UNESCO Includes Cuba’s rumba, Belgian beer into its Intangible Cultural Heritage List

UNESCO Includes Cuba’s rumba, Belgian beer into its Intangible Cultural Heritage List

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added Cuba’s rumba dance and Belgian beer to its coveted list of “intangible” cultural heritage at the meeting held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on November 30, 2016. The Cuban delegation dedicated the rumba’s

selection for the list to its long time leader Fidel Castro, who passed away recently at the age of 90.

The UN body also included Portuguese pottery and Ugandan traditional music into the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.  The UNESCO stated that the rumba brings a sense “grace, sensuality and joy” in mind and since the rumba existed from poor communities in Cuba, the dance is an enduring “expression of resistance and self-esteem”.