On December 13, 2019, a news came from the French capital - city where the UNESCO headquarters are located -: the request of the Thai government for Thai massage to enter the lists of intangible cultural heritage of humanity, it had been happily approved by the committee countries. Thus, Nuad Thai has become the first massage modality to achieve this recognition. This news, which was quickly on the lips of all the media and platforms, is really important for us and that is why, from Thai Spa Massage we want to explain the long process that the petition has to go through from start to finish and the importance of its approval. has for Thailand, our cultural wealth and the transmission of knowledge of Nuad Boran.
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PASSEIG DE GRÀCIA DIAGONAL
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Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
The "Nuad Thai" is, since 2019, the only massage discipline that has obtained the title of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. But how did you do it? We are truly proud that such an important aspect of our heritage is recognized by UNESCO. Join us to discover why this recognition has been earned!
Angkor Wat and Reflecting Pool at sunset, Siem Reap, Cambodia
The Great Pyramid of Egypt, the hanging gardens of Babylon, the temple of Angkor Wat and the statue of Zeus in Olympia demonstrate the need that human beings have always had to exalt their creations by categorizing them in lists by the majesty of their creation. It all started with seven wonders, seven places - most of them impossible to visit today - that originally demonstrated the genius of engineering in a Hellenocentric world. Over the years, this list and its millions of variables evolved into many others: from the seven wonders selected and painted by Maerten van Heemskrerck in the 16th century, commonly known as the seven wonders of the Ancient World, through the seven wonders of the Modern World. , to the UNESCO list with all that human creation - or natural formation - that demonstrates its value through the centuries and its enrichment to the culture of our species.
That is why this recognition is so important to Thai society. Obtaining such a title offered by the UNESCO committee has become exceptionally coveted.
Why consider certain places or knowledge, Heritage of Humanity?
Terracotta Warriors by Qin Shi Huang
Unfortunately, it is common for modern engineering works to end up taking away some piece of heritage that our ancestors left on the face of the earth. Nor is it exceptional that in order to erect something - a building, the infrastructure of the subway, or change the plumbing system of a city - something totally extraordinary is discovered. It happened in 1974, near the Chinese city of Xi’an. Some simple works that were going to help with the water supply of that city, unearthed an entire army of warriors made of reddish earth. More than 8000 pieces, no more, no less, barely a kilometer and a half away from the tomb of the first Qin emperor, Qin Shi Huang. This discovery, although totally accidental, gave visibility to a part of history that was not known, and the works, out of respect for the discovery, were totally paralyzed. Today, the Terracotta Warriors - that's what they called them - can be seen in the well-known Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum.
But unfortunately, there is heritage that does not suffer the same fate, and there are parts of history that are deliberately destroyed, with the simple pretext, for example, of expanding a population urbanistically. In Spain, we have many examples that would make any culture lover sad. From a similar tyranny, the germ of what is known as the Cultural Heritage of Humanity award arose and that later would expand its borders of protection to include the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. But what happened to begin to give recognition to so many centuries of history?
Egypt, in the 1950s, began with the planning of what would be the mega-construction of the Aswan dam, across the Nile River. This dam would have a very important role in agricultural and industrial development in a country as arid as it is. Egypt. The only problem with the construction of this great dam in the country of the pharaohs, were the pharaohs themselves. These large-scale engineering works would sacrifice temples such as Abu Simbel or File, being totally submerged under water, as if it were Atlantis. At that time, the International Community, put its hands to the head and up to 50 countries started a collection of money to be able to take the heritage to the mainland. In total, they raised a total of 80 million dollars and over time, Egypt thanked all the countries that participated in this collection with a little piece of their history. Spain, for example, was presented with the Temple of Debod, which can be visited in Madrid to this day.
The great organizational capacity that countries had had, then put on the table the idea of being able to create something that would serve as protection of all historical and natural heritage to prevent all the extraordinary pieces that had managed to survive to this day, from being destroyed. . After a lot of diplomatic work and years of conversations, UNESCO, through the Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, specified the conditions to which the participating countries would be welcomed and five years later 34 countries from all over the world were annexed. world.
How do you get on the UNESCO lists?
