We recently wrote about the Eco-museum Batana in Rovinj, a project dedicated to preserving traditional fishing batana boats as valuable local cultural heritage.
The non-profit association House of Batana was made part of the UNESCO Register for Good Safeguarding Practices of Intangible Cultural Heritage at the UNESCO session held in Adis Abeba in December 2016.
On June 10, the House of Batana and the citizens of Rovinj got the official confirmation of the prestigious new title, reports Glas Istre on June 11, 2017.
Croatian Minister of Culture Nina Obuljen Koržinek awarded the UNESCO certificate to three parties: president of the House of Batana Valerio Drandić, head of the Italian Community of Rovinj Marino Budicin, and Mayor of the Town of Rovinj Marko Paliaga. The ceremony took place in front of the Eco-museum building in the Old Town.
Speaking about the significance of the UNESCO certificate, president Drandić looked back on the time the House of Batana was founded and the enormous efforts of the whole community during the last twelve years.
Minister Obuljen Koržinek announced her satisfaction with batana being Croatia’s first example that got inscribed into UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list. “This is also a confirmation that the citizens and the country take good care of a certain part of their heritage and that their effort is recognised, making that heritage representative on the global level”, stated the Minister of Culture. She said she would not praise anyone in particular, as the Rovinj community as a whole deserves the credit for obtaining the prestigious UNESCO status.
Now that it’s official – congratulations to Rovinj on this remarkable achievement!
Image source: Ekomuzej batana Facebook
