The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) ratified the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention in 2008. Since then, the country has nominated three elements to the Convention’s Representative List, a mechanism of the Convention designed to draw attention to the importance of living heritage in general, on an international level. The first two elements listed by the DPRK were Arirang Folk Singing in 2014 and Traditional Kimchi-making in 2015, both of which were also listed separately by the Republic of Korea (ROK). Last year, when both countries listed an element jointly for the first time—traditional Korean wrestling, ssirum (also spelled ssireum) —it marked an historic moment in the cultural relations between the DPRK and the ROK and allowed culture to play a bridging role currently inaccessible through most other channels of cooperation.

Ms Suzanne Ogge, Heritage Specialist and ICH Consultant/ Accredited trainer for the UNESCO Global Capacity-building Program in the Asia Pacific Region. \nThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) ratified the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Convention (hereon ‘the 2003 Convention) in 2008. Since then, the country has nominated three elements to the Convention’s Representative List, which is aimed at drawing attention to the importance of living heritage in general, both within the nominating country, and on an international level. As most of you would be aware, State Parties to the Convention may prepare nomination files for the purpose of listing a living tradition (also referred to as ICH) and in doing so, contribute to raising awareness both nationally and internationally about the importance not only of the element inscribed on the list, but of intangible heritage in general.

Traditional music: the soul of the universe! Traditional music: the unspoken language!\n\nAll around the world music plays an important role in communicating human expressions and emotions. Besides being an artistic and creative form of expression, music is associated with festivity—the celebrations of new beginnings, birth, initiation, courtship, marriage, and death. Music, with or without instruments, is an integral part of traditional occupations and daily chores, such as planting, harvesting, and processing food, herding, fishing, and craft making, such as carpentry, pottery, and basketry. \n\nMusic communicates meaning during rituals and rites and is often used as a tool for meditation. With or without song, the sounds of flutes, drum, trumpets, gongs, bagpipes, and others can evoke memories and transport people to places of happiness, peace, hope, nostalgia, and melancholy. As Plato, the philosopher said, “music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” The ability to sing and create music is a gift bestowed on a person regardless of his or her social status. Regardless of its source, music can be embraced by people of all walks of life and is an intrinsic part of cultural heritage

The article refers to the safeguarding process of the musical instrument called zampogna in the experience of the NGO Cultural Association, Circolo della Zampogna (from here on referred to as Circolo). According to benevolent observers, this constitutes one of the most active and successful in this field (Bini 2017) even if it must be said that others have been carried out since the 1970s and more recently. The first and most important safeguarding activity, however, is that carried out by those who have continued to make and play this bagpipe even in the years of profound socio-economic and cultural changes, which, since the second half of the last century, occurred in its world of belonging. Without forgetting that even the members and supporters of the Circolo, spread in almost all the Italian regions and in various foreign countries, have played a significant role by contributing with their dissemination and promotion to strengtha the community’s awareness towards this element of its heritage. To all of them go all our admiration and our most sincere thanks

Une musicienne entre chez nous et dépose sa grosse boîte sur la table du salon. Comme un écrin, celle-ci s’ouvre et laisse apparaître un accordéon. Un autre musicien barbu pose un étui et en sort une guitare, sous l’œil accoutumé de son chien. La salle s’enflamme à travers le rythme et les volutes de fumée de cigarette. Mes parents, tantôt danseurs ou musiciens, me somment d’aller me coucher, mais je fais semblant d’y aller et je reste caché en haut de l’escalier avec mon frère. Fasciné, je m’arrache au sommeil pour écouter jouer des membres de groupes culte tels que Le Rêve du diable ou La Bottine souriante.\n\nD’aussi loin que je me souvienne donc, j’ai été bercé par ce son si caractéristique de l’accordéon diatonique et de ses anches dites mouillées, c’est-à-dire des lamelles accordées suivant des fréquences suffisamment éloignées entre elles pour que cela produise une sonorité forte et large, avec un soupçon de dissonance parfaite pour accrocher les cœurs et surtout les chanteuses, les danseurs ou les gigueuses!

The people inhabiting the present territory of Uzbekistan have their rich folklore, like any other nation on the earth. Dastans are special among the genres of folklore epics in terms of volume and variety of the means of expression. Like other major genres of folk art, they arise on the basis of archaic folklore and ancient national history and incorporate both ancient cultural traditions and the memory of the formation of the people, their spiritual world and historical destinies, their civil, moral and aesthetic ideals. Dastan (in Persian داستان), means ‘story’. It is the epic folklore and literature of the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Dastans are either folklore or literary interpretations of heroic myths, legends and fairy stories.

As it happens, Skaņumāja, a small non-governmental organization, has emerged as the current leader in submissions to the Latvian National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Despite the extensive work that has been invested in writing these submissions, this was never the organization’s goal. It was rather our members’ interest in the practice of folklore and traditional music that gradually led to the evolution of deeper interest in Latvia’s waning instrumental musical traditions. This has now become our organization’s most important goal—what was once a hobby has become our principal mission. These non-classical instrumental traditions offer a wealth of material capable of diversifying the cultural landscape while also serving as resources for a range of cultural, extra-curricular, special, and lifelong educational, social work, and leisure and tourism-related production, all the while averting the loss of unique musical instruments, repertoires, and techniques.

Dondang Sayang is a Malay traditional music and song that is well-known in the State of Malacca and still practised by four communities such as the Malay, Baba Nyonya, Chitty and Portuguese. The performances are accompanied by violin, rebana, gong and accordion and sing by two singers of the opposite sex, who sing in quatrains. It has received UNESCO’s recognition as a Representative List of The Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on 29th November 2018.