Maendeleo Nuru Ali Jumaa Women’s Group from Matondoni in Lamu engaged in the art of weaving – Kushuka shupatu - an aspect of Lamu’s intangible cultural heritage being inventoried as part of a UNESCO project in Kenya. © UNESCO

The UNESCO Office in Nairobi, the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO and the National Museum of Kenya organized a community-based inventorying workshop from 8 to 23 October in Lamu, Kenya. The workshop, facilitated by a UNESCO-trained intangible cultural heritage facilitator, strengthened the capacity of twenty-five community members, including elders, leaders, women and youth, on community-based inventorying and digital documentation. The workshop will be followed by three-months of fieldwork for data collection in Lamu.

Implemented within the framework of the Lamu Port-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET) infrastructure project, the workshop aims to safeguard Lamu’s rich intangible cultural heritage through inventorying and documentation of the cultural attributes that give the archipelago its distinctive characteristics. The capacity-building workshop is expected to enhance the understanding of intangible cultural heritage, and further raise awareness amongst the Lamu communities of their living heritage.