What does El Raqs El Sharqy have to do with intangible cultural heritage anyway? - Part 2

Well, as you might have heard, El Raqs El Sharqy has probably appeared in 3.000 B.C. at Egypt as a ritual to reverence the goddesses, especially The Goddess Isis. The rhythmic and undulating movements were utilized to prepare women to pregnancy and birth.

As controversial as this information can be (due to the lack of materials registers about it) there is no doubt about the remote origin of El Raqs El Sharqy. There is also no doubts that this art form has changed and incorporated elements from various cultures along this 5.000 years of existence.

Well, let's see:
El Raqs El Sharqy is an expression or art form:
1) that has been practiced along 5.000 years;
2) that has been passed orally by generations to generation;
3) that has changed accordingly to the cultural references of the different groups that incorporated it through time and space.

I think we have an intangible cultural heritage recognized here, don't we?

And I can say more: I think it is almost a miracle that it has survived so long in spite of all the persecution to women and of the wars Middle East has faced along history.

What do you think?

What does El Raqs El Sharqy have to do with intangible cultural heritage anyway? - Part 1

First things first, I think it's important to understand what cultural heritage is. After all, that's one of the main topics of this blog and I hope I can show you why.

Intangible cultural heritage is defined in the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage 2003 - UNESCO as:

"1. The “intangible cultural heritage” means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity. For the purposes of this Convention, consideration will be given solely to such intangible cultural heritage as is compatible with existing international human rights instruments, as well as with the requirements of mutual respect among communities, groups and individuals, and of sustainable development. 
2. The “intangible cultural heritage”, as defined in paragraph 1 above, is manifested inter alia in the following domains: 
(a) oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage; 
(b) performing arts; 
(c) social practices, rituals and festive events; 
(d) knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; 
(e) traditional craftsmanship"

In this sense, intangible cultural heritage represents the meaning that the people involved in a common practice give to that practice.

As the anthropologist Roberto DaMatta says, it's not enough to explain a society or a group by their infra and superstructure (as work for the common benefit of the group, division of labor, sex and age, or mechanisms to prevent danger). Besides that, a society or a group is composed by a living tradition, that is passed by generation to generation. This is culture. This is the meaning that people give to their lives and the environment.

It's in the sense that culture is the meaning people give to their forms of living that today 163 countries have ratified, approved or accepted the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage 2003.

That means that:
- Diversity matters for the present generation
- Diversity matters to the future generation
- To protect diversity is a responsibility of the present generation to the future generations

There is more to know about that. But we can talk about it at another post so that I don't bore you.
I promise we'll enter on the El Raqs El Sharqy part soon.
I hope you'll leave me a comment about your opinion on this post.

Bye, bye.

References:
UNESCO. Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage 2003. Available in http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=17716&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
DA MATTA, Roberto. Relativizando: uma introdução à antropologia social. Rio de Janeiro: Rocco. 2010.