Tembe (also tihm bih); houtsnijwerk (Dutch)
A geometric relief wood-carving tradition practiced by men of Suriname's Maroon peoples — descendants of enslaved Africans who escaped Dutch plantations in the 17th–18th centuries and established free societies deep in the rainforest interior. Carved with a simple knife onto canoe paddles, house posts, stools, combs, and other everyday objects, tembe motifs are individually meaningful rather than purely decorative, blending African, European, and Amerindian design influences. The tradition was formally inscribed on France's National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2020, reflecting Maroon communities' presence across both Suriname and neighboring French Guiana.
Risk level: Endangered · Not UNESCO-inscribed for Suriname specifically; tembé (the same tradition, practiced by Maroon/Bushinenge communities spanning the Suriname–French Guiana border) was inscribed on France's National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2020
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