National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea This ritual is held biennially in Tongyeong and Geojedo Island to pray for the peace of the village and abundant fish. This ritual features the exorcist’s beautiful songs and inclusion of buk (drums) among the accompanying instruments. Unlike its cousin held in villages along the East Coast, this one is carried out in a serious atmosphere with few gags exchanged between the exorcist and music players or in the narratives. In some instances, spectators and drummers act out a play in the middle of the ritual. The exorcist’s dance performed along with the ritual in most cases is rather simple and monotonous. Cheongsinak (music to invoke the deities) and Songsinak (farewell music to the deities) are performed respectively at the start and end of the ritual, to the accompaniment of daegeum (bamboo flute). This ritual has little entertainment value and involves not many narratives, but it goes long on the depth of belief in deities.

It is an indigenous Kazakh performing art that combines theater, music, and puppetry. Some people say orteke is a street theatre, others might claim it is a musical instrument, some would see it as a decorative art, and children perceive it as a toy and use for entertainment. Orteke represents a simultaneous ensemble of music performance on Kazakh traditional two-stringed instrument dombyra and a hopping dance of a wooden puppet. Fixed on a surface of a traditional drum (daulpaz) by a metal rod a flexible wooden figure of teke (a mountain goat) is connected to the fingers of a musician by one or several threads. Flexible head and joints of a puppet are connected to the pulling string. As the musician strikes his/her fingers playing dombyra, the puppet starts hopping in sync with the beat set by an artist. The figure turns alive making amusing dancing movements and tapping a rhythmic beat on a firm skin surface of a drum.Some masters of genre can play with 3 and more puppets at the same time. Sound of dombra, audience public in anticipation, leather surface as flat as the steppe itself, and a small wooden figure of a mountain goat, tied to the puppeteer musician by a single thread, began to beat out the rhythm with its tiny hooves. This action, fascinating with its magical simplicity, is known among the Kazakh people as "Orteke", which is fancied by both children and adults.

Kazakhstan 2022

National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea Donghaean Byeolsingut is a large-scale rite carried out in villages along the East Coast to pray for the peace and happiness of the village and the safety of fishermen. It is also called Pungeoje or Pungeogut (Ritual for Bountiful Fish) or Golmaegi Dangje (Ritual for the Village Guardian Golmaegi). The ritual is held annually, between March and May or between September and October, or every two/three years in some areas. The place the ritual is held is decorated flamboyantly, but the exorcists wear plain-looking costumes. This ritual features diverse dances, humorous dialogues, and gestures.

National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea Wanchojang refers to an artisan with the skill of making objects with sedge (Cyperus exaltatus, wanggol in Korean), which is an annual/biennial plant that grows in a wet rice paddy or swamp. It grows to a height of 60 – 200cm. Sedge is used to make mats, seat cushions, and baskets. According to Samguk sagi (History of the Three Kingdoms), sedge was used during the Silla Period (circa 57 BC – 935 AD). During the Goryeo Period (877 – 1394), a sedge mat was laid on the place where the deities of the State are enshrined. Sedge mats were used chiefly in royal palaces, and they were also sent to China as gifts. During the Joseon Period (1392 – 1910), sedge mats were used mostly in royal palaces or in the homes of upper class people. In foreign trade, the mats made in Korea were regarded as luxury goods. Sedge products are made either manually or with tools. Mats and cushions are made either with a coarse weaving technique with warps exposed or with a close weaving technique with warps not exposed. As for the manual weaving method, eight warps are entwined to form a “井” shape and then two wefts are woven into it to make round or octagonal cushions and baskets. Production of sedge goods once went through the doldrums, but it regained strength in the 1970s and thereafter. Up to now, sedge has been used chiefly to make mats and baskets, but it can be used to make many other objects without the need for special tools by adjusting the colors and the thickness of warps and wefts.