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

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a shifting concept, and so is the way we perform our research in this area. In Vietnam, since the 1990s, Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies (VICAS), a research and education institution being established in 1971 under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, has been the leading agency in monitoring and implementing the National Target Program on ICH safeguarding. With a primary focus on making inventories of ICH elements, VICAS has contributed mainly to the establishment of a database containing a vast number of ICH still images, documentaries and written reports. Some lost and endangered ICH elements have also been restored and revived thanks to the efforts of VICAS researchers. However, while the achievement is undoubtedly significant, ICH inventory making and documentation seem to be insufficient to capture the dynamic nature of ICH.

Benoy K. Behl is described as one of the great art historians of India by various media platforms. He has a record of taking more than 35, 000 photographs and producing more than 100 documentaries. It is possible to draw forth a comprehensive visual imagery of Buddhist art in India and other parts of Asia through his outputs over the years; a subject that is beautifully explored in his work.\n\nWith the support of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, Benoy K. Behl has created another landmark project: a documentary on Ramayana as staged in India and beyond. Entitled Ramayana: The Great Epic of South and Southeast Asia, Behl’s most recent documentary had its world premiere at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, California on 3 December 2016.1. The documentary is generally a montage that presents Ramayana performances from nine countries such as Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. It decisively attests to the claim that there was indeed a close historical cultural contact between Hindu India and Asia; this is among other things crucial to say about the documentary.\n\nAs current discourse on contemporary cultural production tends to emphasize the importance of transnational and diasporic tendencies, it should be noted that Behl’s documentary reflects previous studies on Ramayana, specifically the account of it being seriously regarded outside India. For example, Santosh N. Desai, in the essay Ramayana—An Instrument of Historical Contact and Cultural Transmission between India and Asia2., provides a useful cartography about how Ramayana travelled from North and Northwest Asia to Southeast Asia. In addition, Desai states some important details about how Ramayana was recreated into a text once taken from its geographic and anthropological origins, deviating from the Valmiki original version.\n\nBehl’s documentary on Ramayana gives a capacious effort to bridge the cultural gap between understanding Ramayana as a literary text and appropriating it as a performance text. It speaks of how literature can be a medium of exchange, surviving ancient stories which in some ways have shaped taste and perception across lands and generations. More importantly, it captures the evolution of an old and transcendental text as it is staged and performed in many Asian countries. As each country featured in the documentary showcases an appropriation of Ramayana different from the rest in terms of theatrical elements, Behl’s documentary shows that performing arts can be a vehicle to share cultural differences.\n\nDocumenting the movement of a text that has always been a part of tradition—from how it was once told to how it is received in the present—is itself an act of preservation. It immortalizes the journey of inheritance and reinforces the ways in which individuals appreciate their cultural roots.\n\nPhoto : The Battle at Lanka, Ramayana © Sahibdin

