TANGO, THE NOT QUITE INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

"The Tango" was declared UNESCO World Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2009, jointly nominated by Uruguay and Argentina. Tango Argentino's development began in the Rio de la Plata area, but in present times, there is much more to "the tango," on an international scale, than being a "sign of identity" there. An in-depth study of the discrepancy between the contents of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) nomination and the current international, cosmopolitan tango practice shows that several political and economic factors were the agenda behind the nomination, explaining the deliberate exclusion of facts. Furthermore, it can be seen that the evaluation practice for ICH nominations in 2009 could not provide a corrective, finally leading to the inscription.