Intangible Cultural Heritage in Hungary

Hungary’s accession to the Convention

The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 2003. In the spring of 2004, the Convention was sent out to all the member states by the Director General of UNESCO for ratification. The preparations for accession in Hungary were assigned by competence to the Department of Community Culture within the Ministry of Culture.

Apart from the necessary steps of state administration, a broad public reconciliation was executed with a group of experts including anthropologists, ethnographers, and representatives of cultural and civilian bodies about the interpretation of the Convention’s professional content, its adaptation to Hungary and the scope of state duties following its ratification.

With the approval of different state administrative bodies, the proposal of accession to the Convention jointly presented by the Ministries of Culture, Justice and Foreign Affairs was finally discussed and adopted by the Hungarian Parliament on the 6 February, 2006.

Hungary passed Act 2006 XXXVIII ratifying the Convention and thus became the 39th country to accede. At the General Assembly of the States Parties to the Convention in 2006, Hungary was elected to be a member of the Intergovernmental Committee for four years and in 2014 was reelected as a member untill 2018.

Since April 1 2009, the institution charged with the coordination of the implementation of the Convention on the national level is the Hungarian Open Air Museum, where the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage was established as a separate organisational unit.