A new policy in Zürich acknowledges parts of the local electronic music community as a cultural asset. The city now includes “techno culture” among its items of “intangible cultural heritage” through the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
UNESCO is a French organization whose mission is to “promote international collaboration through educational, scientific and cultural reforms.” Common examples of protected assets are “world heritage sites,” of which Switzerland has 11. Techno culture was submitted on a recent list consisting of 35 items, most of which were centered around urban traditions.
Walter Leimgruber, a professor of cultural studies at Basel university, helped make the selections. He told Limmattaler Zeitung, “The development of techno culture in Zürich, with the Street Parade and a very distinctive club scene, lends Zürich a young, open, hedonistic and international reputation.”
The recognition does not appear to directly benefit techno entrepreneurs in Zürich, whereas infamous Berlin nightclub Berghain saw significant tax breaks after a German court deemed it “High art” last year.
Source: Resident Advisor
