Cyprus’ tsiattista put on UNESCO list

CYPRUS’ improvised songs known as tsiattista have been placed on UNESCO’s list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

They have been registered as “tsiattista poetic duelling”, following a decision taken at the the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage held in Bali, Indonesia from November 22 to 29.

According to UNESCO’s description, cultural heritage is not limited to material manifestations, such as monuments and objects that have been preserved over time. This notion also encompasses living expressions and the traditions that countless groups and communities worldwide have inherited from their ancestors and transmit to their descendants, in most cases orally.

UNESCO said the “the lively, impromptu oral poetry known as Tsiattista is often performed to the accompaniment of violin or lute in ‘jousts’ in which one poet-singer attempts to outdo another with clever verses made up of rhyming couplets.

“Tsiattista has long been a popular component of wedding feasts, fairs and other public celebrations, where eager crowds encourage poets to perform. The most common metrical form is the iambic fifteen-syllable verse in a rhyming couplet.

“Successful tsiattistaes (poet-singers) exhibit ready wit, deep familiarity with poetic and musical traditions, a rich vocabulary and an active imagination. They have often been men of modest means and limited education who transmit their works only orally; these days, the poets are mostly old men but talented female poets have recently started performing. Poets must be well-versed in the Greek Cypriot dialect, possess adequate knowledge of the popular poetry of Cyprus and the ability to retrieve existing, well-known Tsiattista and, above all, must be able to improvise a new couplet on a specific theme within very strict time constraints and be able to respond to his or her opponent.”