The Region of Crete and the Directorate of Modern Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture are pleased to announce the creation of the Regional Index of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Crete. The Regional Index will be presented at a two-day conference entitled “Regional Index of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Crete: Presentation, Possibilities and Prospects”. The events will take place on Saturday, 31 May, in Heraklion and Sunday, 1 June, in Thrapsano, Heraklion.
The two-day conference is jointly organised by the Region of Crete, the Directorate of Modern Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture and the Educational Development Organisation «PLOIGOS», with the kind support of the Municipality of Minoa-Pediados and the Cultural Association of Thrapsano.
The Regional Directory of Crete, the first Regional Directory to be created in our country, is set to become a tool for recording and capturing the wealth of the island’s living traditions. Customs and folk events, music and dance traditions, fairy tales and narrative songs, crafts, farming practices, ethnobotanical knowledge, and culinary heritage – all these elements that make up the collective identity and memory of the Cretan people and strengthen their sense of pride in their homeland. The aim of the project is to encourage local communities, cultural associations and organisations, educators and, in particular, young people who are interested in documenting and promoting, at both local and wider levels, elements of our heritage that remain alive to this day.
It should be noted that the Regional Index is to operate in parallel with the National Index of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Greece, which is maintained by the Directorate of Modern Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, as the competent body responsible for the implementation in Greece of the International Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (UNESCO, 2003). Greece has been a State Party to the Convention since 2006.
Crete has been listed in the National Register since 2018, with 11 entries to date: The art of weaving and its preservation in Asterousia, Crete; The wild edible herbs of Crete – Ethnobotanical practices; the Steiakos Pedichtos Chorus; Maleviziotis; The agro-food tradition of carob, Water management practices on the Lasithi Plateau – The know-how of pumping windmills, Pastoralism and the world of Psiloritis, Karabassi: the know-how of its preparation in Apokoronas, Chania, The pottery tradition of Thrapsanos, The ceramic tradition in Margarites, Mylopotamos, The songs of the rizitika.
The Region of Crete has established a particularly constructive partnership with the Ministry of Culture on matters relating to measures for the preservation and promotion of the island’s intangible cultural heritage. The operation of the Regional Index of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Crete will be supported, from a scientific perspective, by the Directorate of Modern Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture.
The programme of events is attached.
Source: crete.gov.gr