The interactions between intangible cultural heritage and human rights

In this chapter we observe that if there is an explicit intimacy between human rights and the intangible cultural heritage safeguarding system, it seems that on the implementation level the two worlds still remain largely separated. Indeed, the questionnaires revealed no occurrence of direct interactions between intangible cultural heritage and human rights. Nevertheless, our analysis based on indirect interactions (that is, the instances involving human rights in relation to cultural elements similar to intangible cultural heritage), underlined a conflictual reality surrounding the safeguarding of this heritage that should not be overlooked. On the one hand, this chapter discusses cases where human rights were used to advance the claim of heritage holders to protect elements that are at odds with the national or official culture. On the other hand, instances where a traditional practice is seen as conflicting with another fundamental right are highlighted.