Traditional builders from Samoa are in Japan on a very special mission: to build a faletele, a traditional Samoan house that is circular with one or more central posts. Master Builder Lesā Laufale, who started learning his craft some 30 years ago, leads the crew.\n\nThe Little World Museum of Man, where the faletele will be built, is near the city of Inuyama in Aichi prefecture, southwest of Tokyo. It is an open-air museum celebrating cultures and architecture, with 32 traditional houses from 23 countries and regions represented. Founded in 1983, the museum arranged for 12 builders from the village of Sa’anapu, where the current crew also comes from, to build four Samoan houses over 30 years ago.\n\nThe faletele will be built using traditional techniques and materials. This means using ’afa, a versatile and strong coconut fiber sennit used for lashing the structure together. Over 14,000 meters of the handmade cord is needed, work taking many months to complete. The making of sennit during village council meetings is now rarely practiced. Aiming to rekindle interest in the declining craft and with support from the U.S. government, project manager Galumalemana Steven Percival produced a documentary film and museum exhibit on Samoan sennit in 2013. A stone-floored and sennit-lashed faletele was also built at the Tiapapata Art Centre.\n\nHouse construction is replete with esoteric knowledge, but Lesā explains that there are no schools in Samoa where one can learn the required skills. He studied under Mulitalo Kirifi, a well-known builder from his village.\n\n“I observed Mulitalo working and whenever he asked me to do something and I made a mistake, he would tell me to start over.”\n\nThe passing down of knowledge from a master builder, matua o faiva, to an apprentice is common across cultures but when particular techniques are no longer used or are modified, esthetics can be compromised. Not only is the structure less appealing, but the language is also diminished. The natural environment is also affected by the decline. Building materials come from the forest: various palms and trees and a long coconut known as niu’afa, a species believed to yield the longest coconut in the world.\n\nIn traditional society, the natural environment was protected by tapu, a set of laws forbidding actions that would adversely impact the sustainable supply of resources. Ask a sennit maker about the elongated coconut and he will tell you about the tapu: one is not allowed to burn leaves or other parts that fall to the ground; these must be buried or thrown in the sea. Ignoring tapu, it is believed, leads to a gradual shortening of the husk. A plant that seems to have disappeared completely from the environment is the wild sugarcane known as tolofualau, named after its broad and supple leaf that was preferred for thatching.\n\nLesā remembers seeing beautiful houses thickly thatched with the leaf. “We now use the courser leaf of the sago palm niu o Rotuma because when we stopped protecting the wild sugarcane, pigs had a feast,” he says. But the environmental story is not all bad. There are invasive species now used in house construction such as the togo vao, a type of mangrove tree that grows no thicker than a finger but is tough and flexible, a perfect combination for the many hundreds of aso (listels) used to tie thatching. \n\nThe Japan faletele provides a unique opportunity for the crew to deepen and apply their knowledge. It is a place of learning for an important piece of intangible cultural heritage that will help assure a future for traditional house building in Samoa.\n\nPhoto 1 : The roof structure of the faletele at the Tiapapata Art Centre. No nails have been used in this construction ⓒ Galumalemana Steven Percival\nPhoto 2 : In Japan, Master Builder Lesā Laufale (front right), stands next to Little World Museum of Man Curator Takao Miyazato. ⓒ Galumalemana Steven Percival

I recall a documentary film entitled “Whose is this song” (by Adela Peeva, 2003) about a folk song sung by the local communities in the different countries of the Balkans that “has different faces and exists as a love song, a military march meant to scare the enemy off, a Muslim religious song, a revolutionary song, an anthem of the right nationalists, etc.”1) The impression after watching the film is unforgettable about the shared folk song as an ICH that has been claimed as an own original song in different countries in Europe and with not always the same meanings and functions for local communities. This reveals a good example of shared heritage across borders that can bring people together for mutual respect of international efforts on ICH safeguarding as stated in Article 19, “the States Parties recognize that the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage is of general interest to humanity, and to that end undertake to cooperate at the bilateral, sub-regional, regional and international levels.” The hundreds of such shared songs and other heritage domains such as the traditional festivals, folk rituals, music, craftsmanship, agricultural knowledge, forest protection, and so on have been common among peoples across borders and they shall be safeguarded internationally by the concerned communities. They are deserved of putting together in the multinational files by concerned States Parties for the UNESCO’s possible inscription in the sake of peace, dialogue and being together.\nThis presentation will overview the UNESCO’s multinational inscription of shared ICH and the challenge of the States Parties for building up these nominations.

Igal is a fast but gentle dance that is shared by the Sama people of Tawi-Tawi Island, located in the southernmost part of the Philippines, and the people of the western provinces of Mindanao. Igal is called Pangalay in Tausug and Pamansak in Yakan, all meaning ‘dance’.\n\nIgal has no specific choreography and is improvised without repeated movements. It is also rooted in the form of worship performed with the body. It expresses the ecstasy that accompanies the tauhid, that is, the manifestation of a divine being, and tries to become one with nature through dance and get closer to God. Igal is a dance of the moment. Basically, there is no song, and it proceeds in smooth and soft movements according to the sound of traditional instruments, and this music is an important element that inspires the dancer’s movements. While other dances move faster in proportion to the beat of music, the Igal dance moves slower as the music speeds up. Also, when performing the Igal dance, an ornament called Janggay is worn on the fingers, which maximizes the movement of the fingers to add elegance and artistry. The characteristic of dancing is to not stop moving the hands until the end of the dance, and to avoid excessive body movements.\n\nThe Igal dance is an important element that expresses the cultural identity of the Sama people, and it has inspired modern dance and contemporary art creations in the Philippines. In the Simunul region, local festival dances were created based on the Igal dance, and this phenomenon is an important part of the life of today’s generation, and it is an important example of vitality and reinvention handed down to tomorrow’s generation.\n\nThe Igal dance:\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eViUTF7id68&list=PLXen1g2tAaHDVurZGxieuywxmvMjFfgPZ\n\nThis traditional Igal dance of the Philippines video is one of the 10 ICH video Documentary Series, which is the result of the collaborative project between ICHCAP and National Commission for Culture and the Arts(NCCA) in the Philippines. Both organizations aim to raise visibility and strengthen the public’s access to ICH in the Philippines through this project.\n\nVideos represent the most accurate method of capturing ICH as it exists in the real world, as well as being effective tools for communicating with the public. ICHCAP will endeavor to continue vividly documenting the scenes of ICH that are hidden across the Asia-Pacific region with the aim of raising the profile of ICH elements as treasures of humanity and introducing them to the public.\n\nPlease refer to the brochure for more information on the Philippines ICH video documentary.\n\nPicture 1~6: Traditional Igal Dance in the Philippines © ICHCAP

