Gold has been long viewed and used as an ornament of preciousness and luxury. Gold is often used to decorate textiles and this process is referred to as gold appliqué. Gold appliqué has a long history in Korea, and there are several records explaining a situation where the government prohibited the use of gold appliqué during the Three Kingdoms era (4-7 CE) due to concerns about the dissipation of the country’s wealth.

The Azerbaijani Carpet Makers Union (ACMU), founded in January 2010, is a voluntary self-governmental public association of citizens rallied to support Azerbaijani carpet weaving.The ACMU seeks to promote a revival of the powerful spiritual heritage of carpets, the national traditions of the Azerbaijani people, a consolidation of the creative potential of seen figures of society and culture, support for talented children and youth, and creative carpet dynasties. The purpose of the ACMU is also to convey objective information about the unique national culture, rich historical heritage, and diversity of the carpet art of Azerbaijan to the international community.

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.

Pebaek was one of the important ritual procedures of a traditional wedding ceremony. The ritual was performed at the groom’s house after the bride finished the wedding ceremony at her house. Pebaek was to introduce herself properly to her new in-laws and, her rst greetings were to the inlaw parents and relatives.

The current topic of this conference is not very well studied in the Philippines. The word –shamanism- is regarded as an arbitrary umbrella-catch-all term for lack of something better because what it refers to in the Philippines is a far ranging set of practices, belief and value systems that are very specific. It is with some trepidation that these sets of practices, beliefs and value systems may not at all fit into the north-Asian concept of Shamanism, especially with reference to the structure and social organization. The latest local term used is –pagdidiwata – referring to the rituals invoking spiritual beings (diwata). The other terms used\nare bunung, baki, pagaanito, alisig, and many others depending on the culture of the some 80 different major ethno-linguistic groups in the country. Common to all is the belief in the existence of a spirit world to which the world of people should relate, through the medium of ritual specialists. There are differences, however, in the structure and social organization in the social behavior related to ethnic practice.

The paper presents the status of Shamanism practice, in terms of state policy, research status and challenges for the Shaman heritage in Bhutan. The paper is based on field research and policy analysis conducted by the National Library and Archive of Bhutan under a ICHCAP project grant. An overview of shamanism in different regions of Bhutan is presented with a region-wise categorization of Shamanism in Bhutan. This is followed by a brief overview of four shamanism practices prevalent in Bhutan, three in the southern region and one in the western region. The preliminary data show that the Shamanistic practices in Bhutan, as in other parts of the world, has been deeply rooted in religion and supernatural power. The paper also presents future plans and initiatives of the National Library and Archives Division for the documentation and preservation of Shaman heritage. In absence of any written state policy regarding the preservation and promotion of Shaman heritage, the study concludes by proposing some recommendations to the government and local stakeholders for the preservation and promotion of the practice.

Co-orgarnized by ICHCAP and Hue Monuments Conservation Centre (HMCC), this year’s Asia-Pacific ICH NGO Conference was held in Hue, Vietnam under the theme of ICH NGOs towards Sustainable Development of Communities.

Teyyam is a divine dance that is prevalent in the northern districts of Kerala, such as Kannur and Kasargod. The name teyyam is derived from daivam, a Sanskrit word meaning ‘god’ or ‘deity’. Performed in shrines, sacred groves, houses, and open places, teyyam represents mythological, divine, ancestral, animal, and heroic characters, each with its own distinct shape and form of origin. There are over 350 of these teyyams.

Traditional games over the centuries have played an important role in the formation and development of personality. They are considered an effective method of bringing up children or transmitting values and culture to the young. Games provide children with opportunities to overcome difficulties, gain life skills, and prepare themselves for the future. They are vehicles for teaching ideas of freedom, independence, and love for country. Moreover, games help to develop their physical and cognitive skills of children, enrich their consciousness, stir their imagination, enliven their memory, and develop their professional skills for the future.

Traditional navigators are trained to recognize physical signals in, “sea, skies, and stars, memory signals from knowledge of star, swell, and wind compasses… and cultural knowledge recorded in chants, dances, and stories”.

Avana was once named Te Avatapu-ki-Avaiki (the Sacred Passage to Avaiki, the ancestral homeland of the Polynesian people). There is a sense of realization when you stand on the shoreline looking into the mouth of the passage because it appears as though the sea has disappeared into the horizon and onto Avaiki, hence its name.