About 3000 years ago, a group of highly mobile ocean-going foragers arrived in Fiji from the west, bringing with them a distinctive pottery tradition that archaeologists now call Lapita. Although pottery styles and decoration have changed over time, the art of pottery-making has persisted in the Fiji islands to the present day. The village of Nakoro in Noikoro district, central Vitilevu is located at least 20 miles from the nearest village in Tholo West. In the Fijian village of Nakoro, traditional pottery-making was used in barter in former times. It is still bartered to- day, but to a very limited extent. An elongated form of kuro (cooking pot) has been exchanged for mats with some people of Tholo West. Noikoro is famous for its elongated cooking pot. Clay deposits vary from district to district. In Nadroga, terracotta clay is at foot level or found on river banks. The cleaning of clay differs from one district to another. In Noikoro, male assistance is needed, as clay has to be carried on horseback. The clay deposit is in Vusu, an old village site about one and a half miles away from the present village.

The Ramman is a form of traditional ritual theatre celebrated every year in the courtyard of the temple of Bhumiyal Devta situated in Saloor Dungra Village in Painkhanda valley of Chamoli district, Uttarakhand, India. The village deity of Saloor Dungra is Bhumichetrapal, also known as Bhumiyal Devta. Historical accounts of the preexisting tradition are available since 1911. In the Hindu month, Baisakh (April-May), on the sankranti day, Bhumiyal Devta comes out in a procession to the temple. On the second day of the festival, people offer hariyali (sprouted barley plants), to the deity, which has ecological reference. Every day, the Bhumiyal Devta takes a round of the village. The main components of the masked performance are as follows: ▶Celestial Aspect -Dance of Ganesh-Kalinki (Parvati) -The dance of Sun God: Enactment of creation-myth and birth of Brahma and Ganesh. -Bur Deva (Narad): Rani-Radhika dance. -Bur Deva Raja dances along with Gopi Chand (Sri Krishna) and Rani Radhika (Gopis) on different beats and gestures. ▶Temporal Mwar-Mwarin Dance: The dance shows the travails of the buffalo herders in their hazardous journey through the jungle to the hills. A tiger is shown attacking and injuring the Mwar. Baniya-Baniyain Nritya (Dance of the Trader-Couple): It shows hardships of the common people. The episode shows robbers attacking and looting the merchant couple. ▶Performance The performance then shifts towards the enactment of the local Ramkatha, the core Rama story. Episodes from Rama’s life are sung. The dance is performed on 18 different beats yielding a total 324 beats and steps. The episodes enacted and sung are: -Ram-Lakshman’s visit to Janakpur -Sita’s Swyamwar -Hanuman Milan (Meeting with Hanuman) -Swarna Mrig Vadh (killing of the Golden deer) -Sita Haran (Abduction of Sita) -Lanka Dahan (Burning of Lanka) -Raj Tilak (Coronation ) There are other dances and episodes like Maal Nritya, Koorjogi and Narsingh Pattar Nritya. ▶Historical Aspect -Maal Nritya: Rama story is followed by the historical battle between the Gurkhas of Nepal and the local Garhwalis. Two dancers carrying weapons move on to the central performing arena, enacting a battle scene. They are comical in looks, attire and gestures. -Maal artists are four in number, two red and two white, respectively representing the Gorkhas and the Garhwalis. It is mandatory to have a red Maal from the Kunwar caste of the Rot hamlet, Saloor village, as it is believed that this hamlet supported the Gorkhas. The other three are selected by the Gram Panchas. One white Maal each is chosen from the twin villages and the remaining red Maal comes from village Dungra. This performance manifests past valour and bravery, sums up the total religious and aesthetic experience of the community, and renegotiates its identity and place in the bigger cosmic drama every year. ▶Ecological Aspect Ramman is an agrarian festival in celebration of ties between man, nature and the divine. Maize and barley seeds, sprouted in ritual pots, are offered to Bhumiyal Devta who, in turn, promises prosperity to all, including agricultural yield and forest produce. -Koorjogi: This episode is of immense ecological relevance. Various harmful weeds (koor) in the village fields are pulled out by Koorjogi (character who carries a sack full of these weeds). One of the most joyous moments in the series is throwing thorny weeds on each other, creating a mayhem of goodwill and merriment, establishing a sense of community and harmony. -Make-up of Artists: The Ramman performance involves use of masks and make-up using sheep’s wool, honey, vermilion, wheat flour, oil, turmeric, soot and locally grown plants and vegetables. -Masks are made from wood of local trees and this involves lengthy rituals. ▶Musical Aspect -Drumming Tradition: The performance revolves around playing of drums by Das drummers from the lowest caste, whose status is elevated during the performance. -Jagar Tradition: Jagaris or Bhallas of Rajput caste are professional bards and sing oral epics and legends (Jagars). The festival ends with a feast where the prasada of the deity is distributed as sacrament.

