered intervals; or by two groups of singers, the lead singer of each pair singing the main text, while the partner sings the refrain, before the second pair repeats. The poetic texts encompass many themes, including work, calendar rituals, weddings, family, wars, history and moments of daily life. Choreography is uncomplicated and movements are moderate, often austere, such as walking in the form of a circle or star while linking arms and stamping feet. Sutartin?s are performed on solemn occasions, as well as festivals, concerts and social gatherings. Their performance promotes the sharing of cultural values and provides a feeling of cultural identity, continuity and self-esteem. Sutartin?s are usually sung by women, but men perform instrumental versions on pan-pipes, horns, long wood trumpets, fipple flutes and plucked zithers.

The Mijikenda include nine Bantu-speaking ethnic groups in the Kaya forests of coastal Kenya. The identity of the Mijikenda is expressed through oral traditions and performing arts related to the sacred forests, which are also sources of valuable medicinal plants. These traditions and practices constitute their codes of ethics and governance systems, and include prayers, oath-taking, burial rites and charms, naming of the newly born, initiations, reconciliation, marriages and coronations. Kayas are fortified settlements whose cultural spaces are indispensable for the enactment of living traditions that underscore the identity, continuity and cohesion of the Mijikenda communities. The use of natural resources within the Kayas is regulated by traditional knowledge and practices that have contributed to the conservation of their biodiversity. The Kambi (Councils of Elders) acts as the custodians of these Kayas and the related cultural expressions. Today, Mijikenda communities are gradually abandoning the Kayas in favour of informal urban settlements. Due to pressure on land resources, urbanization and social transformations, the traditions and cultural practices associated to the Kaya settlements are fast diminishing, posing great danger to the social fabric and cohesiveness of the Mijikenda communities who venerate and celebrate them as their identity and symbol of continuity.

Tsuur music is based on a combination of instrumental and vocal performance - a blending of sounds created simultaneously by both the musical instrument and the human throat. Tsuur music has an inseparable connection to the Uriankhai Mongolians of the Altai Region, and remains an integral part of their daily life. Its origins lie in an ancient practice of worshipping nature and its guardian spirits by emulating natural sounds. The Tsuur is a vertical pipe-shaped wooden wind instrument with three fingerholes. Simultaneously touching the mouthpiece of the pipe with one's front teeth and applying one's throat produces a unique timbre comprising a clear and gentle whistling sound and a drone. The Tsuur is traditionally played to ensure success for hunts, for benign weather, as a benediction for safe journeys or for weddings and other festivities. The music reflects one's inner feelings when travelling alone, connects a human to nature, and serves as a performing art. The Tsuur tradition has faded over recent decades as a consequence of negligence and animosity toward folk customs and religious faith, leaving many locales with no Tsuur performer and no families possessing a Tsuur. The forty known pieces preserved among the Uriankhai Mongolians are transmitted exclusively through the memory of successive generations - a feature making this art highly vulnerable to the risk of disappearing.

The Mongolian Tuuli is an oral tradition comprising heroic epics that run from hundreds to thousands of lines and combine benedictions, eulogies, spells, idiomatic phrases, fairy tales, myths and folk songs. They are regarded as a living encyclopaedia of Mongolian oral traditions and immortalize the heroic history of the Mongolian people. Epic singers are distinguished by their prodigious memory and performance skills, combining singing, vocal improvisation and musical composition coupled with theatrical elements. Epic lyrics are performed to musical accompaniment on instruments such as the ''morin khuur'' (horse-head fiddle) and ''tovshuur'' (lute). Epics are performed during many social and public events, including state affairs, weddings, a child's first haircut, the ''naadam'' (a wrestling, archery and horseracing festival) and the worship of sacred sites. Epics evolved over many centuries, and reflect nomadic lifestyles, social behaviours, religion, mentalities and imagination. Performing artists cultivate epic traditions from generation to generation, learning, performing and transmitting techniques within kinship circles, from fathers to sons. Through the epics, Mongolians transmit their historical knowledge and values to younger generations, strengthening awareness of national identity, pride and unity. Today, the number of epic trainers and learners is decreasing. With the gradual disappearance of the Mongol epic, the system of transmitting historic and cultural knowledge is degrading

