As they belong to the Cokwe culture and the Luchazi and Ngangela peoples located in the east of the country and in the adjacent areas of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the proposal was presented by Angola and the decision on the nomination will be made at a meeting in Kasane, Botswana, December 4th to 9th.
“Sona is one of the ancestral forms of communication of Eastern Angola, which includes philosophical, artistic, educational and recreational aspects,” explained the director of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Cecília Gourgel, to Prensa Latina.
He added that they are a form of communication to access the ancestral wisdom of the Cokwe tradition and that their exceptional universal value stems from the fact that they are drawings that convey knowledge of mathematical practices and demonstrate the lived experience of these peoples that ensure identity and social cohesion of communities.
According to Jornal de Angola, the Angolan Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Environment’s application process highlighted its presence in decorative works, particularly in various works of art and crafts.
They also pointed out that they serve as a memory in storytelling and are a tradition passed on to children who learn to tell stories and draw Sona as part of their initiation ritual after being taught by master illustrators who they call Akwa Kuta Sona , have received instructions.
Sona are usually graphics that can be drawn without lifting a finger or crossing the same line twice, describes the Angolan candidacy process.
Gourgel told Prensa Latina that the Sona inventory was prepared in collaboration with the Lueji A’Nkonde University and, upon its completion, was declared an intangible cultural heritage of the Angolan nation by Executive Decree 99/21.
In March 2022, in collaboration with Professor Jorge Dias Veloso of Lueji A’Nkonde University, the Sona candidacy process as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity was prepared and submitted to UNESCO, and in November of the same year, the Secretariat’s recommendations were applied.
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