India 2009

The element consists of the traditional craftsmanship of a community called Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab, India. The Thatheras craft utensils are of both utilitarian and ritualistic value made of copper, brass and kansa (an alloy of copper, zinc and tin). The metals used are recommended by the ancient Indian school of medicine, Ayurveda. In Ayurvedic texts, copper is regarded as an ideal metal for making cooking utensils and possessing medicinal properties. On the other hand, kansa is the prescribed metal for retaining the nutritive values of food. The settlement of the craftspeople in Jandiala Guru is laid out along a series of narrow lanes, lined on both sides by small home-cum-worksheds with families living and working on their hereditary profession. Both male and female members participate in the processing and creation of the artefacts. The process begins with procuring cooled cakes of metal which are flattened into thin plates, and are then hammered into curved shapes, creating the required pots, urns, plates and bowls and other artefacts. Heating the plates while hammering and curving them into different shapes requires careful temperature control, which is done by using tiny wood-fired stoves (aided by hand-held bellows) buried in the earth. The utensils are manually finished by polishing with acid, sand and tamarind juice. Designs are carved by skilfully hammering a series of tiny dents on the surface of the heated metal. Using basic tools that are handmade, the craftspeople create ritualistic, ceremonial and utilitarian vessels for both individual and community use.

India 2014

They use clay with a light yellow color, moderately smooth. They have their own traditional soil treatment techniques. The potter is a woman. They shape ceramic products without a turntable, using only simple tools according to traditional manual methods. The tool to shape the product is just a table and a small piece of rough cloth. By slightly bending down, the legs move around the table, the worker uses his hands to shape the body of the product. Finished brushing, they let it dry naturally. The product shaping and shading tool is very simple. The burning materials are straw and firewood. They are open-fired and have high technology in taking advantage of the wind direction as well as preserving heat. Products include two groups: cooking utensils and containers. Today, they create a variety of products to sell to tourists, such as statues, flower pots, so on.

