Definition of Intangible Cultural Heritage
Already in 2002 and in parallel with the international fermentation for the drawing up of the Convention on Safeguarding UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Greek state adopted the term "intangible cultural goods", to establish the safeguarding of the cultural heritage which until then it was described as "traditional and modern folk culture". Thus, in the Law 3028/2002 "For Protection of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage in General" (Government Gazette 153/A'/28.6.2002) as intangible cultural goods means expressions, activities, knowledge and information, such as myths, customs, oral traditions, dances, events, music, songs, skills or techniques that are evidence of traditional, popular and scholarly culture.
The Convention goes a step further by giving, among other things, primacy in the communities of intangible cultural heritage operators. Thus, as a cultural intangible heritage, according to the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003), defined as "practices, representations, expressions, knowledge and techniques - as well as the tools, objects, handicrafts and cultural sites associated with those and which communities, groups and, where applicable, individuals recognize that it is part of their cultural heritage" (article 2. par. 1). (From the corresponding Chapter of the website of the Ministry of Culture and Sports). Based on the above, after many months of effort by the President of our Society Konstantinos Hartofilis, and after the prescribed procedures were followed, they were registered in the National Index of Intangible Cultural Heritage, (which is an obligation of Greece derived from the UNESCO Convention), three customs of Nisyros:
No1 Kalantira with s.n. 77, and 2-3. Dance traditions of Nisyros. The KAMARES dance and the dance of KUP(P)A with s.n. 80.
The following are the submitted "Element Reports" and the issued decisions of the minister of culture with which these customs were included in the National Index of Intangible Cultural Heritage based on the UNESCO Convention.
