TEHRAN – Three traditional dances each being practiced in a certain Iranian province have been registered in the national list for intangible cultural heritage.

The newly-registered elements include a folk dance performed in West Azarbaijan province, a “wooden horse dancing” performed at weddings in Hosseinabad village of Isfahan province, as well as a special dance with wood sticks that is popular in Semnan province, ISNA reported on Wednesday.

Some 2,000 elements are currently been registered on Iran’s national list of intangible cultural heritage, tourism minister Ezzatollah Zarghami says.

“So far, about two thousand intangible cultural elements have been registered in the country,” the minister said on March 4.

“Intangible cultural heritage such as culture, religion, and rituals are of very high importance as they shape the identity of any nation,” Zarghami said.

In addition, 17 Iranian elements have been registered in UNESCO’s list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Among Iran’s entries to the prestigious list is Radif of Iranian music; traditional skills of carpet weaving in Kashan; Music of the Bakhshis of Khorasan; Naqqali, Iranian dramatic story-telling; traditional skills of building and sailing Iranian Lenj boats in the Persian Gulf; and traditional skills of crafting and playing Dotar.

Furthermore, Iran seeks to register five intangible elements on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in near future.  They are ancient festivities of Mehregan and Yalda,  crafting and playing [the stringed instrument of] the Oud, traditional craft of silk spinning, and Turkmen Duzi (a kind of traditional textile being practiced by Iranian Turkman tribes).

AFM