The Traditional Blouse With Embroidery on The Shoulder (Altiță) nominated for placement on the UNESCO Intangible Heritage List
Article published on 31-03-2021
Romania and the Republic of Moldova submitted, to UNESCO Paris, the multinational file “The Art of the Traditional Blouse with Embroidery on the Shoulder (Altiță) - an Element of Cultural Identity of Romania and the Republic of Moldova” to be included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Having a wide geographical spread and a tradition that can be identified since the fourth millennium BC, the blouse with embroidery on the shoulder is part of the clothing traditions of Moldova, Bucovina, Muntenia, Oltenia and southern Transylvania. The term “Altiță” refers to the ornate part of the blouse located in the upper part of the shirt.
Intensely promoted by the Royal House in the interwar period, the traditional blouse with embroidery on the shoulder inspired a series of works of the French painter Henri Matisse, but also contemporary reinterpretations of famous designers such as Yves Saint Laurent, Kenzo or Jean Paul Gaultier, who have made entire collections starting from the cut and the ornamental motifs of the Romanian traditional shirt.
In the elaboration of the candidacy file many Romanian specialists were involved: experts from the Faculty of Letters, University of Bucharest, researchers from the Institute of Ethnography and Folklore "Constantin Brăiloiu", Romanian Academy, as well as specialists from the National Museum of the Romanian Peasant, “Dimitrie Gusti” National Village Museum, Oltenia Museum, ASTRA National Museum Complex (Sibiu) and Brașov Museum of Ethnography.
According to the current schedule, the nomination file submitted by Romania and the Republic of Moldova will be evaluated during the 17th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, at the end of 2022.
