L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 26, 2018 www.italoamericano.org L'Italo-Americano 2 O ur intangible cultural heritage encompasses all the knowledge and know how typical of an area, as well as its social practices and characteristics, the specific skills of its people, common instruments, distinctive artifacts, everyday objects and collective spaces that a community recognizes as integrant and emblematic part of its own essence. Intangible cultural heritage is knowledge, wisdom, peculiar practices, it is something passed on from a generation to the other and recreated by the community as an answer to its environment and a form of interaction with nature, landscape and local history. Intangible cultural heritage means identity and continuity are guaranteed, never mind how: it can be through traditions and oral forms of expression, such as languages or stage arts, through habits and social events, knowledge, skills and local craftsmanship. The point is that, in it, we recognize ourselves, and become aware that the very roots of our knowledge and history aren't lost in the mist of time, but to be sought in practice, diffusion and sharing. What about us, what do we consider intangible heritage, especially when thinking about the culture, traditions, habits of the community we belong to? Of course, there is no need for it to be UNESCO recognized and certified, but it is true there are things that characterize us and the place we come from, knowledge and skills we consider fundamental for our way of life. And we don't only and simply speak about centuries old rituals and folklore we carry around with us like prayers, or feasts and traditions that remind us, year after year, who we truly are and where we come from, we speak about things sometimes so mundane they may even seem banal. They are so much part of our way of life we consider them natural, usual, habitual, that is, normal. Let's make some concrete example, just to be clear: what do you think caffé, gelato, spaghetti and pizza are to an Italian?Aren't they the most common of things, popular, usual, so typical to define us even abroad? They aren't stereotypes nor simple culinary habits, they are something we are used to preparing and consuming since the Cultural heritage? You'll find it also in an ice-cream or a coffee From the director earliest of times, something everyone can make or choose, whose recipes aren't simple rules to follow, but the result of a meeting between history, professionalism and crafts, they are flavors that tells more than they way they taste. They fact they are all associated to specific social moments of sharing means they truly are a huge part of our existence. On one hand, they mirror cultural diversity as it appears in front of globalization. On the other, they are representation and guarantor of all the wisdom and knowledge of a people. The Mediterranean Diet, which became part of UNESCO Intangible World Heritage in 2013 is an excellent example of what we mean. It isn't a simple food pyramid, but an ensemble of competences, knowledge, rituals symbols and traditions related to the agriculture, harvesting, fishing, farming, preserving, cooking and, crucially, sharing and consuming of food. Eating together characterizes it and, as an act, it's at the heart of the cultural identity of all the communities that share values such as hospitality, dialogue, neighborhood and exchange. The art of Neapolitan Pizzaioli, which became part of the UNESCO Heritage List last year, teaches us the same thing, because behind a pizza there isn't simply a craft, but a whole way of socializing and being together that tell us about a way of being common not only in Naples, but all over the country. Because if it's true the Opera dei Pupi, with its amazing collection of oral history and legends, the Canto a Tenore of Sardinia, whose harmonious polyphony brings us into the island's thousand-year old pastoral culture, the violin making art of Cremona, which allows craftsmen to make perfect and unique musical instruments out of 70 simple pieces of wood, if all of them are a recognized intangible patrimony, it's also true that there's much more that could be considered so. The collective ritual of our caffé in the morning, without which Italians couldn't start their day, that of going for a pizza as a way to spend time with friends and family, choosing spaghetti (or any other type of pasta) to cook a quick meal, or the simple pleasure of gelato, which is not good for kids only, but also a way to stay together, to enjoy life and spend time nicely. I wonder how many times we stirred sugar in our coffee, or filled up a gelato cone or bowl without understanding how these simple gestures make us part of a way of being that is, first and foremost, a typically Italian treasure! Simone Schiavinato, Director NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS

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