The Intangible Cultural Heritage between Sustainability and Dissolution: Romanian Case Studies
The Intangible Cultural Heritage between Sustainability and Dissolution: Romanian Case Studies

Summary/Abstract: The current paper deals with Romanian case studies. We bring to the reader’s attention three examples of how the local (intangible) cultural heritage was understood and managed by local or national authorities in view of the communities’ development, by safeguarding specific traditional practices, after the ratification by Romania of Unesco’s 2003 Convention. An important challenge in safeguarding such practices is obviously linked to the modernization of daily life, a direct result of the increase in living standards over the past two decades. The situation is even more challenging when these difficulties are accompanied by a severe depopulation, leading to a significant decrease in the number of traditional performers. After its introductory part, the article analyzes a series of complementary case studies, focusing on three distinct Romanian traditional practices: (1) The men’s group caroling, included on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity; (2) The Romanian wedding uitoare, the example of an old woman proposed for the Living Human Treasure title, and (3) an endangered traditional craft, supported by the local community, i.e., Șișești pottery. Each of these case studies is described and analyzed based on the field research experience of the two authors, accompanied by pieces of information from the Folklore Archive of the institution where they are working, i.e., West University of Timișoara. The study ends with several conclusions and also features a series of images.

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