Loy kratong is one of the representative festivals held throughout Thailand. An event is held every year on the day of the full moon in December of the lunar calendar, and a ceremony is held to honor the river (and water) goddess, Ganga.\n\nThe origin of the loy Kratong Festival is unclear, but it is most likely that it began during the Sukhothai Kingdom in the 14th century. Through the festival, people ask for forgiveness for using water to dirty the river, make a lotus-shaped basket made of banana leaves, place the basket on their forehead, pray, and float it on the river to make a wish. In northern Thailand, a festival is held under the name Yi Peng, which means “flying lantern,” hoping that the lantern will fly in the sky to blow away diseases and bad luck.\n\nAll of the school affiliated with the temple and local community members work together to prepare for the festival, and through the preparation of the event, community members, especially the younger generation, actively participate in the safeguarding and transmission of traditional culture. In addition, the loy Kratong events held throughout Thailand include the production of Kratong and competitions, which are effective in continuing public interest in handicraft traditions and delivering traditional Thai culture.\n\nThis loy kratong festival video is one of the 10 ICH Video Documentary Series. which is the result of the collaborative project between ICHCAP and Thammasat University in Thailand. Both organizations aim to raise visibility and strengthen the public’s access to ICH in Thailand through this project.\n\nPlease refer to the brochure for more information on the Thai ICH video documentary.\n\nphoto 1 : © ICHCAP\nphoto 2 : After the massive launch of Khom Loys the sky is filled with the lanterns at the YeePeng Festival in Sansai Thailand © John-Shedrick, CC-BY-2.0\nphoto 3 : Thai people setting their candle-lit krathongs in the Ping river at night during Loy Krathong © John Shedrick, CC BY 2.0, Changed: Size\nphoto 4 : © ICHCAP\nphoto 5 : Thai couple and child ready to set their candle lit krathong into the river during Loy Krathong © John Shedrick, CC-BY-2.0, Changed : size\nphoto 6 : © ICHCAP\nphoto 7 : © ICHCAP\nphoto 8 : © ICHCAP\nphoto 9 : © ICHCAP

The Moriones Festival is a Lenten tradition held annually on the holy week on the island of Marinduque, Philippines. In the 16th century, Spanish missionaries brought the Roman Catholic faith to the Philippines, and since then, Christian beliefs, rituals, practices, and various related cultures have been absorbed into the Filipino culture throughout the various island regions. Catholics participate in the Moriones Festival in honor of the Passion of the Christ, asking God for mercy with their hearts and praying for their family’s well-being and prosperity.\n\nOne of the most eye-catching elements of this festival is a mask in the form of the faces of Roman military commanders or soldiers in the Bible. During the festival, people wear these masks and parade through the streets dressed as soldiers. Mask makers start making masks by taking pre-orders from November, four months before the festival. Delicately sculpting wood to express detailed features requires considerable skill, creativity, and artistry of the artisan. In the past, the mask was made in a large, crude form that covered the entire head, but as time went on, the size decreased and various flower decorations were added on to the head. In the early days of the Moriones procession, the majority of participants were local adult males. Today, it is an event in which the entire community participates, and men and women of all ages wear masks and participate in the festival.\n\n1. Moryonan Lenten Tradition\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLXen1g2tAaHDVurZGxieuywxmvMjFfgPZ&v=Ar6nKtFcZ58&feature=emb_title\n\n2. Mask Making for Moryonan Lenten Tradition\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYzJ_PXG_ns&list=PLXen1g2tAaHDVurZGxieuywxmvMjFfgPZ\n\nThis Moriones Festival of the Philippines video is one of the 10 ICH video Documentary Series, which is the result of the collaborative project between ICHCAP and National Commission for Culture and the Arts(NCCA) in the Philippines. Both organizations aim to raise visibility and strengthen the public’s access to ICH in the Philippines through this project.\n\nVideos represent the most accurate method of capturing ICH as it exists in the real world, as well as being effective tools for communicating with the public. ICHCAP will endeavor to continue vividly documenting the scenes of ICH that are hidden across the Asia-Pacific region with the aim of raising the profile of ICH elements as treasures of humanity and introducing them to the public.\n\nPlease refer to the brochure for more information on the Philippines ICH video documentary.\n\nPicture 1: The Participants Gathered for a Meal after the Moriones Festival © ICHCAP\nPicture 2: Children Enjoying the Festival in Moriones Masks © ICHCAP\nPicture 3: Child Unmasked at the Moriones Festival © ICHCAP\nPicture 4: Reproducing the Bible's Story at the Moriones Festival © ICHCAP\nPicture 5: Moriones © ICHCAP\nPicture 6: A Procession of Carrying the Statue of Jesus at the Moriones Festival © ICHCAP\nPicture 7~10: Moriones © ICHCAP

