Ministerial Statement – Heritage NL Receives Global Recognition

  • Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation

November 19, 2019

The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Bernard Davis, Minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation:


Mr. Speaker, I rise in this Honourable House today to congratulate Heritage NL as the first ever recipient of the Jeonju International Award for the promotion of intangible cultural heritage.

Selected out of forty-eight applicants from 36 different countries, Heritage NL was awarded $10,000 for its role in safeguarding practices of intangible cultural heritage in the global community. The award was presented to by the City of Jeonju, in the Republic of Korea.

The mission of Heritage NL’s intangible cultural heritage program is to safeguard and sustain the cultural heritage of Newfoundland and Labrador, for present and future generations. This is achieved through initiatives that celebrate, record, and promote our living heritage, and help to build bridges between diverse cultural groups within and outside the province.

Mr. Speaker, Heritage NL accomplishes this with the support of the Provincial Government. The recently released Cultural Action Plan acknowledges the importance of preserving both tangible and intangible heritage in the province, and demonstrates Government’s commitment to supporting those opportunities.

We are fortunate that Newfoundland and Labrador has an abundance of traditions, wisdom and skills — just some of what is known as intangible cultural heritage — and now has an award to celebrate it.

Thank you.

2019 11 19 1:45 pm