Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs represents Autonomous Regions in coordinating committee of National Network for Intangible Cultural Heritage - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Educação e dos Assuntos Culturais

The Regional Secretariat for Education and Cultural Affairs, through the Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs (DRAC), is the representative of the Autonomous Regions in the coordinating committee of the National Network for Intangible Cultural Heritage during the 2023/2025 biennium.

According to the Regional Secretary for Education and Cultural Affairs, Sofia Ribeiro, the inclusion of the DRAC in this national entity evidences the "recognition of the efforts undertaken by the Regional Government in the registration of intangible cultural heritage."

"This is another way in which we can project the Azores in the country as well as the work that has been carried out by this Regional Directorate in the field of Intangible Cultural Heritage," she emphasised.

With regard to intangible cultural heritage, she recalled that DRAC has been carrying out an inventory of the "Viola da Terra" (traditional Azorean guitar) in the Azores since November 2022, "through partnerships with different local and regional entities."

The project aims to "identify, document, study and inventory the knowledge and practices of 'viola da terra' in the Azores" with the ultimate goal of "registering it in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage."

In addition to the Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs, the commission includes the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage, the Regional Directorate for Culture of Alentejo, representing the regional directorates of Mainland Portugal, the Municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, representing the organisations proposing events to be included in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Memória Imaterial Cooperative, as a UNESCO accredited organisation, and the Association for the Study of Culture, History, Arts and Heritage, as the guest entity.