Written by:
Zambra
features editor

PROPOSAL OF THE CEHA (Chiclana section) Regarding the Consideration of Flamenco as Oral Heritage of Humanity

Flamenco singing is a genuine and ancestral form of expression of Andalusian culture. It is also one of the most original creations in the world today and has clear international appeal.

Although the characteristics of flamenco singing are an inherent part of Andalusian culture, for some time they have clearly influenced other forms of music around the world, both those considered popular and those considered cultured or classical, in the Americas, Africa, Europe, or, recently, in Asia.

In turn, flamenco is an art form that is open to other influences from the cultures around it, filtering the assimilation of other ideas through its sense of purism.

Flamenco heritage is traditionally based on the oral transmission of older to newer generations. Anthropologists and folklorists such as Demófilo and Rodríguez Marín have contributed to this task with compilations and studies. Flamenco remains an expression of human sentiment based on oral transmission.

Over the last one hundred years, flamenco singing has acquired even greater international appeal, due partially to the development of communication systems and a kind of globalization respectful of diversity. This can be observed in both musical influences (Ravel, Bizet, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, etc.) and in the empathy that its messages have provoked in the peoples of the world (the anguish of daily survival, the joy of living, death, love, heartbreak, prison, freedom: the basic factors of human existence).

In 1972, the General Conference of the UNESCO ratified the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage as an internationally recognized legal figure for the safekeeping and preservation of worldwide heritage.

As a prolongation of these activities, the Cultural Heritage division of the UNESCO organized an international jury to study the preservation of popular cultural spaces, held in the Moroccan city of Marrakech in June of 1977, organized by Moroccan intellectuals and the Spanish writer Juan Goytisolo. The meeting defined the new concept of oral heritage of humanity, urging the UNESCO to create a new international distinction to value the masterpieces of this kind of heritage.

In line with the will of this international jury regarding the preservation of popular cultural spaces, Moroccan authorities, supported by many member states, put forth a project of resolution that was adopted at the 29th General Conference. In line with the resolution, this point was debated by the UNESCO Executive Committee in two consecutive sessions (154th y 155th meetings). In November 1999, the Executive Committee decided to create an international distinction titled "Proclamation of the UNESCO on Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity." On May 18, 2001, the general director of the UNESCO named the first 19 of these masterpieces: the language, dances and music of the Garifuna in Belize; the Oruro Carnival in Bolivia, the cultural space of the Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit of the Congos of Villa Mella in the Dominican Republic, the oral heritage and cultural manifestations of the Zapara People in Ecuador and Peru, the oral heritage of Gelede in Benin, the Gbofe of Afounkaha, the music of the transverse trumpets of the Tagbana community in Ivory Coast, the cultural space of Sosso Bala in Niagassola in Guinea, the cultural space of the Djamaa el-Fna Square in Morocco, the Kunqu opera in China, the Kutiyattam Sanskrit Theater in India, Nôgaku theater in Japan, the royal ancestral rite and ritual music in the Jongmyo shrine in Korea, the Hudhud chants of the Ifugao, in Philippines, and the cultural space of the Boysun District in Uzbekistan. European oral and intangible heritage numbers five laureates: the mystery play of Elche in Spain, Georgian polyphonic singing in Georgia, the Sicilian puppet theater in Italy, cross crafting and its symbolism in Lithuania, and the cultural space and oral culture of the Semeiskie in the Russian Federation.

Flamenco singing has recently received much attention from both artists and enthusiasts after centuries of silence and secrecy. Nonetheless, more explicit institutional support would be a welcome and necessary step forward, as would the dissemination of this most profound expression of the Andalusian soul among peoples of other parts of the world. This can only enrich the oral heritage of mankind.

For the aforementioned reasons, we propose to the competent institutions and Andalusian social organizations that flamenco be declared by the UNESCO as oral heritage of humanity.

CEHA (Chiclana Section)

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