The 7th International Forum for Intangible Heritage in the Islamic World – Dr. Ahmed Morsi’s edition, themed: “Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Islamic World: Shared and Diverse,” kicked off on Wednesday, 8 March 2023, in Cairo. The forum is organized by the Supreme Council of Culture of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, in partnership with the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) as part of the closing activities of Cairo’s celebration as Culture Capital in the Islamic World.

Dr. Osama El Nahas, Heritage Program Specialist at ICESCO’s Culture and Communication Sector, represented the Organization at the event. The opening ceremony saw the attendance of Dr. Hisham Azmi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council, and Dr. Nahla Imam, Advisor to the Minister of Culture for Intangible Cultural Heritage Affairs, Rapporteur to the forum’s Scientific Committee.

In his address, Dr. El Nahas reviewed ICESCO’s efforts to assist Member States in preserving intangible heritage as an engine for sustainable development, noting that the Organization has dedicated a division to intangible heritage within its Islamic World Heritage Center and has designed a special form for the inscription thereof on ICESCO’s heritage lists.

He added that ICESCO held the first regional meeting on the inscription of African traditional games on the lists of intangible heritage in Nouakchott at the end of February 2023 to prepare the first joint intangible heritage file which includes (25) countries, namely Egypt, noting that the file will pave the way to future joint intangible heritage files.

The two-day forum, which takes place at the Supreme Council’s headquarters in Cairo, will bring together over eighty (80) researchers from thirteen (13) countries to discuss a range of issues related to intangible heritage, its digitization and the role of organizations in its preservation.