Cobza (which is a pear-shaped string instrument with a short neck and wooden body, traditionally used to provide rhythm and harmony in folk music) has been included in UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage, Chairperson of the Joint Standing Committee of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate on Relationship with UNESCO Dumitrita Gliga announced on Wednesday.

'Romania marks a new cultural achievement at the 20th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (UNESCO), held in New Delhi from 8 to 13 December 2025. The file 'Cobza - traditional knowledge, skills and music,' submitted by Romania together with the Republic of Moldova, has been officially inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,' the release issued on Wednesday by Chairperson Dumitrita Gliga informs.

According to the quoted source, through this decision cobza becomes the 11th Romanian element of intangible heritage recognised by UNESCO, 'strengthening Romania's steady path in protecting and promoting the living heritage - a heritage anchored in practices passed down from generation to generation, in cultural continuity and in responsibility towards the tradition that defines us.'

'The listing recognises not only the sound of the cobza but also the craft of making the instrument, the techniques for performing it and the role of the communities that have preserved this instrument as an identity symbol and as an expression of deep social significance,' the release says.

The Chairperson of the Committee for the Relationship with UNESCO, Dumitrita Gliga, said that protecting the heritage and the people who serve it is an act of cultural sustainability and a duty towards future generations.

'Today we celebrate a new success, the result of a solid work, promoted with perseverance and built together with the people who carry forward these traditional practices and give continuity to a living cultural expression. As a politician, I support the need for coherent, responsible public cultural policies designed for the long term. Protecting the heritage and the people who serve it is an act of cultural sustainability and a duty towards future generations. As the legislative body responsible for safeguarding national identity, the UNESCO Committee reaffirms its commitment to supporting policies and initiatives dedicated to craftsmen, to the transmission of traditional techniques as well as to promoting the cobza in educational programmes and in international cultural circuits,' Gliga said, according to the quoted source.

Cobza is 'the instrument that has accompanied, for centuries, the dances, rituals, weddings and songs of Romanians' and is now receiving the international recognition it deserves, she underscored.

According to a release issued on Wednesday by the Permanent Delegation of Romania to UNESCO, Ambassador Simona-Mirela Miculescu, who led Romania's delegation to the meeting, said that 'more and more women are embracing this instrument' and that 'playing the cobza has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent decades.'

'Long regarded as an almost exclusively male domain, playing the cobza has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent decades. More and more women are embracing this instrument, turning it into a space where creativity develops, identity is reinvented and artistic freedom finds new horizons,' Ambassador Simona-Mirela Miculescu said. AGERPRES(RO - writing by: Alina Novaceanu; EN - writing by: Rodica State)