Venezuela Asks UNESCO To Recognize Its Musical & Food Heritage

On Thursday, Venezuelan Culture Minister Ernesto Villegas formally asked the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to include the Joropo traditional musical and dancing genre in its list of intangible cultural heritages of humanity. 

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Usually danced in espadrilles, the Joropo represents Venezuelan identity since it reflects the influence of Africa, Europe, and Indigenous peoples on this country's culture.

The application submitted by Villegas recognizes different versions of Joropo, including the Joropo Jarillero, which people from the El Jarillo region in Miranda state created, and the Joropo Guayanes, which is typical of the Bolivar state. 

After the submission ceremony, which took place at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, Cristobal Jimenez, a singer who is also the president of National Assembly Culture Commission, interpreted a Joropo song.

On Thursday, authorities from Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Venezuela also asked UNESCO to recognize the traditional knowledge and practices related to the production and consumption of the Casabe traditional food as an intangible cultural heritage.

The Casabe is a thin, round-shaped, and crunchy bread made of yuca, a tuber often used in Cuban cuisine. The traditional knowledge related to Casabe production is associated with the Indigenous peoples of these countries, especially those living in the Amazon rainforest.

According to UNESCO, intangible cultural heritages are cultural expressions that world communities have inherited from their ancestors and transmit to their descendants.

“Such expressions are an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity amid the growing globalization since they encourage respect for other ways of life,” UNESCO stressed.