Lim Soo Ngee, a Singaporean sculptor, captures “alternative identities” of contemporary people through wooden sculptures that poetically portray various figures. The artist recreates contemporary people who are subordinated to the flow of time in a state of torpor by putting on masks during COVID-19, or notes the fact that many people wear different “masks” whenever they face various situations in their lives. The facial expressions and gestures of those figures depicted in various ways remind us that life is full of humor, inconsistency, irony, romance, and irrationality.\n\n

Lim Soo Ngee, a Singaporean sculptor, captures “alternative identities” of contemporary people through wooden sculptures that poetically portray various figures. The artist recreates contemporary people who are subordinated to the flow of time in a state of torpor by putting on masks during COVID-19, or notes the fact that many people wear different “masks” whenever they face various situations in their lives. The facial expressions and gestures of those figures depicted in various ways remind us that life is full of humor, inconsistency, irony, romance, and irrationality.\n

Lim Soo Ngee, a Singaporean sculptor, captures “alternative identities” of contemporary people through wooden sculptures that poetically portray various figures. The artist recreates contemporary people who are subordinated to the flow of time in a state of torpor by putting on masks during COVID-19, or notes the fact that many people wear different “masks” whenever they face various situations in their lives. The facial expressions and gestures of those figures depicted in various ways remind us that life is full of humor, inconsistency, irony, romance, and irrationality.

Lim Soo Ngee, a Singaporean sculptor, captures “alternative identities” of contemporary people through wooden sculptures that poetically portray various figures. The artist recreates contemporary people who are subordinated to the flow of time in a state of torpor by putting on masks during COVID-19, or notes the fact that many people wear different “masks” whenever they face various situations in their lives. The facial expressions and gestures of those figures depicted in various ways remind us that life is full of humor, inconsistency, irony, romance, and irrationality.\n

For generations, the cheongsam has been an emblem of power dressing and a statement of one’s cultural identity. Its versatility is evident in the way its style has evolved over the years, with fashion designers continuing to be inspired by it. The garment is still worn today on special occasions such as Chinese New Year and weddings, and even as formal work wear. The practice of tailoring custom-made cheongsams is a treasured and intricate ICH practice.

The Craft X Design project is part of NHB’s efforts to promote greater awareness of intangible cultural heritage (ICH), raise the profile of local traditional craftsmanship, and increase access of local traditional craft practitioners to new markets, networks and designs. Craft X Design pairs four traditional craft practitioners with four local designers and/or studios to reimagine traditional crafts into innovative and modern products that express and embody Singapore’s rich and diverse cultural heritage.\n\nAnita Tompang, a ketupat weaving practitioner, and designer Andrew Loh worked together and applied ketupat weaving techniques to weave strips of thick felt around foam, creating ketupat-shaped foam modules that can be combined to form different types of furniture.\n\n

The Craft X Design project is part of NHB’s efforts to promote greater awareness of intangible cultural heritage (ICH), raise the profile of local traditional craftsmanship, and increase access of local traditional craft practitioners to new markets, networks and designs. Craft X Design pairs four traditional craft practitioners with four local designers and/or studios to reimagine traditional crafts into innovative and modern products that express and embody Singapore’s rich and diverse cultural heritage.\n\nThe collaboration between kebaya maker Raymond Wong and designers from Aller Row, Joanna Lim and Joanne Quek led to the reinvention of the traditional Peranakan Kebaya as a modern couture gown. \n

The Craft X Design project is part of NHB’s efforts to promote greater awareness of intangible cultural heritage (ICH), raise the profile of local traditional craftsmanship, and increase access of local traditional craft practitioners to new markets, networks and designs. Craft X Design pairs four traditional craft practitioners with four local designers and/or studios to reimagine traditional crafts into innovative and modern products that express and embody Singapore’s rich and diverse cultural heritage.\n\nRangoli practitioner Vijaya Mohan, and designer Jarrod Lim worked in collaboration to create three-dimensional rangoli-inspired metalware which retained the artistic integrity of rangoli and showcased this traditional craft in a unique and modern way.

