This volume grows from a conference entitled “A Global Assessment of the 1989 Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore: Local Empowerment and International Cooperation” held at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., from June 27–30, 1999. The conference and this publication were produced through the cooperation of UNESCO, Division of Cultural Heritage, and the Smithsonian Institution, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
Though the United States is not a member of UNESCO and the Smithsonian not officially charged with representing official policy, long standing concern and involvement with the issues of traditional culture and folklore brought the two institutions together to organize the conference.

The Recommendation referred to is an international normative instrument adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO at its 25th session in Paris in 1989. The purpose of the 1999 conference was to assess the implementation of the Recommendation, bring together points of view and perspectives on the Recommendation from around the world, and suggest ways in which the Recommendation might develop in the future so that its purpose, the safeguarding of traditional culture and folklore, might be achieved.

The conference was supported by financial contributions from the Smithsonian Institution, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UNESCO/Japan Funds in Trust), the U.S. Department of State, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Some 37 participants from 27 nations participated directly in the conference, with scores of additional observers. The participants were practitioners, community cultural advocates, government officials, scholars, and others. Prior to the conference, regional committee reports, questionnaires, and analyses were produced for discussion. Conference participants gathered in a wonderful spirit of intellectual and cultural fellowship. They discussed, debated, and deliberated upon both similarities and differences in the ways to go about safeguarding traditional culture and folklore. That the conference took place during the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival was an added, though planned, bonus. The Festival provided an excellent frame of reference for considering the issues of cultural conservation, preservation, and advocacy.

Publishing the Proceedings

Proceedings are often a somewhat rough as a publication, but nonetheless allow for the inclusion of the voices of those who participated and the various documents and analyses produced before, during, and after the conference . The text offered in this publication is taken from a mixture of prepared and revised documents, speeches, and taped remarks generally re-edited. It attempts overall to accurately reflect the findings, ideas, tensions, and debates expressed through the conference.

Interesting, insightful, wonderful ideas emerged through the conference. The proceedings attest to the ability of people of goodwill from around the world to gather together and share their ideas about safeguarding the legacy of humankind.

The Smithsonian and UNESCO are now proud to distribute this report to cultural institutions around the world in order to share those ideas and that goodwill even further.

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