The inscription of the Sona drawings was voted on at the 18th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which is taking place in Kasane, Botswana.
The Angolan candidacy competed for inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
This is the Sona tradition, which belongs to the Tchokwe culture and the Luchazi and Ngangela people who live in eastern Angola and neighboring areas of northwest Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In the application process presented by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Environment, it is highlighted that the Tchokwe "are known for their decorative work, particularly in various pieces of art and crafts and in drawings in the sand known as sona".
"These sand drawings are part of the Tchokwe oral tradition. They serve first and foremost as a memory in storytelling. The sona are drawn by men. Boys learn to tell stories and draw sona as part of their initiation ritual. Beginners they learn from drawing masters whom they call akwa kuta sona. Sona are normally delineable graphics that can be drawn without lifting your finger or going over the same line twice", details in the application process.
The work of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee will take place in Kasane until next Saturday, the 9th.
