Blurb:

This chapter examines the process of creating and implementing policies for the protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Falling back on the case of Poland, it discusses the genealogy of particular governmental institutions (Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, National Heritage Institute) charged with the protection of ICH, pointing to the gradual changes in the nomenclature as the aftermath of the 2003 UNESCO Convention. After dawdling beginnings (Poland signed the Convention in 2011, eight years after its proclamation), the process of implementing ICH has accelerated and livened up in the recent years. The evidence comes with the many events of the Year of Oskar Kolberg (2014) and the first cultural elements inscribed into the national list of ICH, including the first musical cultural element, i.e., the bagpipes tradition from southern Poland (2015).
However, the chapter also analyses the advantages and possible dangers of creating the lists of intangible cultural properties as well as problems in forming appropriate criteria for recognizing the enlisted items. The instance of uprooted Polish communities poses particular problems in defining ICH, and the development of cultural tourism raises justified concerns. The current situation of the ICH in Poland is compared to the models developed in Asia (Japan, Korea) and Eastern Europe.