George Town: The only Asian city picked as Unesco pilot project site

GEORGE TOWN (October 1): United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) has selected George Town to participate in two heritage pilot projects, one on intangible cultural heritage and another to create an action plan for industries within heritage sites.

The Malay Mail reports that Unesco Jakarta Cultural Unit Head Moe Chiba said the UN agency is rolling out the two projects soon. The Penang city was the sole South-East Asian city to be chosen. 

“The other two cities we chose are in Africa and Latin America,” she was quoted as saying by the daily, in a press conference after the official opening of an International Conference on Managing Urban Cultural Heritage 2018.

“We want these projects to succeed, that’s why we chose George Town,” she said, having noted that George Town was known for its efficiency in such projects. 

The first pilot project will be to draw up an inventory on intangible cultural heritage in heritage cities.

“The project will approach the local community to do an inventory of the intangible cultural heritage in the city, it will be a community-led project.

“It will utilise the local communities so that they can tell their own stories and focus on what the local people consider as important,” she said.

The second project involves looking at how to develop local industries in world heritage sites.

“We are starting this project that seeks to bring in all these related parties, museums, creative centres, local artisans, heritage practitioners and site managers together to develop an action plan for a better livelihood in heritage cities,” she was quoted as saying.

This community-driven project will mobilise stakeholders, museums and communities to take part.

“What we want is some coherence between the industries within the heritage zone, because we noticed in some sites, not necessarily in George Town, where the local industries and artisans do not cooperate with the site managers,” she said.

She cited instances of souvenir shops selling cheap toys and souvenirs, items unrelated to the heritage site.

“We need to work out an action plan that will benefit the local livelihood of the industries within the heritage zone and still be in line with the heritage guidelines and requirements,” she said.

The two projects are expected to commence in 2019.