Luanda - Angola's ambassador to Cuba, Maria Cândida Teixeira, during the weekend in the city of Santiago called on African governments to create policies to preserve the continent's cultural assets and elevate them to World Heritage status, due to the value and richness they offer.
The diplomat issued this challenge while speaking at the weekend to a panel of African ambassadors accredited to Cuba during the 22nd International Conference on African and Afro-American Culture, taking place in the south-west region of the Caribbean country.
For her, the commitment of all countries to this perspective will be the "driving force" so that, on the one hand, the conditions are created for ever more in-depth research, the results of which will be the enhancement, valorisation and sharing of knowledge that enriches the development of African societies.
As regards Angola, Maria Cândida Teixeira pointed to the steps that the government has taken to elevate, for example, the Semba musical genre to intangible world heritage, like the Sona, a symbol of Tchokwé culture.
After including the Congolese rumba on the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity with an African matrix, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) also approved the Thiébou Dieune, a Senegalese national dish, the Moutya, a dance by enslaved Africans who were taken to the Seychelles Islands, as well as the Tbourida, a Moroccan equestrian art based on a warrior tradition.
The annual event aims to promote and publicise the values of African, Afro-Caribbean and Afro-American culture. This year's edition is dedicated to the intangible heritage of these regions.
FMA/ART/MRA/jmc