Ensuring solidarity and collective identity, national and religious holidays, celebrations, feasts, commemorations are of great significance as regards to social values. The providers, the distribution and the consumption of the food are strictly determined on these special days. Traditional ceremonial keşkek is one of the social practices which sustain its significance from the past to our present day. Keşkek tradition is practiced at circumcisions, wedding ceremonies, religious holidays such as, Ramadans, sacrifice Aid, Muharram Month (first month of the Islamic calendar), charities, pilgrimage feast, prayers for the rain, Mevlid (Islamic poetry reading), Hıdrellez (a kind of seasonal celebration) and similar practices. Preparation and consumption process of keşkek bears a collective character. Particularly in village communities, preparation of ingredients and cooking process of keşkek are actualized through collective work. The villagers contribute to keşkek ceremony by providing the ingredients and participate in cooking process. Wheat and meat are the basic ingredients of keşkek. The main ingredients are provided by the household on special days for the family and the dwellers of the village provide the work force if needed. The wheat for keşkek, of an amount proportional with the number of participants, is washed with prayers a day before the wedding ceremony. Accompanied by davul-zurna (traditional Turkish musical instruments) the wheat is carried carefully to a large stone mortar. The wheat is hulled on the large stone mortars by two or four persons using gavels in a fixed rhythm. The rhythmic sound is a sign for the start of wedding ceremony. The hulled wheat is one of the main ingredients of keşkek to be prepared on the wedding morning. Meat is the other main ingredient for keşkek. Cooking keşkek requires specialized knowledge therefore it is carried out by experienced persons called ""keşkekçi"" (keşkek maker). Keşkekçis are trained in a master-apprentice tradition. Cooks and his assistants in charge of keşkek cooking start the preparations at early hours in the morning of the day before the ceremony. As weddings - the primary occasions for ceremonial keşkek tradition – are usually held during summer or early autumn, keşkek is usually cooked outdoors. Requiring a long-lasting source of heat, keşkek is cooked in large copper cauldrons, the bottom of which is smeared with ash to protect it before being put on a big open fire. Hulled wheat, chunks of meat on the bone, onions, spices, water and oil are all put together in the cauldron. It is important to maintain the heat at a certain temperature while cooking. Therefore, cook and the assistants take turns to maintain the cooking process as desired until morning. Watching the heat and preparation of the side dishes to be served with keşkek last all night long. This night spent around the keşkek is full of stories, friendly talks and jokes. The cook checks the keşkek cauldron in the morning of the wedding day. Towards noon, the most important phase of the keşkek tradition takes place. The strongest of the village youth, who were previously chosen for ‘keşkek dövme (keşkek beating)’, are called in to ‘beat’the keşkek with a wooden tool which can be named as ağaç kepçe (wooden ladle) tokmak (gavel), çomça or şişe. This is in a way a mashing process. The rhythm while hulling the wheat goes on during the beating process as well. The wooden tools are used in a rhythmic order. The beating process of keşkek attracts great interest among the crowds. To motivate the beating youth, the crowd cheers and sings folk songs. During the beating, one or two persons apart from the beating youth take the bones out with a special kind of tongs. The neighboring towns and villages are invited and keşkek is collectively consumed in the ceremony premises (courtyard of mosque for religious holidays, bride’s or groom’s house on wedding days, a sacred venue for charities and hıdrellez). Prayers are uttered before and after the feast. The pots and pans used during ceremony are collectively washed. A special set of equipments are necessary for the preparation of keşkek. The stone mortar, a collectively owned product of particular craftsmanship, a copper cauldron made especially for such ceremonies and tinned regularly. Hand made ladles and gavels made of wood are among the most important tangible elements of the keşkek tradition. The most significant aspect of the tradition is unifying all people in this ceremony regardless of age, ethnic origin, gender and culture even being invited or not. The hosts of the ceremony check whether all the guests are at the dining table for keşkek. Each person attending to keşkek ceremony is considered as an element of this cultural environment. All individuals within the community through participating in such a ceremonial event have a sense of belonging. This ‘sense of belonging’ reflects itself with the common expression ‘our keşkek is better’, which is a bare evidence of considering keşkek as an important element of cultural heritage. Keşkek ceremony should be practiced with all the components of the tradition or else it loses its traditional aspect for the bearers. In Zonguldak-Ereğli on the west coast of Black sea Region, there is a village named ‘Keşkek’. People from the neighboring villages go to this village, which is a developed locality among the surrounding places, in order to worship on Holy Friday and the visitors are served keşkek there. This clearly explains why the village is called ‘Keşkek’. The villagers see keşkek as a major part of their cultural identity and they are glad to have the name keşkek for their village. Today, this ceremonial tradition, through organizing keşkek festivals and festivities has been preserved by the intimate efforts of city and district municipalities and the hemşeri (locality fellowship) associations, founded by fellow citizens for creating a kind of solidarity. It is observed in these occasions unifying aspects of ceremonial keşkek tradition continues in the cities as well. Preservation of this tradition in the cities is particularly important in terms of how much this tradition is embraced by the communities concerned.

