The know-how related to the perfume of Grasse was inscribed this Wednesday on the list of the intangible cultural heritage of Humanity by a specialized committee of Unesco meeting in Port-Louis, capital of Mauritius.
Each year, the Unesco Committee meets to evaluate nominations and decide whether or not to include the intangible cultural practices and expressions of intangible heritage proposed by the States Parties to the 2003 Convention.
This Wednesday, November 28, a specialized committee of Unesco meeting in Port-Louis, capital of Mauritius, decided to register the know-how related to the perfume of Grasse in the Alpes-Maritimes. This know-how covers three different aspects, explains Unesco in a statement: "the culture of the perfume plant, the knowledge of the raw materials and their transformation and the art of composing the perfume" .
The city of Grasse, cradle of the world perfume, relied on this inscription to better protect its fields of tuberose or jasmine. For 70 years, they have been undermined by land pressure, the rise of synthetic products and competition from other producing centers.
The UNESCO label should promote the possibility of blocking land for young farmers and encouraging perfumery companies to sign long-term contracts to guarantee that horticulturalists can live off their crops.
Forty applications
The Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity, which sits since November 26 and until December 1, examines Wednesday 40 applications for inscription on this heterogeneous list of traditions and know-how, now over 400 elements (songs, dances, gastronomic specialties or celebrations). In the cuvée 2018, we find for example the popular and old festivals of las Parrandas, in Cuba or the Lum medicinal baths practiced by the Tibetans.
The committee is to continue Thursday to nominate winners. The Jamaican reggae is among the candidates.In Port Louis, the committee, composed of representatives of 24 States Parties to the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, also examined cultural heritage. immaterial risk of disappearing. Seven nominations have been selected, including the art of Syrian shadow theater or the know-how of water meters in the Algerian Sahara.