The Regional Secretariat for Tourism, Environment and Culture, through the Regional Directorate for Culture (DRC), joined the commemorations of the International Day for the Intangible Cultural Heritage, marked on October 17th, with international recognition of its initiatives through the awarding of an official UNESCO support seal for this event.
The initiatives aimed to celebrate the intangible cultural heritage of the Madeira archipelago, value the knowledge and practices of communities, and promote the transmission of this cultural legacy to new generations.
Among the initiatives carried out, the exhibition «Intangible Heritage: Inspiring Traditional Knowledge» stood out, presented at the Torre do Capitão – Historical and Museological Nucleus of Santo Amaro, in partnership with the Francisco Franco Secondary School. The exhibition showcased the creative interpretation of different manifestations of Madeiran intangible cultural heritage by students from the 13/ 12th year class of the Visual Arts Course.
The commemorative program also included the roundtable «Intangible Heritage: Voices, Knowledge and Practices», dedicated to sharing knowledge, experiences, and practices related to intangible cultural heritage, as well as the participation of the Xarabanda Musical and Cultural Association, through the project «Cantigas Cá de Dentro».
The dissemination of these initiatives on the platforms of UNESCO and Património Cultural, I.P. reinforces the visibility of the work developed by the Regional Secretariat for Tourism, Environment and Culture, through the DRC, in the documentation, safeguarding, valorization, and transmission of the intangible cultural heritage of the Autonomous Region of Madeira.
Celebrating intangible cultural heritage means recognizing that heritage lives in people, in communities, in their knowledge, and in the practices that continue to give meaning to Madeiran cultural identity.