ICHCAP, in collaboration with UNESCO Bangkok Office, held the Intangible Cultural Heritage Webinar Series from June to August 2020 with a total of four sessions. The 23 speakers from 18 countries met with the public to grapple with alternative practices and emergent modes of delivery in various areas such as heritage education in the universities, networking amongst educational institutions for ICH safeguarding, development of ICH curricula in times of crisis, as well as inter-regional cooperation for cross-cultural instruction and learning.\n\nWhile the entire world is struggling with the impacts of the COVID-19, the ICH sector also has been hit hard by numerous public health measures such as the cancellation of major festivals and events, temporary shutdown of museums, and places of cultural activities, as well as the indefinite halting of formal and informal heritage transmission activities. How can ICH safeguarding and transmission thrive in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, and what role can higher education institutions play to ensure the viability of living heritage in our times? ICHCAP organized this webinar series to answer these urgent questions that we all face today.\n\nIn the second session on 2 July 2020, the focus was to have a more detailed grasp of cultural heritage education in universities and how relevant academic programs can be conducted with respect to the “new” normal or a set of behaviors we now have to practice to maintain public health safety. \n\nPRESENTATION1 Pedagogy for ICH and the COVID-19 Pandemic by Neel Kamal Chapagain, Professor, Ahmedabad University, India\nPRESENTATION2 Challenges and Opportunities for Teaching ICH as a Core Knowledge Requirement and Practice within Heritage Education by Kristal Buckley, Lecturer, Deakin University, Australia \nPRESENTATION3 Documentary Film and Narrative Techniques for Architecture Students’ Understanding of Local Cultural Heritage by Nikhil Joshi, Senior Lecturer, National University of Singapore\nPRESENTATION4 Cultural Heritage and COVID-19: Digital Technologies to Support New Forms of Resilience by Danilo Pesce, Postdoctoral Fellow, Polytechnic of Turin, Italy\nPRESENTATION5 Inheritance and Innovation of the Intangible Cultural Heritage during the COVID-19\nPandemic by Jin Jiangbo, Professor, Shanghai University, People’s Republic of China

On 12 and 13 November 2020, ICHCAP and the ICH NGO Forum virtually held the 2020 ICH NGO Conference entitled “ICH and Resilience in Crisis.” The fifteen participants, including eleven selected presenters from ten countries around the world, discussed various cases and activities of each country applied under the Corona-era, and proposed solidarity for the resilience of ICH for a ‘New Normal.’\n\nSession 1: In the Vortex: COVID-19 Era, Roles of NGOs to Safeguard ICH\n\nSpecial Lecture 1: 'Resilience System Analysis' by Roberto Martinez Yllescas, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Mexico\n1. 'Uncovering the veil of immaterial cultural heritage towards and autonomous management of well-being as well as cultural and territorial preservation' by Carolina Bermúdez, Fundación Etnollano\n2. 'Holistic Development Model of Community-Based Intangible Cultural Heritage of Yuen Long District in Hong Kong of China' by Kai-kwong Choi, Life Encouraging Fund \n3. 'Indigenous Knowledge System as a vector in combating COVID-19' by Allington Ndlovu, Amagugu International Heritage Centre\n4. 'Enlivening Dyeing Tradition and ICH: The initiative of ARHI in North East of India' by Dibya Jyoti Borah, President, ARHI\n\nSession 2: Homo Ludens vs. Home Ludens: Changed Features COVID-19 Brought\n\n1. 'The Popular Reaction to COVID-19 from the Intangible Cultural Heritage among Member Cities of the ICCN' by Julio Nacher, ICCN Secretariat, Algemesi, Spain\n2. 'Innovation for Arts and Cultural Education Amid a Pandemic' by Jeff M. Poulin, Creative Generation\n3. 'Promoting Heritage Education through Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Kalasha Valleys of Pakistan' by Ghiasuddin Pir & Meeza Ubaid, THAAP\n4. 'Shifting to Online Activities: Digital Divide among the NGOs and ICH Communities in Korea' by Hanhee Hahm CICS\n\nSession 3: Consilience: Prototype vs. Archetype for Educational Source\n\nSpecial Lecture 2: 'Geographical imbalance: the challenge of getting a more balanced representation of accredited non-governmental organizations under the 2003 Convention' by Matti Hakamäki, Finnish Folk Music Institute\n1. 'Crafting a Post Covid-19 World: Building Greater Resilience in the Crafts Sector through Strengthening Ties with its Community’s Cultural System' by Joseph Lo, World Crafts Council International\n2. 'Arts and Influence: Untangling Corporate Engagement in the Cultural Sector' by Nicholas Pozek, Asian Legal Programs, Columbia University\n3. 'ICH in the South-Western Alps: Empowering Communities through Youth Education on Nature and Cultural Practices' by Alessio Re & Giulia Avanza, Santagata Foundation for the Economy of Culture\n\n

