ICH-ISRAEL, Intangible Cultural Heritage of Israel Center, is a non-profit association founded by israelis volunteers to highlight the importance of preserving Israel's intangible cultural heritage, ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages and the awareness of their significance, to list and promote safeguarding projects, to promote events and festivals, cultural diversity, creative expression and to implement courses for the transmission of knowledges, arts and traditions. 

 

The organization operates independently and outside any political context, its main objective being the development of the Israeli cultural domain. 

 

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) includes practices, representations, expressions, knowledges, and skills, as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts, and cultural spaces that are considered to be part of a place's cultural heritage.

 

To be part of the Intangible cultural heritage of Israel, the communities, groups and individuals have to recognize as part of their heritage elements manifested in the following domains:

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• Oral traditions and expressions, including language 

• Performing arts

• Social practices, rituals and festive events

• Knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe

• Traditional craftsmanship

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Objectives

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• Safeguard the intangible cultural heritage of Israel

• Promote the intangible cultural heritage of the different communities, groups and individuals of Israel

• Raise awareness of the importance of the intangible cultural heritage of Israel

• Research, identify, list and classify elements of the intangible cultural heritage of Israel

• Support the transmission of skills and knowlegde of the intangible cultural heritage of Israel

• Promote existing traditional events and folklore festivals in Israel 

• Develop graduate courses and workshops related to the Israeli intangible cultural heritage 

• Support new projects and enterpreneurship in the field of intangible cultural heritage

• Bring together stakeholders of intangible cultural heritage of Israel during an annual festival

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The intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, has been constantly recreated by the different communities in their environment and their particular history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity. 

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Intangible Cultural Heritage of Israel

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The elements of Israel's intangible cultural heritage are of great value as national living treasures. Oral traditions, poetry, storytelling, literature, languages such as Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, Amharic and much more, Israeli folk dance, folk music and theater, religious traditions, festivals, traditional craftsmanship and the wonderful natural environment, are priceless treasures of Israel and humanity.