Dear colleagues and friends of IOV,

Greetings!

It is my pleasure to celebrate with you the 30th anniversary of the International Organization of Folk art (IOV). In 1979, Alexander Veigl founded IOV. For three decades he led our organization until a dreaded illness caused his death last year. We mourn the passing away of Alexander and we vow to continue pursuing the vision of IOV, one which he passed on to us as his legacy.

 

Through the work of our numerous members in all the continents IOV has continued to promote the traditional culture and arts as practiced by the people in all the communities where IOV has its presence and its influence.

In response to the needs of the times, the IOV General Assembly in its meeting in Volos and Athens, Greece in 2007, revisited the constitution and bylaws of IOV for purposes of updating and making it more relevant. The Presidential Council, the Regional Executive Secretaries and the Commission Chairs, which now comprise the IOV Executive Board, were tasked to refine and finalize the bylaws. The Presidential Council moved a step further and worked on the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), the document that details the work of IOV. We were guided all along by the Chair of the Legal Commission, attorney George Frandsen, who so efficiently reviewed every legal provision of the IRR. In the meantime, a very timely UNESCO convention has been implemented which is important to our work as it provides the guideposts for the "protection and safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage of the world". The mission of IOV runs parallel to this convention and I urge all our members to read and study this document and see how we, as members of an NGO in official relations with UNESCO, can fit into our programs.

We are proud of our numerous active members who have presented their activities in our many different fora and workshops in the fields of traditional arts-dance, theater, music, visual arts, crafts, medicine, cuisine, and the scientific research and many others.

We have also initiated the involvement of the IOV youth beginning with the IOV World Youth Congress in the State of Utah, USA. We commend the creation of the IOV Regional Office for the Middle East situated in the Kingdom of Bahrain under Ali Abdulla Khalifa.

We appreciate the participation of the IOV Executive Board members in the Manila meeting, March 2009. The Regional Secretaries present contributed valuable input into the last stages of refining the IRR.
I am optimistic that the IOV will move with greater vigor. We hope to arouse the interest of more members as we walk on more solid ground.

May IOV live on and continue to pursue its goals of promoting peace, tolerance, understanding among peoples of the world through the language of art and traditional culture.. We are committed to sustain our intangible heritage so that our nations may have stability and strength in working together for the common good.

Allow me to quote a noted art historian whose thoughts I fully espouse. "I am not bothered where art comes from as long as it dissolves barriers. I am only interested in a world without borders, where nationality does not matter" (Sundaram Tagore).

Thank you.

Carmen D. Padilla

IOV World President