Preservation of cultural heritage: Nguon festival makes UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list.

This was during the 18th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage currently holding in Botswana.

The five-day event which ends tomorrow December 9, is being chaired by the Ambassador and Permanent Delegate of the Republic of Botswana to UNESCO, Mustaq Moorad. 

It brings together delegations from different countries who are seeking to have their heritages included in UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage.

Cameroon is being represented at the session by a delegation led by the Minister of Arts and Culture, Bidoung Mkpatt. 

The member of government is being accompanied by some of his close collaborators of the ministry and the Sultan of the Bamoun dynasty, His Majesty Mouhammad-Nabil Mfourifum Mbombo Njoya. 

The Ngoun, which today has been included in UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage, is an over 600-year-old festival that celebrates the rich and vibrant culture of the Bamoun people of the West Region.

The festival holds once every two years and usually last for seven days, with each day witnessing the display of different dances, ceremonies and feasting.

The festival is also usually an opportunity to savour the rich cuisine of the area as well as the costumes, rituals and more.

Minister Bidoung Mkpatt described the admission of Ngoun to the intangible cultural heritage as being a fine example of self-sacrifice and seriousness.

He noted that unlike many countries, which have taken years or even more than a decade, to see their application through, that of Cameroon was granted in just a relatively short period of time. 

“For the first time in the history of arts of Cameroon, UNESCO just accepted the files of Nguon, Governance Ritual and Associated Expression in the Bamoun Community…,” Minister Bidoung Mkpatt said.

The member of government said it is immeasurable not only for the Bamoun community represented by the Sultan but for Cameroon as a whole.

Cameroon, he said, is known for its rich and diverse culture and is noted for its convivial, friendly, sociable and harmonious living together.

The Arts and Culture minister equally saluted the tireless work carried out by members of his team to see into it that the file of the festival is accepted.

During their stay in Botswana, Minister Bidoung Mkpatt and the Sultan of Bamoun were received in audience by UNESCO's Assistant Director General for Culture, Ernesto Ottone Ramirez. 

It should be recalled that the Nguon application was first tabled on March 2020 for its inclusion on the Representative List of UNESCO’s Intangible Heritage of Humanity. 

It was titled: “Nguon: Rituals around the sacred power of the advanced recorded, Mfon”. The application was first rejected. It was later revised and the new version submitted in March 2022. 

The revised version, titled: “Nguon, Governance Ritual and Associated Expression in the Bamoun Community”, scored a pass mark. This was after its evaluation by the Committee for the Evaluation of Intangible Cultural Heritage. 

About the Nguon

The Nguon, it should be said, was initiated in 1394 by Nchare Yen, founder of the Bamoun Kingdom. It was banned in 1924, as colonial fathers thought the festival gave too much power to the King.

It was restored years later by Sultan Njimoluh Njoya, after Cameroon’s independence. Since 1996, Sultan Ibrahim Mbombo Nyoja made it a biennial celebration which was later transformed into an international festival, attracting tourists from far and near.

Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in brief

The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, is designed to protect traditions that have been passed from one generation to another. 

The intangible cultural heritage includes oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts.

The purpose of the list is to ensure greater visibility of intangible cultural heritage in general and the nominated element in particular. With the Nguon inscribed on the intangible cultural heritage, this will thus bring more visibility not only to the festival but to the country in general, thus attracting more tourists.

The Nguon Festival thus becomes the first heritage from Cameroon and Central Africa sub-region as a whole to make the list of intangible cultural heritage.

It should be noted that since the opening of the session on Monday, delegations from different countries have been appearing before the jury of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage to present their files.