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www.yementimes.com TThe United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO) has officially announced the popular Sana’a mode of singing to be part of the world’s human verbal non-material heritage, Saba News Agency reported.
According to SNA, Koichiro Matsuury, UNESCO Director-General, said the announcement is a part of the UNESCO interests in preserving the intangible heritage throughout the world amidst growing threat from the modern lifestyle and globalization.
SNA quoted Dr. Mohammed Abdul-Bari Al-Qadasi, Secretary General of the National UNESCO Committee, as saying the announcement, which was upon request by Yemen’s representative at the UNESCO, aims at crystallizing a long-term strategy for preserving Sana’a song heritage including audios, and videos. This strategy includes documentation of Sana’a songs in national registers and training staff in performing the preservation duties.
Al-Qadasi pointed out that the Japanese government, within its 2006-2007 cooperation program with the UNESCO, approved a plan targeting the Sana’a songs. The plan aims to disseminate knowledge about Sana’a songs and the way they are performed and sung.
The project is expected to further promote this type of songs and the instruments used in performing them such as ‘oud, brass plate and qanbous.
The project will be implemented under the supervision of the Cairo-based UNESCO regional office in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National UNESCO Committee, French Institute for Archeology and Social Sciences, Sana’a University, Capital Secretariat and the Yemen Musical Heritage Center. The project will be run by the Social Fund for Development.
It is noteworthy that the mode of singing found in Sana’a is extremely unique and melodious. Being the metropolis of Yemen, Sana’a ha been proverbial for its arts and attractive features. The Sana’a song is popular nationwide. Many local singers from different provinces performed Sana’ani songs. Some of them rose to fame because of their magnificence in performing such songs.
The Sana’ani mode of sung lyrics have been exquisitely rendered by many leading Yemeni and Arab singers such as Mohammed Jum’ah Khan, Ali bin Ali Al-Anisi, Ali Al-Simah, Mohammed Hamoud Al-Harithi, Ayoub Tarish Absi, and many others.
Sana’a singing is classified to be among the masterpieces of world’s verbal heritage because of its unique aesthetic and technical characteristics such as the harmony among the lyrics and melody. This fact has attracted the attention of many people not only in Yemen but also in the Arab area. Listening to Sana’ani songs, many foreigners fall in love with them. An outstanding example is Dr. Jean Lambert, director of the French Institute for Archeology and Social Sciences (CEFAS), who excellently performs Sana’ani songs and dexterously handles ‘oud. He has performed at many concerts and expressed his infatuation with this type of art.
The recent UNESCO recognition of this classical singing is believed to give an impetus to preserve it and promote it in other countries of the world. It also reflects Yemen’s significant contribution to the world’s non-material heritage.
The UNESCO had a non-material cultural heritage preservation treaty ratified at its October 2003 conference by some 30 countries and will come into effect on April 20, 2006. Yemen is expected to ratify it soon. The Treaty intends to preserve the verbal traditions, social practices and festive rituals as well as traditional knowledge about nature and the cosmos and the skills related to traditional handicrafts.
The treaty provides for the set up of two lists, one for non-material human cultural heritage and another for non-material heritage that requires urgent renovation. It also provides for the construction of a fund to conserve such heritage by means of the contributions of signatories and other sources. |
