New Edition of Popular Traditions Issued

Doha, August 21 (QNA) - The 81st issue of the 'Popular Traditions' magazine, issued by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, has appeared. The magazine, edited by Head of the Ministry's Heritage Department Hamad Al Muhanadi Director, has called in its editorial for the enactment of legislations and legal frameworks to safeguard the non-material cultural heritage of each Arab state, hoping that a unified Arab law would be enacted to preserve and protect the Arab heritage and to guarantees of economic and literary rights of heritage creators and performers in order to ensure the continuation and development of forms of the circulation of its elements, and contribute to sustainable development. The editorial, written by the magazine's editorial consultant Dr. Ahmed Ali Morsi, addressed the issue of intellectual property and popular traditions as a vital issue for the majority of nations and peoples that have the right to preserve their rights from illegal exploitation and acts of piracy which they may be exposed to. The issue also presents a special coverage of the challenges facing the protection of non-material heritage in the Arab world. In this respect, Dr. Hani Hayajneh, from Jordan, discussed in an article published as part of this coverage, a set of basic concepts in the field of application of the International Convention on Protection of NonMaterial Cultural Heritage (2003) at the national level after the majority of Arab world countries ratified it. In the same context comes a study by Dr. Samih al-Shaalan, from Egypt, which deals with the issue of popular traditions, through seeking the optimal method of field collection and documentation for the establishment of popular culture centers. The coverage also included events of a workshop specialized on the challenges of capacity building in the field of non-material heritage in Arab countries, which was the first international celebration marking the tenth anniversary of UNESCO's International Convention on Protection of NonMaterial Cultural Heritage. The workshop was organized by the Heritage Department at the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage in cooperation with the Arab League Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ALECSO) and UNESCO regional office in Doha, with the participation of eighteen countries. (QNA)