The Sinjska Alka knights' tournament and the gingerbread craft from northern Croatia were included on the list of intangible cultural heritage of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the "ojkanje" singing was listed as a tradition needing "urgent safeguarding" at a conference in the Kenyan capital Nairobi last Tuesday, officials at the Croatian Culture Ministry said.
Ojkanje is "two-part singing, found in the Croatian regions of the Dalmatian hinterland, [that] is performed by two or more singers (male or female) using a distinctive voice-shaking technique created by the throat. Each song lasts as long as the lead singer can hold his or her breath. Melodies are based on limited, mostly chromatic, tonal scales, and the lyrics cover diverse themes ranging from love to current social issues and politics," UNESCO explained in a press release.
After the latest three additions, Croatia now has nine items on the list of intangible cultural heritage and one item in need of urgent safeguarding.
The seven other items are the procession Za Krizen ("following the cross") on the island of Hvar; lacemaking; the festivity of Saint Blaise, the patron of Dubrovnik; the annual carnival bell ringers' pageant from the Kastav area; the spring procession of Ljelje/Kraljice (queens) from Gorjani; traditional manufacturing of children's wooden toys in the Zagorje region; and the two-part singing and playing in the Istrian scale.