The Mongolian Tuuli is an oral tradition comprising heroic epics that run from hundreds to thousands of lines and combine benedictions, eulogies, spells, idiomatic phrases, fairy tales, myths and folk songs. They are regarded as a living encyclopaedia of Mongolian oral traditions and immortalize the heroic history of the Mongolian people. Epic singers are distinguished by their prodigious memory and performance skills, combining singing, vocal improvisation and musical composition coupled with theatrical elements. Epic lyrics are performed to musical accompaniment on instruments such as the ''morin khuur'' (horse-head fiddle) and ''tovshuur'' (lute). Epics are performed during many social and public events, including state affairs, weddings, a child's first haircut, the ''naadam'' (a wrestling, archery and horseracing festival) and the worship of sacred sites. Epics evolved over many centuries, and reflect nomadic lifestyles, social behaviours, religion, mentalities and imagination. Performing artists cultivate epic traditions from generation to generation, learning, performing and transmitting techniques within kinship circles, from fathers to sons. Through the epics, Mongolians transmit their historical knowledge and values to younger generations, strengthening awareness of national identity, pride and unity. Today, the number of epic trainers and learners is decreasing. With the gradual disappearance of the Mongol epic, the system of transmitting historic and cultural knowledge is degrading.

Ca trù is a complex form of sung poetry found in the north of Viet Nam using lyrics written in traditional Vietnamese poetic forms. Ca trù groups comprise three performers: a female singer who uses breathing techniques and vibrato to create unique ornamented sounds, while playing the clappers or striking a wooden box, and two instrumentalists who produce the deep tone of a three-stringed lute and the strong sounds of a praise drum. Some Ca trù performances also include dance. The varied forms of Ca trù fulfill different social purposes, including worship singing, singing for entertainment, singing in royal palaces and competitive singing. Ca trù has fifty-six different musical forms or melodies, each of which is called th? cách. Folk artists transmit the music and poems that comprise Ca trù pieces by oral and technical transmission, formerly, within their family line, but now to any who wish to learn. Ongoing wars and insufficient awareness caused Ca trù to fall into disuse during the twentieth century. Although the artists have made great efforts to transmit the old repertoire to younger generations, Ca trù is still under threat of being lost due to the diminishing number and age of practitioners.

The Qiang New Year Festival, held on the first day of the tenth lunar month, is an occasion for the Qiang people of China's Sichuan Province to offer thanks and worship to heaven for prosperity, reaffirm their harmonious and respectful relationship with nature, and promote social and family harmony. The solemn ritual sacrifice of a goat to the mountain is performed by villagers clad in their finest ceremonial dress, under the careful direction of a shibi (priest). This is followed by the communal sheepskin-drum and salang dances, led by the shibi. The ensuing festivities combine merrymaking with the chanting of traditional Qiang epics by the shibi, singing and the drinking of wine. At the end of the day the heads of families preside over family worship during which sacrifices and offerings are made. Through the festival, Qiang traditions distilling history and cultural information are renewed and diffused, and social behaviours are reinforced, the community expressing respect and worship towards all creatures, the motherland and their ancestors. Participation in the festival has declined in recent years due to migration, declining interest in Qiang heritage among the young and the impact of outside cultures, but the 2008 Sichuan earthquake that destroyed many of the Qiang villages and devastated the region put the New Year festival at grave risk.

Wooden arch bridges are found in Fujian Province and Zhejiang Province, along China's south-east coast. The traditional design and practices for building these bridges combine the use of wood, traditional architectural tools, craftsmanship, the core technologies of 'beam-weaving' and mortise and tenon joints, and an experienced woodworker's understanding of different environments and the necessary structural mechanics. The carpentry is directed by a woodworking master and implemented by other woodworkers.

The traditional Li textile techniques of spinning, dyeing, weaving and embroidering are employed by women of the Li ethnic group of Hainan Province, China, to make cotton, hemp and other fibres into clothing and other daily necessities. The techniques involved, including warp ikat, double-face embroidery, and single-face jacquard weaving, are passed down from mothers to daughters from early childhood through verbal instruction and personal demonstration.

Distributed globally to schools and youth organizations, the cartoon series "Patrimonito's World Heritage Adventures" was developed in 2002 as part of the celebrations for the 30th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention. In an international competition launched that year, ASPnet students prepared storyboards on World Heritage sites in their countries. Prize-winning storyboards were professionally animated and produced. Each storyboard depicts the history and values of the selected site, the threads and challenges it faces and solutions to preserve it.

