Creative Scotland - Intangible Cultural Heritage Position Statement

This policy statement sets out a definition of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and what ICH means within the context of Creative Scotland’s role. It will help us as we work with our partners to identify and safeguard ICH practices across the country.

Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Defining ICH
  3. The value of ICH
  4. ICH and Creative Scotland
  5. Intangible Cultural Heritage Scotland Partnership
  6. Looking forward

Introduction

Creative Scotland is the public body that supports the arts, screen and creative industries across all parts of Scotland on behalf of everyone who lives, works or visits here. 

We enable people and organisations to work in and experience the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland by helping others to develop great ideas and bring them to life. 

We distribute funding from the Scottish Government and The National Lottery.

The arts, screen and creative industries cover a huge number of areas of practice and subjects. This includes elements of cultural heritage, practices which have been passed down from generation to generation within communities, that are still part of Scotland’s heritage and vibrant culture today. These practices can come from communities who have lived in Scotland for centuries, as well as those who have chosen to call Scotland home more recently. 

Another term for these practices is Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH).  

Whilst museums and heritage sites may hold objects and buildings relating to the past, intangible cultural heritage is the things that people do, the music they make and the traditions they practice, which are alive today but have their roots in the past.  

ICH is recognised globally by UNESCO through its International Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage, adopted in October 2003. This was ratified by the UK Government in March 2024.  

This policy statement sets out a definition of ICH and what ICH means within the context of Creative Scotland’s role. It will help us as we work with our partners to identify and safeguard ICH practices across the country.   

Defining ICH 

ICH refers to heritage that isn't buildings or objects, but instead lives in traditions and practices passed down through communities. Some examples of this would be the Common Ridings in Scottish Border towns, ceilidh dancing, or traditional music and storytelling across Scotland. Article 2 of the UNESCO Convention sets out a definition of ICH as follows: 

 “…the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity.” (UNESCO definition)” 

Article 2 goes on to set out the five domains in which ICH manifests, as follows: 

  1. Oral traditions and expressions; including local languages as the mode of expression 

  1. Performing Arts 

  1. Social practices, rituals and customs 

  1. Knowledge and practices relating to nature or the universe 

  1. Traditional Craftsmanship 

Other language is sometimes used in the place of ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage/ ICH’ such as “living traditions/heritage/culture/folklore”, “public folklore”, or “ethnology”, and it is closely related to and intertwined with folk arts and traditional arts. 

In a further piece of guidance around ICH, UNESCO adds that ICH is: 

“Representative: intangible cultural heritage is not only appreciated as cultural property, for comparison, for its exclusive character or its exceptional value. It develops from its roots in communities and depends on those whose knowledge of traditions, know-how and customs is transmitted to the rest of the community, from generation to generation, or to other communities. 

Community-based: intangible cultural heritage can only be heritage when it is recognized as such by the communities, groups and individuals who create, maintain and transmit it; without their opinion, no one can decide for them whether a given expression or practice is part of their heritage.  

Inclusive: expressions of our intangible cultural heritage may be similar to those practiced by others. Whether they come from the neighbouring village, from a city on the other side of the world or whether they were adapted by people who emigrated and settled in another region, they are all part of the intangible cultural heritage in this sense that they have been passed down from generation to generation, that they have evolved in response to their environment and that they help to provide us with a sense of identity and continuity, establishing a link between our past and, through the present, our future. Intangible cultural heritage does not raise the question of the specificity or non-specificity of certain practices in relation to a culture. It contributes to social cohesion, stimulating a sense of identity and responsibility that helps individuals feel part of one or more communities and wider society.” 

It should be emphasised that ICH encompasses traditional and contemporary, living and forgotten, and rural and urban cultural practices of diverse cultural groups. 

For more information on ICH see the Wee Guide to Intangible Cultural Heritage by Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland (TRACS).  

