Inventory-making efforts of intangible cultural heritage in Cambodia are aimed at providing the reader with a representation of the diversity of Cambodian culture and arts which include, but are not limited to performing arts, music, handicrafts, and languages. It does not aim to give an in-depth study on each of these forms but rather provide a complete overview of all the known forms of intangible cultural heritage with practical information regarding each element.

ICH is an integral part of the indigenous population of Fiji known as the iTaukei. Borne of a rich oral tradition that spanned migration from Southeast Asia into the Pacific from 3,500 B.C., the iTaukei people of Fiji share many similarities with their island neighbors of Melanesia and Polynesia. ICH has manifested itself in many elements—from oral traditions, social practices, knowledge of nature, traditional craftsmanship, and performing arts. These elements exist in a rich interplay of reciprocal social systems in which the pinnacle is the chief, the physical embodiment of the ancestral spirits. Practice of the various elements legitimizes and enforces the status quo in traditional iTaukei life.

The small sun-soaked village of Molela, located approximately fifteen to twenty kilometers from the city of Udaipur in Rajasthan, is home to a vibrant community of terracotta clay artists. Over the years, Molela has emerged as a focal point in the art of making attractive votive plaques or idols of gods, with terracotta. While the early creations were originally cast as standing idols of local deities and various forms of the Hindu god Vishnu, today these figures are often mounted on tiles or plaques and are hung from the walls of homes and temples. These votive figurines can be multicolored or can have a terracotta hue, as is represented in the various temples in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

In Turkmenistan, the national inventory of intangible cultural property comprises five domains: oral expression, beliefs, performing arts, craftsmanship, and traditional knowledge. Epics belong in the division of oral expression. More than ten elements have been identified in this field, including epics such as Gorogly, Shasenem and Garip, Zokhre and Takhir, Khuyrlukga and Khemra, Sayatly Khemra, Asly Kerem, Arzy-Gambar, Khatamnama, Warka-Gulsha, Kasym oglan Melike-Dilaram, Nejep oglan, and Tulum Hoja. The epic Gorogly holds an especially important position among Turkmen epics.

Nepal, like most nations, has its own distinct cultural, ethnic, and bio-diverse makeup. The richness of Nepal’s centuries old art, crafts, and culture abounds the alleys and courtyards of Kathmandu. Arts and crafts have long been a part of Nepalese livelihoods and lifestyles. Today these arts and crafts have become precious commodities—souvenirs and antiquities for collectors. Still hundreds of thousands of people create masterpieces as part of their livelihood. Acknowledging the importance of arts and crafts in Nepal, many Fair Trade Organizations (FTOs) have been working to preserve and promote art, crafts, and culture as a means of sustainable livelihood for people practicing fair trade (FT).

The geography of Korea is ideal for growing lacquer trees. Optimal climate, topography, and soil conditions can be found across the country, and the lacquer produced is of the highest quality. This led to lacquerware crafts being highly valued in Korea over the years, and a uniquely Korean culture of lacquerware being developed.

Since ancient times, Central Asia has been populated by numerous nomadic and sedentary peoples and ethnic groups. The region is characterized by a rich cultural diversity as well as the interaction and interpenetration of different cultures, each of which is original.

Thundukuna is a special mat woven from reeds indigenous to the marshlands of Maldives. The reed is locally known as hau. Mat weaving from hau dates back some two hundred years, and this long history is mostly associated with the southernmost atolls.

Embroidery is an ancient decorative and applied art of the Tajiks that is used for decorating dresses and homes. In the Tajik language, embroidery is gulduzi, which is understood as the process of using colorful threads to sew ornaments, flower images, and symbolic drawings on cotton or silk fabrics. Tajik embroidery practitioners are women. Embroidery art masters sew women’s shirts, men’s and women’s national caps, pillows, bedspreads, headscarves, towels, curtains, cradle coverlets, and wall decorations, known locally as suzani.