The Azerbaijani carpet is a traditional handmade textile of various sizes, with dense texture and a pile or pile-less surface, whose patterns are characteristic of Azerbaijans many carpet-making regions. Carpet making is a family tradition transferred orally and through practice. Men shear sheep in spring and autumn, while women collect dyestuffs and spin and dye yarn in the spring, summer and autumn. The weaving is undertaken during winter by the female members of the extended family, girls learning from their mothers and grandmothers and wives assisting their mothers-in-law. The carpet is made on horizontal or vertical looms using multi-coloured wool, cotton or silk yarn coloured with natural dyes. Applying special techniques to create pile carpets, weavers knot the pile yarn around threads of the warp; pile-less carpets are variously made with interlacing structural warps, wefts, and patterning wefts. The cutting of a finished carpet from the loom is an unusually solemn celebration. Carpet weaving is closely connected with the daily life and customs of the communities involved, its role reflected in the meaning of the designs and their applications. Thus, girls seated on carpets tell fortunes and sing traditional songs at Novruz (the regional New Year). The carpet is widely used for home furniture and decoration, and special carpets are woven for medical treatment, for wedding ceremonies, the birth of a child, mourning rituals and prayer.

Audio recordings retracing UNESCO's involvement in the planning and execution of the project "Revival of the Ancient Library of Alexandria, and Creation of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina" (circa 1987). The recordings were made in March 2007 at the request of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, as a contribution to the oral history of the library.

The project's main objective was to contribute to safeguarding the unique but highly endangered architectural and artistic monastic heritage of the Himalayan region. While the monasteries and temples of the region are still centres of living spiritual and cultural traditions, the skills and knowledge necessary for their maintenance using traditional materials and techniques are in danger of disappearing...

Meddahlik was a Turkish theatre form performed by a single storyteller called a meddah and practised throughout Turkey and Turkish-speaking countries. Through the ages, similar narrative genres have flourished due to interaction among the peoples of Asia, the Caucasus and the Middle East within this wide geographical area.

Nha Nhac, meaning "elegant music", refers to a broad range of musical and dance styles performed at the Vietnamese royal court from the fifteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Nha Nhac was generally featured at the opening and closing of ceremonies associated with anniversaries, religious holidays, coronations, funerals and official receptions.

In Africa, 176 animal species have gone extinct in the last 600 years. The dodo, the quagga, the bluebuck and the Cape Verde giant skink are no more and will never be again. 1,330 animal species in Africa are threatened with extinction due to habitat loss, too much hunting, and pollution. Some people feel great sympathy for the animals suffering from these threats, especially those creatures which care for their own kind the same way we do. Life becomes difficult for these animals when they find people living and working in the lands they used to roam.

This Phoenician city, where a triad of deities was worshipped, was known as Heliopolis during the Hellenistic period. It retained its religious function during Roman times, when the sanctuary of the Heliopolitan Jupiter attracted thousands of pilgrims. Baalbek, with its colossal structures, is one of the finest examples of Imperial Roman architecture at its apogee (whc.unesco.org).

The introduction of the World Heritage Education Kit has resulted in experimentation in many schools, adapting and building on the concept of World Heritage Education. Used at the grass roots level in Associated Schools in all five continents.

This film is about how the Barefoot College learnt and "unlearnt" the best possible low cost, long term solutions by trusting and having faith in the knowledge, skills and wisdom of rural communities. 'Catching Raindrops' shows the wisdom in India's century old water collection structures and how these must be revived to harvest rain and recharge the groundwater

Havana was founded in 1519 by the Spanish. By the 17th century, it had become one of the Caribbean's main centres for ship-building. Although it is today a sprawling metropolis of 2 million inhabitants, its old centre retains an interesting mix of Baroque and neoclassical monuments, and a homogeneous ensemble of private houses with arcades, balconies, wrought-iron gates and internal courtyards.

A report about a new partnership between UNESCO and cities around world and the creation of the UNESCO Cities for Peace prize, which recognizes the work of cities in strengthening social solidarity, improving living conditions as well as developing urban harmony.

As the first capital of Brazil, from 1549 to 1763, Salvador de Bahia witnessed the blending of European, African and Amerindian cultures. It was also, from 1558, the first slave market in the New World, with slaves arriving to work on the sugar plantations. The city has managed to preserve many outstanding Renaissance buildings. A special feature of the old town are the brightly coloured houses, often decorated with fine stucco-work.

This program shows the abundance of Spanish historical sites such as Granada, Sevilla, Cordoba, Toledo, and El Escorial, all of which are inscribed in UNESCO's World Heritage List.

A report on the outstanding urban architecture of the city of Jaisalmer in the desert of Rajasthan in India, made in collaboration with the International Union of Architects.