Bagpipes and puppetry awaiting UNESCO approval

By the end of this year, the list of unique cultural elements that are protected by UNESCO could be enlarged by two additions from Slovakia. The committee, which approves the nominations for the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, will decide in December whether this list should also include bagpipes and Slovak bagpipe culture as well as traditional puppetry. "Bagpipes are an independent Slovak nomination, while puppetry is being nominated by Slovakia together with the Czech Republic", explains Klára Novotná, Slovakia's permanent delegate at UNESCO. The list currently includes two contributions from Slovakia: the shepherd's pipe known as a fujara and music from Terchová. However, Novotná isn't very optimistic about the possibility of doubling the number of Slovak elements within this year. 'I rather think that only one of the two nominations will be approved. This however does not mean that the element which doesn't pass this time, cannot be inscribed in later", she explains. In the case of the World Heritage List, there is no Slovak nomination expected to be approved in the nearest future, although there are 13 possible sites on the nomination document that could expand the five cultural and two natural sites that are already on the list.