Abstract
The text spans the role and the influence Mexico played in UNESCO since its foundation also by establishing an ad hoc Commission of Cooperation to ensure a bold coordination among public sector, private institutions and civil society to properly implement its conventions, programs and policies, and to stimulate UNESCO itself in addressing new challenges. This was the case for the ICH Convention with the organization of the World Conference on Cultural Policies held in Mexico City in 1982, known as Mondiacult, which paved the way for reaching an internationally accepted definition of ICH and its extent. The contribution focuses as well on the legal and implementing tools developed by the country to implement the 2003 Convention, such as the Registration form for the ICH Inventory of Mexico, with particular attention to traditional crafts, an area where Mexican cultural diversity is greatly expressed, as proven by the establishment of a dedicated National Fund in 1974.
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Notes
- 1.
Data obtained from the webpage http://www.dgri.sep.gob.mx/index.html in October 2017 (accessed December 15, 2018).
- 2.
Data obtained from the page http://www.unesco.org/new/es/mexico/home/ in October of 2017 (accessed December 15, 2018) and of UNESCO Education for All Movement and ASPnet.
- 3.
General Law on Culture and Cultural Rights of Mexico, available on: http://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/LGCDC_190617.pdf (accessed December 15, 2018).
- 4.
The Ritual Ceremony of the Voladores is a dance associated to fertility performed by various ethnic groups of Mexico and Central America such as the Totonacs, the Teenek, the Nahuas, the Ñañhus and the Mayan; nevertheless, the region of the Totonacapan, of the State of Veracruz, is where its representative and emblematic value is more evident, associated with a historical existence of community character and linked by its geographical condition to the prehispanic city of El Tajín.
Its goal is to express respect towards nature and the spiritual universe, as well as the harmony with both. During the ceremony, four youths climb a pole 18 to 40 meters high. Sitting on the platform that finishes off the mast, a fifth man, the leader, plays melodies with a flute and a drum in honor in the sun, and to all directions and cardinal points. After this invocation act, the dancers jump off the platform tied with long strings, they rotate imitating the flight of birds while the rope is uncoiled, and they go descending gradually to the ground.
Each variant of the ritual dance of the Voladores represents a means of reviving the myth of the Universe, so this ceremony expresses the worldview and the values of the community, favouring the communication with the gods and asking for prosperity.
- 5.
To date (2017), five International Encounters of Flyers (international because Mayan Quichés flyers from Guatemala and Nicaragua groups participate) have been carried out, where they debated and took decisions regarding the measures that shaped the Safeguarding Plan.
- 6.
Universal Medical Insurance.
Reference
UNESCO (2003) Convention for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. UNESCO, Paris
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López Morales, F.J., Quiroz Moreno, E.G. (2019). The Legal Framework for Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Mexico. In: Petrillo, P.L. (eds) The Legal Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72983-1_3
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