National Museum starts documenting India's cultural heritage

To research and catalogue India's Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), the National Museum Institute (NMI) has started documenting age-old human treasures in the fields of performing and fine arts, officials said Monday.

Pilot projects have been launched in the plains of western Uttar Pradesh and mountains of Ladakh by NMI which has embarked the task of developing ICH records from across India.

"We have started listing the elements of cultural heritage of these two regions. They will be the models for other such studies," said Venu V, director-general of National Museum under which the institute functions.

The events in both places were held on Oct 17, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of signing of UNESCO's Paris convention for the safeguarding of ICH.

According to Manvi Seth, an assistant professor at NMI, high-school students from the two regions interacted with their elders to learn about their cultural environment.

"In both the places, we have identified village women and elders as part of the ICH documentation given their significant knowledge and experience in social and cultural traditions," said Seth.

As per UNESCO, cultural heritage does not end at monuments and collection of objects. ICH includes traditions inherited from ancestors like performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events etc. which help in maintaining cultural diversity in the face of growing globalization.