Why is it relevant for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) over the long term that non-government and community-based organizations apply what they do locally to needs globally? Already, several years before the UNESCO 2003 Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage is ten years old, our ICH community must address needs and concepts that it is still somewhat unfamiliar with.

Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet country, lies in the heart of the Tien Shan Mountain Range and the mountains of Ala-Too in Central Asia. This small country is mostly inhabited by the once-nomadic Kyrgyz people who take great pride in their whitecap mountains and ancient culture.

Human has made great progress beyond the speed of biological evolution by using tools. First, human used stones and wood as tools for hunting and gathering, and then invented earth-baked earthenware such as bowls for food, appropriate to farming life. The defects of woodenware and earthenware, however, were obvious. It was not able to contain liquid due to their moisture absorbency, and easily damaged. Earthenware has evolved into glazed ceramic but it required a high-tech kiln with high temperature, accompanied by a technology for metal refining as a key prerequisite. In East Asia, moisture proof and insect proof techniques to coat objects were invented much earlier. That is lacquer technique.\nProduction process of lacquer is delicate and complicated such as handling lacquer sap at the risk of skin disease, creating hot and humid environment for hardening process, etc. Nevertheless, in East Asia, people have used lacquer technique in many regions from the Neolithic Age, knowing its merits earlier on. Lacquer was used for adhesive and surface protection of leather, earthenware, ceramics and metalware. In particular, it has been inextricably linked to wooden objects. Whereas in West Asia and Europe various varnishes mixed with dry oil and resin has been used, in East Asia lacquer was used as a basic varnish in common. That shows that lacquer is great material and technique to represent the commonality of Asian culture.1) This article aims to briefly look into the origin of lacquer technique in Northeast Asia and share the information on it and its current status of transmission.

Established based on the Cultural Properties Protection Law, the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation is a corporation that specializes in traditional culture, and disseminates information on traditional Korean culture, while engaging in international joint projects to develop intangible and tangible cultural heritage worldwide.\n

In this new century, barriers are falling, customs are changing, and yet, there is a core of meaning, of affect, of memory that people refuse to give up. In this flowing and foaming world, people rush towards the new at the same time that they want to cling to meanings and shared experiences with others. Why? Because sharing gives them a sense of self and of identity in an open world. When such bonds are lost, their need is keenly felt, psychologically and politically, as is very evident in the world today. It was the concern over this loss in the turmoil of globalization that led Member States to give UNESCO the mandate to generate actions for the protection of living culture. This was indeed a tall order, and one that led to fascinating intellectual and political meanders. At the beginning of the nineties, the “cultural turn” in world politics and the rise of representational claims had led to new ways of understanding cultural flows in terms of “worlding”—that is, creating a new cosmopolitical vision of the world based on cultural heritage, human rights, and democracy. People in nations, cultural enclaves, ethnic groups, diasporas, and recently emerged cultural groups began to mobilize to position themselves differently in the new world order. Through a deliberative process, the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage was successful in proposing a new concept for the recasting of relationships among nations, culture bearers, creators, and stakeholders.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan acknowledges the importance of cultural issues at both the governmental as well as the non-governmental levels, as it promotes the significance of culture for sustainable development and cultural dialogue. Included in this concept is cultural heritage, which shapes the basic elements of identity and social cohesion among communities and minorities of the country. In our assessment report about ICH in Jordan, we were able to trace administrative strengths and weaknesses embraced in this field. For example, subjects included the government’s developed interest on ICH issues, the existence of certain Jordanian institutions, organizations that contributed in various and divergent ways to this field, and the potential and adaptability of the Jordanian laws and legislation to deal with culture related matters. Based on the information collected, it became evident that there were considerable weaknesses in integrating cultural heritage issues into the strategic planning of the nation. Additionally, disseminating the importance of ICH and its great value among Jordanians on governmental, institutional, and public levels was not carried out satisfactorily, resulting in a lack of awareness programs. If awareness efforts were carried out, this would have enabled the people to explore the value of their ICH and allowed them to become aware of its importance as reflected in the cultural diversity of the Jordanian society.

Samarkand, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the oldest urban centers, has long storied relationship with music. Archaeological findings, such as the 3,000-year-old flute discovered around the old city, tell us that music culture has ancient roots in Central Asia. Additional studies provide evidence that the ud, a medieval variant of a lute, was spread throughout the orient much earlier than it was in Europe. One of the biggest influences on the music culture of Samarkand was its unique position as a crossroad of the Great Silk Road, a situation that allowed the melding of musical traditions from throughout Asia. In support and recognition of its ancient traditions in music and its position as a crossroad, President Islam Karimov of the Republic of Uzbekistan initiated an international music festival called Sharq Taronalari (Melodies of the Orient).

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play a vital role in safeguarding intangible cultural heritage (ICH). There can be NGOs with international reach that consistently work with governments and other international organizations, and there are also smaller NGOs that work on a regional, national, or even local level, strengthening ICH values in their communities. All of them are equally important as they create a global network of interconnected organizations and people working towards the same objectives, in this case, promoting and safeguarding all forms of intangible cultural heritage. These partnerships can take different structures, sizes, and levels of commitment or responsibility from each part. I’m going to share my experiences in both perspectives: at the national level with Guamanique, a community-based cultural NGO in Puerto Rico, and at an international level with the International Organization of Folk Art, which is an NGO in consultative relations with UNESCO.

Efforts for the sustainable development of human cultures, which is defined by UNESCO as its most important goal, have already affected our lives in many ways. Among others, the inheritance and development of ICH are considered unique to humanity and the quintessence of human life. Education plays a vital role in the process of cultural inheritance and development. In particular, the experiences and education we receive during elementary school as young members of a future generation have a critical and meaningful influence on our lives. The significance of ICH education for the sustainable development of humanity is evidently underlined in UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and its Operational Directives.

India is the repository of an astounding wealth of intangible heritage with distinctive qualities of its own. The variety of geophysical features of India reflects its cultural diversity, from the Himalayan peaks to the sea coast, river-fed plains, marshlands, and deserts, all of which has helped shape its intangible culture in consonance with nature. India is a pluralistic society that combines different religions, faiths, racial communities, languages, and cultures. It has a wide range of artistic activities, traditional knowledge systems, folklore, performing arts and festivals, with about eight hundred dialects, and more than twenty officially recognized languages, several faiths, various styles of art, architecture, literature, music, dance, and lifestyle patterns from the urban and rural to the tribal.

The International Mask Arts & Culture Organization (IMACO) was established in 2006 to construct archives of mask-related culture that is integral to cultural community symbols.

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.