The value of ICH 

ICH has a key role to play in preserving a community’s identity, from a local, focussed practice to a practice adopted by a whole nation. Acknowledging, understanding, respecting and celebrating ICH can empower communities and develop community cohesion. Celebrating local ICH can highlight the distinctiveness and diversity of a community. Understanding ICH can help communities recognise, embrace and share their identity, as well as recognise both common ground and differences with others. Whilst it may be tempting to simply identify ICH as national customs, it is important to emphasise that ICH can come from any community within a nation, whether they’re indigenous or migrant. All practices are valid under the definition of the Convention. In fact, by including practices from all communities, we create a richer mix of culture across the nation.   

As set out in the section above, it is important to remember that ICH is about representing communities. Creative Scotland recognises that ICH is cultural traditions passed down through generations and within communities, like music, recipes, traditions or storytelling. These are things that communities themselves cherish, not something imposed by an institution or public body, although related objects and artefacts may be preserved in museums and other cultural institutions.   

ICH and Creative Scotland 

Creative Scotland is committed to supporting traditional arts and culture by fostering development and creativity, including ICH. ICH practices and assets span a number of areas, not all of which are Creative Scotland’s responsibility. This section outlines where ICH sits within Creative Scotland and at a national level. 

Creative Scotland supports work that embeds ICH into a creative project or development, primarily through funding for individuals, organisations and communities. However, it does not fund projects that only document or copy ICH. Creative Scotland supports ICH that is indigenous of any culture or community, provided the practitioner(s) or project is based in Scotland. 

Of the five domains, “Performing arts” sits clearly within Creative Scotland's remit, but each of the five domains can link with Creative Scotland’s work.  All elements of ICH are closely linked and consideration of each informs the ability to practise and safeguard the others. 

Creative Scotland seeks to support those areas of ICH which come under its remit to support the arts, screen and creative industries in Scotland. Responsibility for ICH sits with our Place, Partnerships and Communities team where there are dedicated officers for Traditional Arts and Gaelic Arts. However, ICH is also visible and a part of all artforms and specialisms, for example, literature, music and screen. It is important to note that we recognise that ICH practices in Scotland are not always related to traditional Scottish heritage and culture, but can come from any community in Scotland, wherever their origin.    

ICH is closely linked with Scotland’s indigenous languages, Gaelic and Scots. Creative Scotland has policies for both Gaelic and Scots Language (Plana Gàidhlig and Scots Leid Policie), and has specific statutory duties regarding Gaelic, set out in legislation and policies from the Scottish Government.  

Intangible Cultural Heritage Scotland Partnership 

Responsibility for supporting ICH in Scotland sits across a number of organisations, including public bodies, heritage, environment, and cultural organisations. They form the ICH Scotland Partnership whose members are Historic Environment Scotland, Museums Galleries Scotland, Creative Scotland, NatureScot and TRACS. Together, they aim to share knowledge and expertise and identify and address gaps in the support of ICH in Scotland.  

The partnership was initially established to commission research to map ICH assets across Scotland and created a report, published in 2021:  Mapping Intangible Cultural Heritage Assets and Collections in Scotland. 

The report found that whilst Scotland has shown leadership and innovation in areas such as ICH inventory work, that there was a need for more partnership working across the national organisations and need for further resource. The report has fifteen recommendations and identified that “Knowledge and practices relating to nature or the universe” and “Traditional Craftsmanship” as domains that were under particular threat in Scotland. 

Historic Environment Scotland also identified the following threats to ICH in their policy document: 

  • Negative attitudes, cultural hostility or intolerance 

  • Decontextualisation 

  • Weakened practice and transmission 

  • Cultural globalisation and cultural appropriation 

  • Loss of objects or systems 

  • Economic or climactic pressures 

The Partnership also ran the first conference on ICH in Scotland in 2023. A report of the conference can be found here: ICH Conference at Birnam 2023.

Looking Forward 

Creative Scotland will continue to work in partnership with the ICH Scotland Partnership, and with organisations and individuals across Scotland and internationally to support the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. ICH will be embedded in Creative Scotland’s work and Creative Scotland will support the arts, screen and creative industries to identify and safeguard ICH in Scotland.