Morocco’s King Announces Setting Up of National Center for Intangible Cultural Heritage

King Mohammed VI announced on Monday the setting up of a national center for the intangible cultural heritage to enable the North African kingdom to build on the gains achieved in this field.
The royal announcement was made in a message addressed to participants in the 17th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, convening in Rabat.
In this message, read out by Secretary General of the Government, Mohamed Hajoui, the Monarch said the new center will continue to carry out systematic inventory operations of national heritage sites and elements in various regions of the Kingdom.
It will also be tasked with developing a national database in this regard, holding scientific and academic training sessions to enhance the skills of conservation practitioners, and making sure young people are aware of the importance of the cultural heritage, said the Moroccan Sovereign.
The center will ensure follow-up to the effectiveness of the mechanisms adopted to preserve Moroccan heritage sites that feature on the World Heritage List, and prepare Morocco’s nomination proposals, explained the King.
“Morocco has organized a number of scientific workshops and seminars, international forums, and cultural events for the constant preservation and enhancement of the intangible cultural heritage, which we consider to be a characteristic feature of our identity and an intrinsic part of our memory”, said the Monarch.
He cited in this regard the initiatives carried out to promote training, awareness and the acquisition of scientific competences among young people regarding those values.
Morocco has launched several anthropological studies with a view to updating the classification of intangible cultural heritage sites, as part of initiatives aimed at increasing the role and influence of our heritage. It has continued its determined efforts in this area as well as its close cooperation with UNESCO, underlined the royal message.
“Morocco is keen to take its cooperation with UNESCO to a new level, remaining “strongly and responsibly engaged in international multilateral action”, said the King.
He also stressed the importance of preserving and enhancing the intangible heritage so that it may continue to be a frame of reference for future generations, while supporting the efforts made to advance scientific research and encourage the scientists and scholars engaged in protecting our accomplishments in this regard.
To achieve this goal, King Mohammed VI called for the promotion of international multilateral cooperation concerning the preservation of the intangible cultural heritage and the exchange of experiences and ideas for its protection.
“We need also to identify the most effective ways to raise young people’s awareness about the importance of the intangible heritage” as a rich, multi-faceted human legacy deeply anchored in history, said the Monarch, insisting on the need to digitize the rich cultural heritage of mankind, including the intangible heritage.
“In order to make sure our children develop an interest in the cultural heritage bequeathed by our ancestors, we must keep pace with digital transformations, and come up with precious digital content that sheds light on our cultural heritage, along with paper-based material, since both are important in this regard”, underlined the Moroccan Sovereign.