When we think of heritage, old stones, objects and buildings first come to mind. However, French and world heritage is not reduced to its materiality, and also includes an immaterial and intangible dimension. Know-how, music and dances, festivals, rituals, traditional games and sports: there are a multitude of forms of intangible cultural heritage, also called “living heritage”.
UNESCO defines it in its convention, dated 2003: “ Cultural heritage does not stop at monuments and collections of objects. It includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and transmitted to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals and festive events, knowledge and know-how linked to nature or nature. ‘craftsmanship. »
So many practices which irrigate the French territory on a large scale, particularly in rural areas, and which the Ministry of Culture wished to reward this Monday, November 25, in the context of the “Culture and rurality” plan launched last January. This is the first time that such a national ceremony has been organized, in order to highlight the 27 elements having been included in 2023 and 2024 in the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (PCI).
The social and cultural practices of bistros and cafés
Among these are, for example, the Nantes carnival, the art of the postage stamp engraved in intaglio, the know-how linked to glovemaking in the Millau region, sailors’ songs, or even the gestures of work for picking lime trees in the Baronnies of Provence.
More unusual, social and cultural practices in bistros and cafes in France have also been included in the list of PCI of France in 2024. To the great pride of Alain Fontaine, chef of a Parisian bistro and president of the French Association of Master Restaurateurs (AFMR). “ In 1900, there were 500,000 bistros and cafes in France. Today, there are only 39,000 left. We all have a story with a bistro, it has to last”argues the man, certificate of inclusion in hand.
However, succeeding in joining this list was not an easy task: “ We’ve been working on the file for six years, we’ve been turned away twice. It was difficult to meet all the criteria, because it is a very dispersed heritage across the territory. », says the one who now intends to make this “ catalyst for French sociability » an element of UNESCO’s intangible world heritage.
Recognition and protection
Several criteria make it possible to integrate the national PCI inventory, launched in March 2006 and which already recognizes more than 546 cultural practices in France. “ We are attentive to respect for gender equality, to the inclusion of all practitioners, and, in recent years, to the ecological scope of the practice”explains Pascal Liévaux, head of the department of research, promotion and intangible cultural heritage at the Ministry of Culture.
Several of the elements included are, in fact, eco-responsible practices, such as traditional gravity irrigation by canals in France. “ The principle is to use gravity to bring water to the crops”presents Clara Ducroz, bearer of the file. “ These are positive techniques for biodiversity and groundwater, but nevertheless threatened by climate change and the transformation of societies”adds researcher Aurélie Condevaux, for whom this national certificate will constitute “ real support for the discourse of irrigators on the territories”.
Registration with the PCI is thus, above all, a question of recognition: “ We need PCI to help Braille gain light, to continue to honor blind people,” admits Bruno Gendron, president of the federation of blind and amblyopic people in France, proud of the inclusion of Braille in the PCI in 2023. An observation shared by Pascal Lévaux: “ Living heritage is part of our human wealth. We must be aware of it, protect it and celebrate it. »