Three more UAE intangibles for the UNESCO list

8 December 2022 Culture

UNESCO’s ever-expanding ‘Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity’ has acquired three new entries from the UAE at its last meeting, in Rabat at the end of November.

  • Al Talli (above) – the art of embroidering women’s clothes using brightly coloured threads neatly knitted into the sleeves and other areas. Around 4,000 women from different tribes in the UAE currently practice the craft. Also called Talli Bawadil, Talli Batool or Sein, it’s been added to the list for the UAE alone.
  • Al Heda’a – the tradition of using oral sounds, gestures and instruments while herding camels. Al Heda’a was nominated jointly by the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
  • The Date Palm – widespread in the Arab region, date palms have for centuries provided communities with materials and inspiration for various crafts, social customs and cultural practices. At that same time date palms have been significant sources of nutrition and have engendered a number of skilled professions. The Date Palm file was nominated by the UAE with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Sudan, Tunisia and Yemen.

Noura Al Kaabi, UAE Minister of Culture, said she was very proud of the additions to the intangible cultural heritage list. “They showcase our genuine Emirati heritage passed down from centuries and also illustrate the elements of our shared Arab heritage that we share with countries across the region.”

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