Until last week I believed that Unesco – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation – existed solely to protect and promote remarkable aspects of the material world, such as my beloved Bauhaus buildings in Tel Aviv. But of course I should have known that it would be beyond the wit of the UN to do anything as sensible as taking on a simple task and sticking to it.
Since 2008 they’ve also set themselves the frankly ludicrous job of upholding something called the ‘Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage’, featuring hundreds of customs from French cooking (understandable if dull) through ‘Mongolian coaxing ritual for camels’ (getting freaky) to ‘Cambodian tugging rituals’ (nurse! The screens!) Have a look – it’s fascinating. And can, depending on my mood, make me reflect on what a magnificently rich and strange place the world is – or make me strongly desire to alternate between keening softly and kicking something.
And now they’ve added reggae: ‘Reggae’s contribution to international discourse on issues of injustice, resistance, love and humanity underscores the dynamics of the element as being at once cerebral, sociopolitical, sensual and spiritual.’
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