The 6th International Forum for Chengdu Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival was held in Chengdu, Jun. 10th, 2017. The theme was the spirit and conservation practices of the Convention on “non-legacy” protection, the Convention, and it attracted a range of about 300 expert, cultural workers and the intangible cultural heritage inheritors from over 50 countries.
Mr. Xiang Zhaolun, the vice-minister of Ministry of Culture of the PRC delivered a speech titled Theory and Practice of “non-legacy” protection of China, which totally expounded the protection proposition of “non-legacy” protection in China. “The theme was Inheriting the Vivid Practice of Development, which intended to reflect the vitality and creativity of intangible cultural heritage in contemporary society,” said he, “The fundamental for non-legacy protection was the protection for the practice, the capability and the environment of inheriting.” Besides, he introduced the achievements of China’s “non-legacy” protection.
The assistant director-general for culture at UNESCO appealed to that “non-legacy” protection was more important than ever in this rapidly developing world, for it’s not only the key to maintaining cultural diversity, but also implied rich knowledge needed to tackle challenges such as climate change, under the background of globalization. He highly evaluated the results obtained by China’s “non-legacy” protection, and paid a tribute to the “non-legacy” protection workers.
Lian Ji, the president of Chinese National Academy of Arts indicated the significance of “non-legacy” in helping humanity to open up new ideas, and he explored the solutions to the problems at present such as Policy Protection, Strengthen the Awareness, Urbanization and International Cooperation, etc.
On the second half of the forum, Chinese and foreign experts in the field of “non-legacy” had rich dialogues and shared vivid example, around “Non-legacy Protection and Sustainable Development” and “Ethics Principles for Non-legacy Protection”.
The international forum with the theme of “non-legacy” is an important event or Chengdu Intangible Cultural Heritage Festival, which has been held for six consecutive years. It has successively released some significant documents including Chengdu Declaration, Chengdu Consensus, and Chengdu Expectation, which has played an active role on the cohesion of wisdom and consensus of “non-legacy” protection in the international community.