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News > Venezuela

Venezuelan Plains' Working Songs Declared World Heritage

  • Citizens perform working songs, Venezuela, 2021.

    Citizens perform working songs, Venezuela, 2021. | Photo: TeleSUR

Published 14 December 2021
Opinion

The practice consists of singing melodies a cappella on cattle herding and milking, which are part of the plains’ traditional livestock farming system. 

On Tuesday, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) placed the working songs of the Venezuelan Plains on the list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity that requires urgent safeguarding measures.

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The practice consists of singing melodies individually and a cappella on cattle herding and milking, which are part of the plains’ traditional and environmentally-friendly livestock farming system. 

The songs are transmitted orally to the children from their childhood. In recent years, however, this tradition has been threatened by spatial planning plans that have promoted transformations of property systems, land uses, and the natural spaces where farmers interpret their songs.

To prevent this heritage from disappearing, local authorities organize singing festivals and regular meetings between the holders of this cultural heritage and young people living in the region.

The UNESCO recognition of the songs as heritage that requires urgent safeguarding measures will raise awareness about their possible disappearance, and boost international meetings and experience exchange on how to safeguard them.

On Tuesday, UNESCO also placed dances and expressions associated with the feast of "Corpus Christi" held in Panama, the values, knowledge, and practices of the Awajun people related to ceramic production in Peru, and the Great Tarija Party held in Bolivia on the list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity that requires urgent safeguarding measures.

"Latin America is a region rich in culture and traditions, which we are proud to promote and safeguard,” this multilateral organization’s intangible heritage Secretary Paris Tim stated.

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