Turkey 2011

Parzo is the art of carving on wood, stone and slate. This art is evident throughout the country displayed magnificently on wooden structures of fortresses, palaces, stupas, temples, traditional houses and even on furniture. The following section describes some forms of carving. a. Woodcarving: Wood has been one of the most widely used resources in the country. Some of the masks worn by dancers during the festivals, the altars in the shrine room of any house, containers like bowls and cups, sheaths and handles of knives and swords, xylographic blocks are all carved out of wood. b. Choesham, Decorative Items and Furniture: Every house has a choesham (altar) entirely made of wood. Generally the altars will have carvings like choetsi and other designs such as dragons, flowers, eight lucky signs and mythological animals, on the main structure in accordance with the desires of the owner. On the upper part of the structure called gu-chag the altar will have the designs called pema, norbu, bagam, boh and ngangpa. Cabinets, chogdroms, divans, decorative floral items, religious motifs like dragons, tashi tagye and various legendary animals are carved out of wood. The three sides of chogdrom (traditional portable table) are carved with dragons, flowers or other legendary animals. Dramnyen, the traditional Bhutanese guitar is carved from wood in an intricate dragon design. The fingerboard is usually decorated with colourful traditional symbols. The hollowed sound box is covered with goatskin, and attached with either silk or nylon strings. c. Masks: The Bhutanese make various shapes and sizes of masks from semi-hardwood, usually blue pine to depict the face of gods, animals and mythological figures. These carved wooden masks are used in the sacred and religious dances. Carved wooden masks are also popular as decorations in houses, dzongs, temples and monasteries. d. Xylography: Before the invention of wood carving tradition in Bhutan, all religious texts and official documents were primarily written by hand. With the introduction of woodblock carving and printing technique by Terton Pema Lingpa (1450-1521), religious texts and images have been carved on woodblocks, thereby reproducing numerous copies, by printing on paper and textiles. Each and every temple and monastery in Bhutan hold a copy of the Buddhist cannons (the teachings) and commentaries on the teachings. Many of the texts from the cannon have been carved on wood, and reproduced by printing on paper. Woodblock carving is usually carried out on dried birch wood. To make a wooden block for carving, the woodblock is adequately oiled to make it soft and smooth for carving. The wooden block surface is then planed smooth on which the written text is glued. Once the paper has dried, it is removed from the block leaving the image of the scripts on the woodblock. The mirror image of the texts that need to be printed is left on the surface while those parts not required are removed with gouges or chisels. The texts are then carved with the help of chisels. Images and other patras (intricate designs) are carved only on to one side of the wooden block, whereas religious texts are carved on both sides of the woodblock. The carved woodblock is then coated with ink, and a sheet of paper is placed over the inked blocks. The paper is then rubbed and pressed with a roller to get the text printed. It is then left to dry either in shed or sun. Four different kinds of tools are used for xylography such as zhogthig, yatag, segchung. Round letters are carved using the tip of the mindrug with its sharp crescent shape tip. The tip of the yatag with its more relaxed crescent shape is used to carve the sub-bending yatag script. Similar to the typical Bhutanese knife; the tip of segchung is slightly slanted and carves the rest of the letters of the scripts. Zhogthig, with its wider and large tip is used to carve the lines in the space on the edge of the text that maintain the outer margin. e. Stone Carving: In Bhutan, carving on stones is not as diverse or common as wood carving but it existed in Bhutan. One comes across huge water driven grinding stone mills, hollowed-out stones used for pounding and husking grains, troughs for feeding animals, images of deities, gods and religious figures carved onto large rocks. In Bhutan, stones were also carved to make stone pots and utensils, but today these have become rare because of modern alternatives. f. Slate Carving: Slate carving is another form of art that is being practiced in Bhutan. Slate, called as do nag, is found in abundance in Bhutan, and the artisan is known as donag lopen. Portraits depicting deities and religious figures, inscriptions of mantras and religious scripts are carved onto slates, and adorned onto the exterior walls of temples, monasteries, dzongs and choetens. Apart from carving on wood, stone and slate, the Bhutanese people also carve images of gods and deities on rhino horns and ivory.

Traditional pottery art in Bhutan is known in Dzongkha as Dza-zo and the artisans are Dza-khem; in Kurtoep dialect they’re known as Phreng, art, and Phreng cho-khan, artisans. Dza-zo traditional form of pottery falls within the scope of recognized traditional Bhutanese arts and crafts. Today, traditional artisans in Gangzur village in Gangzur village block, Lhuentse district continue to make Bhutanese pottery. The nearby village of Maenjabi in Maenbi block formerly practiced the art, but over the past twenty years lost its artisans to age and migration for work. Archaeological evidence shows that ceramics have been important from the time of early settlement in Bhutan. Earthen pots were used as household items in the absence of utensils made of copper, bronze, and iron as we know them today. With the visit of Guru Rinpoche to Bhutan in the 8th century, handicrafts were introduced to Bhutan, including Dza-zo pottery, which was then propagated by Drubchen Thangthong Gyalpo (1361-1485) and Rigzin Pema Lingpa (1450-1521) in the 14th and 15th centuries. The tradition of handicrafts reached its peak in the 17th century when Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel (1594-1651) took personal interest in arts such as Lhadri painting, patra engraving, tshem-zo embroidery, chag-zo blacksmithing, and troe-zo silversmithing. He reinforced the practice of these artisanal skills including pottery. Traditional pottery was first practiced in the villages of Rinpung in Paro, Wangbarma in Thimphu, Shar Goenkha in Wangdi and Gangzur in Lhuntse district. From these places, the skills and knowledge have been passed down from generation to generation until today.