Nathdwara is a famed Vaishnavite pilgrimage site in the Aravalli Hills, fifty kilometers northeast of Udaipur, Rajasthan. Hundreds of thousands of devotees annually visit its central Shrinathji Temple to worship a fourteenth century icon of Shrinathji, a beloved child incarnation of Lord Krishna.\n\nBesides Shrinathji’s sanctum, Nathdwara was also widely known for its unique regional arts—the worship-related pichwai paintings that depict Krishna’s life stories for the unlettered and the reverential semiclassical haveli sangeet music that was sung and played directly to Krishna. The area was also famous for delightful terracotta sculptures that portray sacred images from the countryside and touching scenes of village life.\n\nIn recent years, however, haveli sangeet has lost its following, and few young musicians try to learn its demanding dhrupad-based songs. Similarly pichwai painting and local terracotta arts have fallen on hard times. While there is still a bit of tourist interest in these ancient traditions, the impact of western fashion, mass advertising, and globalized culture have driven both out of vogue domestically.\n\nMost of India’s religious institutions confine their efforts to purely spiritual endeavors, but given Shrinathji’s long intimate relations with the town’s cultural life, the temple took notice of its artists’ plight. The Nathdwara Temple Board, Shrinathji’s managing trust, and trustee Sri Vishal Bava suggested providing some kind of innovative platform for artists to showcase their paintings and crafts on the crowded streets outside the temple.\n\nSri Dinesh Kothari, Nathdwara Temple Board CEO, took this concept and designed a project called Wall of the Lord that used a broad empty stretch on the temple’s own outer wall as a public gallery. Approximately 140 pichwai painters have now completed 63 masterful paintings on this 180 meter expanse, in styles ranging from traditional and devotional to expressively modern. Three exquisite large terracotta murals have also been installed there, and together, these exhibits not only beautify the temple but also offer dramatic visibility, hopefully renewing market demand for struggling local ICH artists.\n\nLaunched on 26 January 2017, the novel Wall of the Lord initiative has already started attracting its own audience as a must-see site of the Nathdwara pilgrimage that reminds visiting devotees of the splendor of their heritage and the inseparable nature of creativity and the divine.\n\nPhoto : Nathdwara painters adorning the temple wall © Lokesh Paliwal

The Samoan government’s efforts to revitalize fine mat weaving (‘ie sae) and the making of siapo or tapa, a bark cloth art, now includes a series of short films describing the processes. The film series was commissioned by the Ministry of Women, Community, and Social Development and produced by Galumalemana Steven Percival, a local filmmaker and ICHCAP correspondent. The documentary films in the Samoan language provide viewers with a glimpse into how these cultural products continue to be used in Samoan society. These traditional crafts are full of esoteric knowledge and lie at the bedrock of Samoa’s rich intangible cultural heritage.\n\nHere is a short video from the series.\n\nYoutube: https://youtu.be/Ccuf67O3Gos \n\nPhoto : Makers of Samoan siapo or tapa use traditional knowledge for dyes and fixatives ©Galumalemana Steven Percival

The National Heritage Board of Singapore (NHB) launched an open call for design proposals on 22 July 2021 under its new “Craft X Design” scheme which pairs local traditional craft practitioners with designers or design studios to co-develop and produce new and innovative products using traditional craft techniques and materials.\n\nThe scheme seeks to raise public awareness of local traditional crafts; revitalize and “modernize” the products produced by local traditional craft practitioners; help these practitioners gain access to new markets; and contribute to the long-term sustainability of traditional trades and crafts.\n\nAs part of the scheme, NHB has partnered four local traditional craft practitioners comprising a traditional Chinese lantern-maker; a craftsperson skilled in weaving cases for ketupat (a rice cake wrapped with coconut leaves); a rangoli (a traditional Indian art form involving the creation of a multi-colored floor decoration) artist; and a Peranakan beadwork and embroidery craftsperson.\n\nUnder the open call for design proposals, interested local designers or design studios can attend a workshop conducted by NHB and the four local traditional craft practitioners, and have until 1 October 2021 to prepare and submit their design proposals. Once selected, the successful designers or design studios will have four to five months to work with the local traditional craft practitioners they are paired with to produce a prototype product or a range of products.\n\nThe four local traditional craft practitioners and the successful designers and/or design studios will each receive an honorarium of SGD6,000. Each pair of practitioner and designer can also be reimbursed up to SGD2,000 for materials and/or other costs associated with the production of the prototype product.\n\nThe collaboration will culminate in the production of a prototype product or a range of products from each pair of practitioner and designer/design studio, which would be displayed at a public showcase in April 2022.\n\nThe scheme is part of NHB’s ongoing efforts under Our SG Heritage Plan, Singapore’s first five-year (FY2018-FY2022) masterplan for the heritage and museum sector, to organize public showcases for Singapore’s traditional trades and crafts, and in doing so, to encourage greater public awareness and appreciation of Singapore’s intangible cultural heritage.\n\nTo find out more about Singapore’s “Craft X Design” scheme, please visit: https://go.gov.sg/craftxdesign2021.\n\nPhoto 1 : Mr Jimm Wong, a traditional Chinese lantern-maker © National Heritage Board of Singapore\nPhoto 2 : Ms Vijaya Mohan, a rangoli artist © National Heritage Board of Singapore