ICHCAP, in collaboration with UNESCO Bangkok Office, held the Intangible Cultural Heritage Webinar Series from June to August 2020 with a total of four sessions. The 23 speakers from 18 countries met with the public to grapple with alternative practices and emergent modes of delivery in various areas such as heritage education in the universities, networking amongst educational institutions for ICH safeguarding, development of ICH curricula in times of crisis, as well as inter-regional cooperation for cross-cultural instruction and learning.\n\nWhile the entire world is struggling with the impacts of the COVID-19, the ICH sector also has been hit hard by numerous public health measures such as the cancellation of major festivals and events, temporary shutdown of museums, and places of cultural activities, as well as the indefinite halting of formal and informal heritage transmission activities. How can ICH safeguarding and transmission thrive in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, and what role can higher education institutions play to ensure the viability of living heritage in our times? ICHCAP organized this webinar series to answer these urgent questions that we all face today.\n\nIn the first session of the ICH Webinar Series on 18 June 2020, we looked into the state of ICH safeguarding in the region, attending to how it has been conditioned by the pandemic and how various activities have been reshaped in order for them to maintain their purpose while also considering the protocols observed to curb coronavirus transmission.\n\nPresentation1 UNESCO Online Survey Results on Living Heritage Experience and the COVID-19 Pandemic by Juliette Hopkins, Living Heritage Entity, UNESCO\nPresentation2 Reviving the Living Landscape System of Lai Chi Wo for Urban Sustainability by Anna Yau, Project Manager, The University of Hong Kong\nPresentation3 Living Heritage Experiences in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Singapore by Yeo Kirk Siang, Director, Heritage Research and Assessment, National Heritage Board of Singapore\nPresentation4 Disaster as Opportunity by Christopher Ballard, Professor, The Australian National University, Australia\nPresentation5 Te-er/Tengao: The Significance of the Compulsory ‘Rest’ Day of the Bontoks in Mt. Province in the Context of COVID-19 Pandemic by Eric Zerrudo, Professor, University of Santo Tomas University, Philippines

ICH Courier is the quarterly magazine on ICH in the Asia-Pacific region issued by ICHCAP since 2009. Every issue has its own theme under the title of the Windows to ICH, and the theme of the Vol 8 is 'ICH AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AS AN OCCUPATIONAL LIVING.'

ICH Courier is the quarterly magazine on ICH in the Asia-Pacific region issued by ICHCAP since 2009. Every issue has its own theme under the title of the Windows to ICH, and the theme of the Vol 36 is 'Traditional Embroidery.'

Oral tradition consists of diverse narratives. It is passed on by word of mouth as everyday wisdom and transmitted through the generations. After that, it becomes infused in a region’s history, philosophy, and way of life, thus forming the foundation for a community’s knowledge systems. This volume introduces traditional tales in Sri Lanka, Palau, Kyrgyzstan, and Vietnam.

Recently, in early September, Hurricane Ida struck the Caribbean, and the Southern and Northeastern states of the U.S. caused catastrophic flooding, even the death of the people. Even Australian Bushfires, Cyclone Amphan hit Bangladesh and India, Volcano eruption in the Philippines in 2020 scratched the people all over the world. Mother nature makes human beings humble; however, we get the power from nature to overcome hardships at the same time. This volume mainly introduces traditional knowledge and oral traditions by focusing on who, what, and how with the Pacific Islands, Japan, India, and Thailand cases.