"Ambae Island, Vanuatu: Home to more than 11,000 people, the people indige- nous to the land. In April 2017, Ambae’s Manaro volcano, Mount Lombenben, rumbled continuously, spewing torrents of volcanic matter and gas from its crater, covering the majority of the island in thick layers of ash, hampering water sources, and destroying vegetable plots and gardens. The government of Vanuatu ordered a mandatory evacuation of the island and the people of Ambae were forced to relocate to neighboring islands— Pentecost, Maewo, and Espiritu Santo—leaving their homes, animals, and crops behind. The impact was devastating. Schooling was disturbed, livelihoods perished, and many people struggled with trauma and the challenges of integrating into new communities where they didn’t have strong connections or access to land and natu- ral resources."

Chonbuk National University established the Center for Intangible Cultural Heritage Studies in 2012. The Center started its initial mission for researches on ICH with collecting and inventorying ICH on the domestic level. The Center’s work has increasingly expanded to study various issues regarding safeguarding, policy-making and revitalization of ICH. On the basis of it, we were able to open an introductory course for graduate students starting in the fall of 2014. In the next semester, spring of 2015, we opened another seminar on “tangible and intangible cultural heritage.” As the next step, our university established the Department of Intangible Heritage and Information, opening its graduate program for ICH studies in March of 2016. \n\nInterdisciplinary Curriculum \nICH is a new field of academia in Korea. We have courses related to ICH such as folklore, anthropology, oral literature, and traditional arts. ICH area should cover diverse fields and subjects from everyday life to arts, from the secular to the sacred and from research to practice. We have specified in curriculum to clarify course descriptions and pedagogic principles in order to distinguish the ICH field. There are five fields of the subjects, such as ideology, methodology, management and policy making, education and policy. Each field consists of its corresponding sub-fields with which specific courses are offered. Our graduate program systematically arranges each level from introductory through intermediary up to advanced courses for graduate students.

Snow avalanches pose a threat to alpine communities because they affect safety in villages and of human infrastructures such as ski pistes or traffic routes. Dealing with avalanche danger and risk has a long tradition in Alpine countries and although strategies have been adapted over the centuries, the general principles remained the same: preventing the release of avalanches or reducing their size, influencing its direction of movement or avoiding the presence of objects in endangered areas either in the long term or in the short term.

Afrikan combat arts and sciences are the very oldest in the world as Afrikan people are the first human beings in the world. According to Hamblin, “the oldest discovered cemetery in the Nile Valley at Jebel Sahaba in Nubia (northern Sudan)—broadly dated to roughly 12,000– 9000—provides the earliest evidence of tribal warfare, for roughly half of the 59 skeletons at site 117 had flint projectile points among the bones, probably indicating death in battle; some had evidence of multiple healed wounds, perhaps indicating repeated fighting” (2006, p. 32). This site has since been more accurately dated to between 13,140 and 14,340 years ago (Graham, 2016). At another massacre site at Nataruk in contemporary Kenya were found a mixture of people killed with blunt instruments, sharp pointed weapons, projectiles, and so on. According to Lahr , “Ten of the twelve articulated skeletons found at Nataruk show evidence of having died violently at the edge of a lagoon, into which some of the bodies fell. The remains from Nataruk are unique, preserved by the particular conditions of the lagoon with no evidence of deliberate burial” (2016, p. 2). Researchers at Nataruk also found: