Opening Remarks
Dr Kris Rampersad, Chair of the National Commission for UNESCO at the
Community Based Inventorying Workshop, Trinidad and Tobago, June 22, 2013.
On behalf of the National Commission for UNESCO greetings and welcome
to this the third in a series of Caribbean based workshop in Trinidad and
Tobago, Belize and Jamaica, funded by the Government and people of Japan to
help our societies safeguard for future generations our intangible living heritage.
This is of course one of several capacity building exercises in which
the National Commission is engaged to help develop national capacity, whether
it is in creating classrooms like this or sending nationals to benefit from
UNESCO training and capacity building opportunities elsewhere.
In this, today we are one step closer to safeguarding our intangible
cultural heritage through the mechanisms and provisions of the in Intangible
Cultural Heritage Convention – often referred to as the 2003 Convention
It is one of several conventions, quasi legal instruments promoted by
UNESCO, to capture, preserve and share the rich diversity of our lifestyles and
cultures with each other and promote peace and understanding among our
communities and between societies.
This is an exercise to empower our communities and practitioners and
knowledge holders in retaining and transmitting knowledge, skills and practices
as much as it is in strengthening the mechanisms for researching, documenting,
archiving, inventorying for the benefit of future generations.
We think of and lament loss of those knowledge holders who have taken
stock of knowledge with them: like Peter Harris who died recently with much of
his research and knowledge of prehistoric societies of Trinidad and Tobago
passing with him without our realisation of how such knowledge could enrich our
understanding of ourselves and of our societies and for our future generations.
We must move quickly to capture the accumulated knowledge and experiences these
knowledge holders have and let that be part of our thinking when we think of drawing
up our inventories – who are some of the most critical sources of knowledge
that we should reach before we lose them and irretrievably, too, lose their
knowledge.
We are here to strengthen identification of who and what we are; to
quote a popular calypso – how we does
walk, how we does talk, how we does cook, how we does lime and wine, key
elements that place us among representatives of the sea of humanity that is the
UNESCO community.
The focus of this convention on intangible cultural heritage is on the
living expressions, knowledge and skills and traditions in the performing arts,
oral traditions, practices, beliefs, festivals
Though intangible, we know that they are pivotal
to holding the diverse fabric of our social tapestry together, to help intercultural
dialogue among ourselves and with communities similar or different elsewhere to
promote and, encourage mutual respect for one another. This exercise is part of the mechanism to
particularly address what is a common cry among us; to define and promote
inclusivity, to make communities feel represented, understood and respected in
the national milieu.
We will find in this process much that we are
doing well, and we would want to table these and inventory them among the best
practices we would want to share with the rest of the world.
In other areas, we can use the help, particularly
in developing infrastructure, systems and processes to respect and value what
we have.
A most significant element of this convention is
the importance and value it places on communities as central to the smooth
running of state apparatus – a fact that sometimes get lost within our
bureaurcracies and macro based policies and positioning.
(From left) Discussing safeguarding
national heritage at the opening of the workshop on UNESCO Convention for the
safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage are: facilitators Rieks Smeets, Chair
of the Trinidad and Tobago National Commission for UNESCO Dr Kris Rampersad; Minister
of Arts and Multicultralism Dr Lincoln Douglas, Ambassador of Japan Yoshimasa
Tezuka, facilitator, Harriet Deacon, and culture specialist in the UNESCO
Jamaica regional office, Hima Gurung. Photo
courtesy Kris Rampersad
Call made to preserve local heritage
http://ctntworld.com/cnews2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5505:call-made-to-preserve-local-heritage&catid=137:c-news&Itemid=707
“We cannot allow our unique traditions to die out with the older generation.” That was the message delivered on Saturday by the Minister of Arts and Multiculturalism, Dr. Lincoln Douglas, who said our cultural heritage must be preserved for future generations.
He spoke at a Workshop on Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Kapok Hotel.
In keeping with the guidelines laid out in the UNESCO's 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, many local cultural practitioners participated in the workshop.
The Minister said the store of knowledge, which is passed down from generation to generation, is fading and must be collected and documented.
Dr. Kris Rampersad, the Chairperson of the National Commission for UNESCO, said although this country is small in size and more vulnerable to external influences, we can become a strong counter-cultural force if we are secure in our cultural identity.
She said a greater focus on local content on television is needed to promote culture.
The Ministry of Arts and Multiculturalism is the keeper of the flame and Minister Douglas said the "Remember When Institute" will serve as a storehouse of the collective cultural conscience for generations to come.
Inventorying of living heritage builds momentum in Trinidad and Tobago
20 June 2013 – Community practitioners, government officials and members of non-governmental organizations are mobilizing themselves for a national workshop on inventorying of intangible cultural heritage to be held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago from 22 June to 1 July 2013.
Organized by the Trinidad and Tobago National Commission for UNESCO, the Ministry of the Arts & Multiculturalism of Trinidad and Tobago and the UNESCO Kingston Cluster Office for the Caribbean, the workshop marks a significant step in safeguarding the living heritage of Trinidad and Tobago. It will focus on community participation in the identification and inventory of intangible cultural heritage, organization and management of information, and hands-on experience in preparing field work. The field activity will be reinforced by a pilot inventory activity to follow in proceeding months.
Funded by the Government of Japan, the workshop is part of a sub-regional project being implemented in Belize, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago within the context of
UNESCO’s global strategy on capacity building to safeguard intangible cultural heritage. It will be conducted by two experts from the UNESCO facilitators’ network: Harriet Deacon and Rieks Smeets.
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peoples demanding a ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
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a political party
Oct 14, 2013 They are announcing some political meeting or
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all parts getting box drains and thing, so I vex. So peeps, you know I am a
sceptic so help me decide. http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
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T&T Constitution the culprit | The Trinidad Guardian
Jun 15, 2010 T&T Constitution the culprit | The
Trinidad Guardian · T&T Constitution the culprit | The Trinidad Guardian.
Posted by Kris Rampersad at 8:20 AM · Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare
to Facebook ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
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Apr 30, 2010 'How we vote is not how we party.' At 'all
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Oct 20, 2013 Choosing the Emperor's New Troops. The dilemma
of choice. Voting is supposed to be an exercise in thoughtful, studied choice.
Local government is the foundation for good governance so even if one wants to
reform the ... http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
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The Emperor's New Tools#1 - Demokrissy - Blogger
Apr 07, 2013 Old Casked Rum: The Emperor's New Tools#1 -
Towards Constitutional Reform in T&T. So we've had the rounds of
consultations on Constitutional Reform? Are we any wiser? Do we have a sense of
direction that will drive ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: Valuing Carnival
The Emperor's New Tools#2
Apr 30, 2013 Valuing Carnival The Emperor's New Tools#2....http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
See Also:
Demokrissy: Winds
of Political Change - Dawn of T&T's Arab Spring
Jul 30, 2013 Wherever these breezes have passed, they have
left in their wake wide ranging social and political changes: one the one hand
toppling long time leaders with rising decibels from previously suppressed
peoples demanding a ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: Reform, Conform,
Perform or None of the Above cross ...
Oct 25, 2013 Some 50 percent did not vote. The local
government elections results lends further proof of the discussion began in
Clash of Political Cultures: Cultural Diversity and Minority Politics in
Trinidad and Tobago in Through The ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: Sounds of a party -
a political party
Oct 14, 2013 They are announcing some political meeting or
the other; and begging for my vote, and meh road still aint fix though I hear
all parts getting box drains and thing, so I vex. So peeps, you know I am a
sceptic so help me decide. http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy:
T&T Constitution the culprit | The Trinidad Guardian
Jun 15, 2010 T&T Constitution the culprit | The
Trinidad Guardian · T&T Constitution the culprit | The Trinidad Guardian.
Posted by Kris Rampersad at 8:20 AM · Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare
to Facebook ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Related:
Demokrissy: To vote, just how we
party … Towards culturally ...
Apr 30, 2010 'How we vote is not how we party.' At 'all
inclusive' fetes and other forums, we nod in inebriated wisdom to calypsonian
David Rudder's elucidation of the paradoxical political vs. social realities of
Trinidad and Tobago. http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: DEADLOCK: Sign of
things to come
Oct 29, 2013 An indication that unless we devise innovative
ways to address representation of our diversity, we will find ourselves in
various forms of deadlock at the polls that throw us into a spiral of political
tug of war albeit with not just ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: The human face of
constitutional reform
Oct 16, 2013 Sheilah was clearly and sharply articulating
the deficiencies in governmesaw her: a tinymite elderly woman, gracefully
wrinkled, deeply over with concerns about political and institutional
stagnation but brimming over with ... http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy:
Trini politics is d best
Oct 21, 2013 Ain't Trini politics d BEST! Nobody fighting
because they lose. All parties claiming victory, all voting citizens won!
