Immaterial heritage

The work with immaterial heritage in heritage protection organizations, museums and other institutions and has increased considerably in the last couple of years. Since 2000, IPHAN has taken a lead in the development of immaterial heritage protection and promotion mechanisms also internationally. The National Program for Immaterial Heritage (PNPI) is a fomentation plan to create partnerships with federal, state and municipal government institutions, universities, NGOs, development agencies and private organizations related to culture, research and funding.

An important part of the plan is to identify and register cultural references. IPHAN has developed a research methodology. The National Inventory of Cultural References (INRC) aims to produce knowledge about the domains of social life to which meaning and value is attributed, becoming references of identity for a certain social groups. The identification and registration is also done regionally and locally. An advice council is to assist in the development of registration criteria. Plans for protection and safeguard consider improving social and material conditions as a necessary step for the transmission and reproduction of heritage. The plan is carried out by the Department of Immaterial Heritage at IPHAN on the national level. An example is the Plan to Safeguard the Oral and Graphic Expressions of the Wajapi, in 2003 it was named World Immaterial Heritage Masterpiece. In 2005, the Samba de Roda of Recôncavo of Bahia was also proclaimed a World Immaterial Heritage Masterpiece (see website for more information in English).

The new policy on the preservation of immaterial heritage faces certain challenges. The first relates to the strengthening and broadening of institutional support, particularly at regional and local level. Others refer to the way sectors in society work together; the development of tools and methods; establishing indicators; the integration of immaterial heritage protection policies with other governmental policies, especially in the areas of health, education, work, science and technology, tourism, industry and commerce; and to the promotion of registration as a preservation tool.

Important organizations working with the preservation of immaterial heritage also include the Fundação Cultural Palmares, dedicated to afro-descent heritage and the National Centre for Folklore and Popular Culture (CNFCP). The centre maintains a complete website in English.

Relevant discussions related to immaterial heritage are being carried out in the field of digital culture at the Ministry of Culture as well as developing heritage policies for the Brazilian (indigenous) languages. In 2007, IPHAN published a file on Brazilian languages that can be accessed in Portuguese here.

immaterial heritage, cultural references, popular culture, folklore