حصيلة تجارب المحافظة على التراث الثقافي اللامادي و تثمينه بموريتانيا

Abstract EN

This paper discusses the main measures taken throughout the past 46 years to preserve and develop intangible cultural heritage in Mauritania.

During this period, a legal and an institutional framework for the preservation of such heritage have been put in place.

This period has also been marked by the creation of several projects and programs funded by the state or its development partners in order to preserve aspects of this heritage.

Most of those projects have been proposed by Mauritanian experts and academicians before being adopted and implemented by the state.

In recent years, new roles of independent cultural associations and centers in the preservation of intangible cultural heritage have emerged.

Such roles vary based on the interests and fields of specializations of those associations and centers.

Lately we have also noticed a rise in awareness among fractions of the traditional society about the importance of compiling, transcribing, and publishing their oral traditions in an attempt to preserve those traditions from extinction after the death of the elderly.

In the Mauritanian experience, there was a complementarity between the efforts of the state and those of independent cultural associations and centers.

Yet, such experience, despite 4 decades of existence, failed to bring about a complete inventory of the intangible cultural heritage.

Such failure can be attributed to a lack of a strategic vision in addition to a severe lack in training in cultural heritage fields in general.