Overview
- At a Nov. 9 gathering in Cherán, pireris, musicians and community members agreed to ask authorities to remove pirekua from UNESCO’s Representative List.
- Many performers say they were not consulted during the 2010 inscription and learned of the listing through press coverage.
- Participants allege that safeguarding actions reported to UNESCO were carried out by state tourism and culture offices using non‑Purépecha interpreters.
- A complaint to the human rights office led UNESCO to request a state response and the creation of an interdisciplinary group, which pireris say produced a plan that was never implemented.
- Purerépecha culture-bearers report outsider groups presenting pirekua at festivals and tourist venues such as Xcaret, while elders’ works risk being lost without dedicated preservation.