Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture exhibit Mexico's 12 cultural elements recognized by UNESCO

Foreign Affairs and Culture Ministries exhibit Mexico's 12 cultural elements recognized by UNESCO

• The "Mexico's Intangible Cultural Heritage" exhibition opened at the National Museum of World Cultures.
• It brings together nearly 200 pieces that reference Bolero, Mariachi, Charrería, Pirekua music and the Day of the Dead, among others.

The National Museum of World Cultures in Mexico City inaugurated the "Mexico's Intangible Cultural Heritage" exhibition featuring approximately 200 pieces that showcase the importance of the 12 cultural elements of Mexico that are recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). These elements include Bolero, Mariachi, Charrería, Pirekua music, and the Day of the Dead.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) organized the exhibition in collaboration with the UNESCO office in Mexico, the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), and the National Fund for the Promotion of Crafts (Fonart).

At the inauguration, Undersecretary of Cultural Development Marina Núñez Bespalova, representing Culture Secretary Alejandra Frausto Guerrero, said that intangible cultural heritage encompasses all expressions, arts, traditions, rituals, festivities, knowledge, techniques, practices, and social uses that have remained alive over time and give identity to a people.

She added that intangible cultural heritage has an immeasurable value that goes beyond the economic value intrinsic in its conservation and dissemination. It is also extremely fragile in the current context of increasing globalization and the current homogenization of culture.

Joel Hernández García, Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights at the Foreign Ministry, representing Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena, said, "Mexico is a cultural powerhouse in the world because of its cultural, moral, and spiritual values inherited from pre-Hispanic civilizations and passed on from generation to generation," as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has stated.

"The fertile intangible heritage of our homeland is the legacy of our original peoples and communities […] So far, we have 12 inscriptions on UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Mexico's first inscription was the Indigenous festivities dedicated to the dead, in 2008, and since then our country has gained international recognition for its beauty, history and cultural diversity," he said.

He reaffirmed the Mexican Government's unwavering commitment to supporting and encouraging the dissemination and safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. "You can be assured that the dedicated work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue in this direction [...] It is everyone's responsibility to honor and protect the country's traditions, and to enrich them because our culture is alive," he emphasized.

UNESCO Representative in Mexico, Andrés Morales, said that Mexico has led international discussions on prioritizing culture as a global public good. He also highlighted Mexico's relationship with the international organization, saying that it was one of the 44 nations that promoted its creation in 1945 and is one of the few that has ratified all conventions related to culture.

Regarding the exhibition, Luz de Lourdes Herbert Pesquera, Director of World Heritage at INAH, said that it is "a small but symbolic sample of the great cultural richness and diversity that makes up our country. It will also serve to raise the awareness of Mexico's peoples and communities regarding their practices and traditions, which provide them with a cultural identity."

She recalled that on December 13, 2005, Mexico ratified the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which to date 183 countries have accepted.

Lastly, Rubisel Gómez Nigenda, the patron of the Parachicos of Chiapa de Corzo, said that this tradition is the very essence of their identity and not just a celebration.

"Mexico's Intangible Cultural Heritage" will be open until September 29, 2024. It includes pieces alluding to the Ritual Ceremony of the Voladores (Pole Flyers), the Dance of the Parachicos, traditional Mexican cuisine, and Talavera pottery, as well as places such as the Indigenous Arts Center of the Totonac people and the Peña de Bernal, a place of memory and living traditions of the Otomi-Chichimecas of Tolimán.