The broad promotion of ICH incorporates the ethical treatment of cultural objects of all peoples. Especially with AI technologies, we need to consider how they will be inclusive and respectful of cultures and knowledge systems of indigenous peoples. For this reason, UNESCO has published the Report on Indigenous Peoples 2023 (Pinto, 2024).
It highlights the risks faced by ethnic communities with the development of artificial intelligence, including the misuse of data, cultural biases and potential exclusion from digital developments.
The key themes of the report are data sovereignty, the development of inclusive artificial intelligence, cultural bias and the digital divide. In terms of data sovereignty, the report advises that indigenous communities should “maintain control over their data to prevent exploitation and ensure that their cultural knowledge is not misappropriated” (Pinto, 2024). Local communities should also be actively involved in the development of AI systems to ensure that their cultural values are respected and incorporated. All participants in technological products that promote ICH should consider how to avoid reinforcing stereotypes or misleadingly portraying local cultures. Finally, government agencies and other authorities should take into account that indigenous communities often have limited access to and knowledge of digital technologies. The knowledge and access gap should be adequately addressed to ensure that they can benefit from AI applications.
The further elaboration of traditional knowledge and cultural expressions dictates that local communities must be respected and have their rights recognized, practiced, preserved, controlled and owned by them, their cultural heritage and knowledge, including expressions of music, songs, stories, ceremonies, dances, symbols, languages and knowledge. This heritage is usually oral, does not belong to individuals and is transmitted to future generations. UNESCO has emphasized in its reports the necessity of legal recognition of traditional knowledge and cultural expressions to protect them from misuse. All techniques for promoting ICH should consider the ethical protocols for the conservation of cultural heritage (Adjei n.d.).
The Australian Government has published ethical protocols on how to promote indigenous cultural works of art and heritage. It also provides training scenarios on how to apply the ethical protocols when promoting traditional and cultural expressions of art and knowledge of indigenous communities (Creative Australia, n.d.).
Examples of citizen participation and engagement in the design of strategies, branding and ethical promotion of local communities, which highlight local identity and contribute to sustainable development, are listed below at the following link: (City Nation Place, 2024).
Ethical promotion means respecting communities, avoiding misrepresentation, ensuring informed consent, and preventing exploitation of traditional knowledge.
Ethical Protocol
An ‘ethical protocol’ in the framework of ICH refers to methodologies to promote indigenous cultural works of art and heritage in ways that are respectful, accurate and community-controlled. This includes:
- Obtaining free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) from communities before any promotional activity.
- Ensuring communities benefit from and control their representation in promotional materials.
- Avoiding stereotyping, exoticisation or reduction of complex traditions to tourist-friendly simplifications.
- Giving proper attribution to practitioners and communities.
Diversity vs. Homogeneity
Twentieth-century Western modernism created epistemological hegemony — dominant models of knowledge that marginalised regional cultures. Contemporary ICH promotion must resist this by highlighting diversity rather than conforming to globalised aesthetic standards. Professional designers working with communities should produce visual communication that reflects local values, not global trends.
Learning Activities
• Ethical audit: Evaluate a promotional campaign for one ICH element using an ethical checklist (consent, attribution, representation, benefits).
• Rewrite exercise: Take a problematic promotional text about a cultural tradition and rewrite it ethically.
• Policy brief: Draft an ethical code of conduct for organisations promoting ICH commercially.
Reflection Questions
- What makes a promotional activity ‘ethical’ in the context of ICH?
- How do you obtain genuinely free and informed consent from a community?
- Can commercial promotion of ICH ever be fully ethical?