Rabat: Inscription of šljivovica on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

01. Dec 2022.
At the 17th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Preservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage which is being held in Rabat, Morocco from 28 November to 3 December, a decision was made today to inscribe the nomination of the Republic of Serbia’s „Social practices and knowledge related to the preparation and use of the traditional plum spirit - šljivovica“ on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The session in Morocco was also attended by the delegation of the Republic of Serbia, led by the permanent representative of the Republic of Serbia to UNESCO Tamara Rastovac Siamashvili, including Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia in Rabat Ivan Bauer and representatives of the Ministry of Culture and the Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage of Serbia, as part of the Ethnographic museum in Belgrade.

After the adoption of the decision of the Intergovernmental Committee, Ambassador Tamara Rastovac Siamashvili expressed her gratitude on behalf of the Republic of Serbia for the inscription of šljivovica on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and pointed out that it would further strengthen the protection and preservation of this element at the local and national levels and contribute to greater international visibility of intangible cultural heritage of Serbia.

In addition to šljivovica, four other elements from the Republic of Serbia have been inscribed on this List so far: Slava, Kolo, Singing to the accompaniment of the Gusle and Zlakusa pottery making, by which these segments of the cultural heritage of Serbia are acknowledged and recognised on the international level as well.