That's what make we Carnival d best street party in the world. Everyone are
winners because we all like ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
New Media, New Civil Society,
and Politics in a New Age - Demokrissy
Jan 09, 2012 New Media, New Civil Society, and Politics in
a New Age | The Communication Initiative Network. New Media, New Civil Society,
and Politics in a New Age | The Communication Initiative Network. Posted by
Kris Rampersad ...http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: T&T politics:
A new direction? - Caribbean360 Oct 01, 2010 http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Others: Demokrissy: Old Casked Rum:
The Emperor's New Tools#1 ...
Apr 07, 2013
Old Casked Rum: The
Emperor's New Tools#1 - Towards Constitutional Reform in T&T. So we've had
the rounds of consultations on Constitutional Reform? Are we any wiser? Do we
have a sense of direction that will drive ...
http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: Valuing Carnival
The Emperor's New Tools#2
Apr 30, 2013
Valuing Carnival The
Emperor's New Tools#2.
http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Wave a flag for a party
rag...Choosing the Emperor's New ...
Oct 20, 2013
Choosing the Emperor's
New Troops. The dilemma of choice. Voting is supposed to be an ... Old Casked
Rum: The Emperor's New Tools#1 - Towards Constitutional Reform in T&T.
Posted by Kris Rampersad at 10:36 AM ...
http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
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Feb 26, 2014
This Demokrissy
series, The Emperor's New Tools, continues and builds on the analysis of
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http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Envisioning
outside-the-island-box ... - Demokrissy - Blogger
Feb 10, 2014
This Demokrissy
series, The Emperor's New Tools, continues and builds on the analysis of evolution
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Glass Ceiling (2010): The Clash of Political ...
http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: Futuring the Post-2015
UNESCO Agenda
Apr 22, 2014
It is placing
increasing pressure for erasure of barriers of geography, age, ethnicity,
gender, cultures and other sectoral interests, and in utilising the tools
placed at our disposal to access our accumulate knowledge and technologies
towards eroding these superficial barriers. In this context, we believe that
the work of UNESCO remains significant and relevant and that UNESCO is indeed
the institution best positioned to consolidate the ..... The Emperor's New
Tools ...
http://kris-rampersad.blogspot.com/
Demokrissy: Cutting edge journalism
Jun 15, 2010
The Emperor's New
Tools. Loading... AddThis. Bookmark and Share. Loading... Follow by Email.
About Me. My Photo · Kris Rampersad. Media, Cultural and Literary Consultant,
Facilitator, Educator and Practitioner. View my ...
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It is one of several conventions, quasi legal instruments promoted by
UNESCO, to capture, preserve and share the rich diversity of our lifestyles and
cultures with each other and promote peace and understanding among our
communities and between societies.
We think of and lament loss of those knowledge holders who have taken
stock of knowledge with them: like Peter Harris who died recently with much of
his research and knowledge of prehistoric societies of Trinidad and Tobago
passing with him without our realisation of how such knowledge could enrich our
understanding of ourselves and of our societies and for our future generations.
We must move quickly to capture the accumulated knowledge and experiences these
knowledge holders have and let that be part of our thinking when we think of drawing
up our inventories – who are some of the most critical sources of knowledge
that we should reach before we lose them and irretrievably, too, lose their
knowledge.
Though intangible, we know that they are pivotal
to holding the diverse fabric of our social tapestry together, to help intercultural
dialogue among ourselves and with communities similar or different elsewhere to
promote and, encourage mutual respect for one another. This exercise is part of the mechanism to
particularly address what is a common cry among us; to define and promote
inclusivity, to make communities feel represented, understood and respected in
the national milieu.
A most significant element of this convention is
the importance and value it places on communities as central to the smooth
running of state apparatus – a fact that sometimes get lost within our
bureaurcracies and macro based policies and positioning.
