17/10/2026
On International Day of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, ICOMOS Armenia highlights the critical convergence of tangible monuments and living traditions within our cultural landscapes.
Built heritage does not exist in a vacuum; the significance of historical sites is inherently sustained by living heritage—the traditional knowledge, craftsmanship, and community practices that imbue physical spaces with memory and meaning. Sustainable conservation demands an integrated approach that safeguards both physical structures and the intangible cultural ecosystems animating them. 🏛️🇦🇲
exists because people keep it alive.
Across all regions, bearers, practitioners, civil society organisations, cultural and academic institutions and national and local authorities are working together to safeguard, transmit and celebrate living heritage.
Today, 185 countries are parties to the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Its Lists and Register now include 849 elements, including more than 100 multinational elements involving 117 countries.
Passed down from generation to generation, these traditions and practices provide communities with a sense of continuity and belonging.
On the International Day of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, UNESCO recognises and celebrates the living heritage present in our communities and beyond: the knowledge, practices, craftsmanship, foodways, rituals, performing arts and social customs that connect people across generations and cultures.
🔗 https://www.unesco.org/en/days/intangible-heritage
