Lifestyle

Passionate strains of African music, accompanied by drum beats and melodious trumpet toots, filled the concert hall. A memorable performance, it was made even more outstanding by the fact that it was held in China.

Welcome to the Fifth International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage, said to be the world's largest exhibition featuring intangible cultural heritage, held in Chengdu in southwest China's Sichuan Province from September 11. The 10-day event, sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Culture, Sichuan Provincial Government and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, presented more than 400 items of intangible cultural heritage from 65 countries and regions around the world.

Two days after the festival started, Chengdu played host to the Second Sino-African Cultural Heritage Preservation Forum where experts and officials from China and 14 African countries came together to discuss cultural heritage protection - how China was implementing it and how African countries could learn from China.

Learning from China

The two events mark an important step in China-Africa cooperation on protecting cultural heritage. Though rich in cultural heritage, Africa's measures to conserve the legacy have been inadequate, mainly due to turmoil and natural disasters.

As Brigitte Rasamoelina, Madagascar's Minister of Culture and Handicrafts who attended the forum, explained: "Though we have attached great importance to cultural heritage protection, the eruption of the political crisis in Madagascar interrupted the progress. When there is a crisis, people's focus is [on] food and security rather than cultural heritage protection."

But now that Madagascar was stable, she said it needed to carry on the work of cultural heritage protection.

"China has rich and varied cultural heritages which are well protected," said Deh Assaba Alice Koffi, an administrative assistant at the African Union (AU) Commission's cultural services section. "Africa also has a rich cultural heritage." But African cultural heritage protection was at a low stage, she told ChinAfrica. However, the good news was that many African countries had woken up to the importance of protecting cultural heritage and were anticipating more cooperation with China.

Nabil Kallala, Director of the National Institute of Heritage, Tunisia, echoed Koffi. "China has good cultural heritage protection consciousness and methods, and the development of Chinese culture has been parallel to that of Chinese history," he told ChinAfrica. "[From my] visits to Chinese museums, I can clearly figure out the history of China [from] those cultural relics."

Kallala said there is huge potential for cooperation in cultural heritage protection between China and Tunisia. Though Tunisia is now attaching more importance to national tangible cultural heritage protection, he felt the protection of intangible cultural heritage should become a key area in China-Tunisia cultural cooperation.

It was the first time Nadege Diane Lekpa Djoumessi, Coordinator of the National Museum of Cameroon, had visited the Jinsha Site Museum in Chengdu, the first major archaeological discovery in China at the beginning of the 21st century, and it left her stunned.

"It is so impressive," she said. "I was stunned by the high technology and advanced materials used in the museum. I hope China would provide technology and financial assistance to Cameroon."

Power of culture

Koffi too was impressed by the museum and other exhibitions she saw in China. "The AU is a political organization [with] few cultural activities," she said. "But I realized the powerful charm of culture after I visited the Jinsha Site Museum and other exhibitions. I want to advise the AU to carry out more activities related to African cultural heritage protection."

A major problem plaguing African cultural heritage protection is the shortage of funds, the participants agreed.

Gao Bingzhong, a professor at China's Peking University, has a solution. He noted that only when traditional handicrafts generate revenue, can the craftsmen make a living, which would then sustain them in preserving the traditional crafts.

Gao said "productive protection" is a viable way for developing countries, including China and many African countries, to protect their intangible cultural heritage. The core of protection is ensuring that the art is practiced by others - known as inheritors. But to do so, it is necessary to find ways for traditional handicrafts to become more market-oriented.

"State subsidies are temporary," Gao said. "We need to expand the demand for traditional handicraft products to ensure the sustainable development of cultural heritage."

Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither was Chinese cultural heritage protection, especially intangible cultural heritage protection. It started with China making laws to protect intangible cultural heritage based on the principles of the UN Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage adopted in 2003.

Keeping culture alive

Today, every national intangible cultural heritage heritor gets a special allowance of 10,000 yuan ($1,571) annually for cultural inheritance activities. The second Saturday of June is observed as Cultural Heritage Day in China to raise public awareness of cultural heritage protection.

However, China too faces problems in cultural heritage protection, such as selecting inheritors, for instance in the area of Sichuan Embroidery (Shu Xiu in pinyin), one of the four major schools of Chinese embroidery.

"China has a lot of Shu Xiu practitioners," said Meng Dezhi, a Shu Xiu inheritor. "While selecting Shu Xiu national inheritors, it is unavoidable that some people would be left out." Also, a lot of learners are giving up the skill. The major reason is that the embroidery is an art which takes decades to master. So beginners find it difficult to make a living.

But Meng is optimistic about the current situation of her art. She said it has good market potential in China, and in addition, enjoys the support of the government. "We are trying to train qualified embroiderers through industry-university cooperation schemes," she said. "Also, the government support will safeguard Shu Xiu learners from financial problems."

Efforts are also made to promote the art countrywide through the Internet. "In the future, whoever has an interest in Shu Xiu can learn the craft from the Internet," Meng said.

Luo Shugang, Chinese Minister of Culture, calls culture "the common aspiration of the people, the livelihood of the people and the wisdom of the people." "Without culture, the cohesion of a nation will disappear. Only with cultural development can the nation enhance its inner strength," Luo said at the Chengdu forum.

The minister has great expectations for the Second Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on December 4 and 5. Luo said the summit will promote the new strategic partnership between China and Africa, including cooperation in cultural heritage protection.