UNESCO adds Georgian wheat culture to Intangible Heritage List

UNESCO has added “Georgian Wheat Culture: Traditions and Rituals” to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The decision was adopted at the 20th session of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, held in New Delhi, India.

A delegation from the Georgian Parliament, led by Deputy Speaker Nino Tsilosani, is participating in the session. The delegation also includes Gela Samkharadze, Chair of the Agriculture Committee, and MP Rima Beradze.

In a statement, the Parliament’s press office said the UNESCO listing represented “international recognition of centuries of labour, knowledge and practice of the Georgian people, the importance of Georgian endemic wheat varieties, and the strengthening of the connection between spiritual and material culture.”

Of the 27 cultivated and wild wheat species identified worldwide, 14 have been discovered in Georgia, five of which are endemic. “Georgian Wheat Culture” was granted national significance in 2018 and inscribed in the State Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The Government of Georgia also granted the element national significance under a decree issued on 27 March 2024.