As in almost all organizations of this type, the key to achieving this is bureaucracy. The countries themselves have to make an inventory of susceptible assets to obtain the title and, from there, the officials get down to work to draw up the file that contains all the details that have been and are pending, with written documentation and graphic on the object in question. After this, a group of international members sent from UNESCO itself visit the place to verify that the information that has been provided to them is true. The mission of this team of verifiers is, in addition, to prepare a small evaluation that is delivered on the candidate site. From there, power is held by the World Heritage Committee. This group, made up of 21 representative countries, meets once a year, in which, in addition to many other questions, it is decided which assets are inscribed on these lists.
The conditions that must be met in order to achieve the much desired title are 10 for monuments, among which are:
- Represent the genius of the human being as its creator.
- Attest that it has been the result of the exchange of values and knowledge over a period of time.
- Be a unique and / or exceptional testimony of a culture or civilization.
- Being associated with events or living traditions, with ideas, beliefs or artistic and literary works that have exceptional meaning.
Nuad Thai, intangible heritage of humanity
However, the human being is more than everything that he builds, at least physically. The mixture of civilizations, thousands of years of commercial relations and the symbiosis between people, religious beliefs and history itself, have left a heritage as rich as it is exceptional. And we don't just talk about large-scale cultural events, how flamenco can be in Spain.
And it is that, however simple any ritual may seem, it is always a representation of the history of a population, and it must be protected. Unlike a stoic building, which can stand upright without much conservation work on our part, intangible heritage requires more sophisticated protection mechanisms.
And there are still languages, popular festivals, traditions and rituals that year after year, continue to fall into disuse. How do we find a solution? On the occasion of the 32nd session of the General Conference of UNESCO in October 2003, the organization focused on that same debate, that of saving history and traditions. That autumn afternoon, among all the countries present at the meeting, the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity was approved, which did not enter into force until 3 years later, on April 20, 2006. According to the page UNESCO website, its objectives are the following:
1. "Safeguarding the intangible cultural heritage." 2. "Respect for the intangible cultural heritage of communities, groups and individuals." 3. "Raising awareness at the local, national and international level of intangible cultural heritage." 4. "Reciprocal recognition of intangible cultural heritage between countries and international cooperation and assistance."
As we have already told in previous posts, the almost complete knowledge of Nuad Thai is inherited from generation to generation. The world, however, has changed enormously and Asian societies are gradually losing their oriental uniqueness. The westernization and modernization of the new generations, as well as the gentrification of rural areas have made Thai traditions - usually even the smallest town in Thailand had a masseur who helped treat the ills of the townspeople - dissolve between smartphones and western avant-garde.
Did you know what?
Thai massage is not the first discipline recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. A year earlier, the Thai mask theater - Khon - was admitted to the lists and was crowned as the first cultural asset in the country with this recognition. Khon is a performing art that combines a variety of disciplines, from music, dance and ritual elements. Thailand, to preserve this magnificent asset, encourages youth to study it through clubs that aim to generate interest and a basic knowledge that serves as the germ of the passion for Khon of some young person or another, guaranteeing its prevalence.
The situation of Nuad Thai in the last decade, and the lack of concern of the new generations for this art and millenary tradition, led the Thai government to embark on the great bureaucratic journey of UNESCO to ensure a future for Thai massage and a certain degree of protection. , both nationally and internationally. This safe space intends to guarantee the continuous development of knowledge with the collaboration of study plans for foreign and international practitioners and the necessary research to restore practices that have been lost through so many years.
That this recognition has been granted to our discipline is a source of pride. The great protection that Nuad Thai has thanks to the measures taken by and for the appointment, make sure that the knowledge that we put into practice in our Spa, is not going to be lost, that the resources available to professionals and students they do not stop being produced and above all, it assures us that you, as a customer, can enjoy the original Nuad Boran whenever you need it, from the hands of the people best prepared to put it into practice.
If you have never enjoyed Thai massage, we invite you to visit our little piece of Thailand in Barcelona, in any of the two Thai Massage Centers that we have: In Passeig de Gracia number 100, or inside alura, in C / Joan Güell 236. All our therapists are of Thai origin and with great experience in Nuad Thai massage or Traditional Thai Massage. Discover with all your senses the benefits of this Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, without having to travel to Thailand.
