Towards safeguarding Creole intangible cultural heritage: the 2003 UNESCO convention

In 2003, the UNESCO general conference voted in favour of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). The Convention highlights the fragility of indigenous living cultural traditions and argues that ICH is a repository of a community's creativity and a source of inspiration for new cultural expressions. Globalisation's ubiquitous and often commercialised branded identities squeeze out the rich diversity of indigenous heritage. So, safeguarding this cultural resource against the onslaught of globalisation is of vital importance. This chapter explores the intellectual work which the Convention brings to cultural historians, curators, and researchers. It highlights examples of digital classification, public participation, and creative re-presentation which document the ICH tradition and also seek to understand the factors that have sustained it and will influence its future as a living tradition. Finally, through a discussion of specific cases, it lays out the difficulties in attaining that UNESCO ICH inscription and the debates over its use and impact, and explores the implications for those wanting to safeguard their own intangible cultural heritage.