Kulapheach is a daily used item such as pots, clay pots, made of baked clay. Archaeological excavations in Cambodia have uncovered many Kulapheach kilns and Kulapheach at some archeological sites such as Angkor Mean Tani kiln, Anlong Thom kiln, Torb Chey kiln, Sorsey kiln, Bangkong kiln. In Phnom Penh, there is Choeung Ek station. According to the research evidence, the oldest Pheach is found at La Ang Spean (the cave bridge) station dating to 4,000 BC. Today, despite modern technology for the production of consumer goods, traditional Kulapheach production is still available in some provinces, such as Kampong Chhnang (Andong Russey village), Kandal province (Russey Chuk village, Kaom village or Chroy Metre), Kampot province, Takeo, Prey Veng and Kampong Speu province. There are three main stages in the production of traditional Kulapheach: preparation of soil and firing; Clay soil used for Kulapheach production is from silt, or soil from a hill. First, they dry the soil and finely grind and sift only the mines. Then mix the soil with water so that it can be used to make a Pheach. There are five stages in molding Pheach and those are Pen, Reas, Bamporng, Berk, and Veay Bat. ‘Pen’ is the process of kneading the wet soil then piling it up and continuing kneading on a flat board until it has no air left in the soil. Sprinkling dried clay soil to make the kneaded soil not sticky. Next, knead the clay into long rounded pieces and continue to knead each one to form a desired shape. The second step is called ‘Reas’ or to shine which means taking the kneaded soil in Pheach shape to shine and smooth with a tool made of palm branch called ‘Tro Naes’ some called ‘Lakor’ by placing one hand claps around the Pheach and the other hand holds the inside. This method is to make the Pheach melt together, no longer see the link and no air on the surface. After that, the Pheach is ready to make a neck and mouth. The Pheach makers use their two fingers, pushing from the outside and holding the thumb from the inside, pulling it one and a half around round. In order to make the neck and mouth of the pot look more beautiful, they can use "Chea leaf” or some areas called" Chroy leaf "or" Guava leaf ", to drag the neck and mouth around. The third stage is called ‘Bamporng or inflated’ people use a tool called “Tro Naes” and “Khleong” to inflat the Pheach by hitting it gently until it gets bigger and more rounded except the edge of the Pheach mouth, the neck remains the same size. The fourth stage is called "Bourk or Opening", that is, people use “Cher Bet ka eng” if the or called "Cher Dek Khnot") drag on the shape of the Pheach to get it pleated then use a tattoo stick to draw various decoration. The final step is to ‘close the bottom.’ To center the bottom of Pheach, hold it from the inside and use Tro Naes ot hit gently from the outside around the bottom of the Pheach until the bottom stick together. To make Pheach smoother, a damp cloth is used to wipe it, except where there are pleaded spots or decorations. After the Pheach is ready, it is dried (in the shade) so that the pot hardens and it does not explode or crack during cooking. After drying, the Pheach will be baked and there are two ways to bake it: "bake on the field" and " bake in the kiln". The Pheach used to bake in the kiln are usually small Pheach, while the Pheach baked in the open air are usually large pots such as pots, pans, stoves and so on. To bake in the kiln, you need to sort the Pheach in order and it takes only half a day to bake, because the oven is closed, the heat is good, making the Pheach perfectly hard. For baking on the field, first, use firewood to lay the ground. Then arrange the Pheach on top of the firewood, cover the Pheach with straw and sprinkle a little water on the straw to make the fire last longer. In order for the fire to burn around them, small pieces of wood and straw were added between the Pheach. When baking Pheach, keep the fire burning by adding firewood and straw until the Pheach is completely baked. Baking in the open air takes a whole day. However, whether baking in the kiln or on the field, people don’t remove the Pheach immediately after it is done, they let it cool first. Nowadays, the traditional Pheach production in some areas is facing actual loss, as in the village of Kam, there are only a few families who still make Kulapheach, compared to before, when almost all the villagers earn a living through it. Nowadays, the subject of Kulapheach making is also included in the curriculum of the School of Fine Arts.

National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea Onggijang refers to the skill of making earthenware pots and jars, or to an artisan with such a skill. Koreans have used earthenware pots and jars for thousands of years. The place where an earthenware artisan worked was called Onggijeom, which was divided into a workshop and a kiln. Traditional pots and jars, along with porcelain items, were the main items produced in private kilns. Pots and jars were made after the application of caustic soda to the surface of clay-made objects and putting them through a pre-firing stage. Just 40 or 50 years ago, there were many places selling traditional pots and jars across the country. Their number stood at about 500 when surveys were made in 1968 and 1969. However, they have been pushed aside by their machine-made western cousins. Traditionally, caustic soda was used as glazing in the production of pots and jars. Recently, it was replaced by a lead oxide named Gwangmyeongdan. With the use of lead glazing, the quality of pots and jars declined and the number of Onggijeom decreased to about 250 by 1984 and to less than 199 by 1989. Stainless steel and plastic goods have pushed traditional pots and jars out of the market.