The term ‘intangible cultural heritage’ was new to me recently. It describes:-

Oral traditions and expressions: Includes language, stories, legends, proverbs, and songs passed on by word of mouth.



Performing arts: Covers music, dance, theater, and other forms of artistic expression.



Social practices, rituals, and festive events: Encompasses community habits, rites of passage, holiday celebrations, and religious or secular ceremonies.



Knowledge and practices concerning nature: Traditional ecological knowledge, herbal medicine, and practices related to the universe.



Traditional craftsmanship: The skills and techniques required to make traditional clothing, pottery, instruments, and other handmade objects.

These all seem entirely tangible to me.

The whole concept is a puzzle to me. Made all the more puzzling at a live music gig that I went to this weekend.

Held in an old chapel overlooking farmland and the River Tamar.

My attendance was entirely accidental, a spare ticket landed in my lap because of life/work exhaustion and toothache.

The gig was held in Calstock, a village oozing with cultural heritage, where even the shelter at the train station is beautiful.

Tangible or intangible there is a lot of cultural heritage in this one picture.

I realise this is just me pondering an idea and the use  of words but cultural heritage is not something whimsical or disposable.

I was in Calstock to hear Cara Dillon a contemporary folk singer from Ireland. By chance the man sitting next to me was of Irish heritage. He took pleasure in the performance in an entirely different way to me. He felt the music and inhabited it. There was so much joy in him, generated entirely by his innate and experienced cultural heritage. Vibrating through him when both he and the singer were so far from home.

https://share.google/hnLDZLhl8Dw06uk74

It is funny the things that bother me overnight. Calstock is a village where I have participated in so many varied experiences that are certainly worthy of the title ‘Cultural Heritage’ I am enriched by experiencing  the things that have enhanced the lives of other humans throughout history. 5 years ago, 50 years ago or 500 years ago. All worth preserving I feel.  Overnight pondering took me down the internet rabbit hole. Luckily I landed on another WordPress Blog. Far more erudite and knowledgeable than my ponderings, I will share it below.

If the UK is proud of its tangible cultural heritage, why not so when it comes to intangible heritage?  

The word ‘intangible’ really doesn’t touch the importance of such things!