The ancient tradition associated with building timber rafts and floating them on rivers made it to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It has been at UNESCO since Thursday, December 1. The nomination was approved by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage at its 17th meeting in Morocco.
Timber rafting got into UNESCO on the basis of a supranational nomination. Under the name "Timber rafting", it was jointly prepared by six European countries: the Czech Republic, Latvia, Germany, Poland, Austria, Spain, the processing was coordinated by the Polish side. In the Czech Republic, Vltavan Čechy participated in the preparation of the nomination – the Vltavan Association which brings together timber rafting associations on the Vltava River, the National Institute of Folk Culture, the Ministry of Culture and others.
"Czechia now has eight items on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list, for a total of 31 entries in UNESCO. This ranks us, per km2/inhabitant, among the most interesting countries in terms of travel," says Jan Herget, Director of the Czech Tourism Authority – CzechTourism and adds: "Besides timber rafting registered today, is in UNESCO also the handmade production of beaded Christmas decorations entered in 2020, as well blueprint production, puppetry, falconry, rides of the kings in Slovácko, carnival routes and masks in Hlinecko, and Slovácko´s verbuňk.”
Timber rafting represents the traditional knowledge and skills associated with building timber rafts and navigating them on rivers. Although timber navigation as a commercial transport has disappeared due to the dams´ construction, the traditions associated with it are still alive and passed on younger generations. It is not only about the craftsmanship involved in building a timber raft, but also about the knowledge associated with its navigation on the river, and last but not least, about a specific culture associated with this tradition, peculiar customs and timber rafters' verbal art imprinted in boating songs and boating slang.
"Czechia now has eight items on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list, for a total of 31 entries in UNESCO. This ranks us, per km2/inhabitant, among the most interesting countries in terms of travel," says Jan Herget, Director of the Czech Tourism Authority – CzechTourism and adds: "Besides timber rafting registered today, is in UNESCO also the handmade production of beaded Christmas decorations entered in 2020, as well blueprint production, puppetry, falconry, rides of the kings in Slovácko, carnival routes and masks in Hlinecko, and Slovácko´s verbuňk.”
Timber rafting represents the traditional knowledge and skills associated with building timber rafts and navigating them on rivers. Although timber navigation as a commercial transport has disappeared due to the dams´ construction, the traditions associated with it are still alive and passed on younger generations. It is not only about the craftsmanship involved in building a timber raft, but also about the knowledge associated with its navigation on the river, and last but not least, about a specific culture associated with this tradition, peculiar customs and timber rafters' verbal art imprinted in boating songs and boating slang.