Central Asia stands at the crossroads of ancient civilisations. Its territory, crossed by the northern part of the great Silk Road, constitutes an ensemble of cultural heritage sites and monuments that express common historical experiences as well as reflect an extraordinary cultural diversity dating from prehistoric times to the Islamic period and beyond. For centuries, the phenomenon of intangible cultural heritage was a key factor for the transmission of indigenous cultural traditions for future generations as well as a matching point for intercultural dialogue in Central Asia—a region with unique oral and music traditions.

In June 2012, Samoa celebrated its fiftieth year of independence. It was the first Pacific island country to gain independence, and the Polynesians living in this small group of islands have been bequeathed with a rich and distinguished cultural heritage.

Torn apart by decades of conflict, post-2003 Afghanistan was on the brink of an economic, social, and cultural collapse. Besides the much-mediatized shelling of the country’s material heritage, such as the Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan’s intangible heritage equally took an untold toll. In addition to various practices that had been directly targeted and proscribed (such as making the rubab, a short-necked lute), a general weakening of the national economy, disruption of raw material procurement networks, and an overall destruction of the social fabric put a majority of Afghanistan’s heritage at risk. Particularly threatened were its craftsmen, the stewards of woodcarving, goldsmithing, or miniature techniques, skills firmly rooted in more than 3,000 years of artistic traditions and defining features of many of the country’s communities.

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.

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.

After gaining independence and under the initiative of the president, Uzbekistan commenced on a large-scale project to revitalize historic cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. These efforts resulted in the restoration of hundreds of historic sites, and they created better conditions to research, safeguard, and propagate folk arts, knowledge, and skills of traditional craftsmanship, which were traditionally transmitted by word of mouth, from master to apprentices. In 1995 the government of the Republic of Uzbekistan adopted a law that grants taxation immunity to crafts-men working individually. The law gave a huge impetus to the revival and development of popular craftsmanship.

Khon is one of the most significant performing arts of Thailand. It is an important traditional dance and art style dated from the Ayutthaya period. It has its own unique identity and integrates different fields of art, literature, rituals, and crafts.

Since 2014, NGOs has been playing an important, if not decisive, role in ICH safeguarding, and the UNESCO Convention 2003 was implemented in Ukraine. The development center “Democracy through Culture,” the independent think-and-do tank engaged in cultural policy issues, including cultural heritage, took a core part in preparing the periodic report of Ukraine on the implementation of the Convention 2003 (approved at the eleventh session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Addis Ababa, in 2016) and coordination of all stakeholders.

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.

The Central Asian region is a unique area where centuries-old civilisations, religions, and cultures have intersected. The region’s ICH provides the basis for historical self-identification of the people that inhabit the region, and this ICH has influence on their future spiritual development. The ancestral heritage is intertwined in a vast cultural material, which reveals itself in folklore, legends, festivals, and games; in the rules and norms of social behaviour; in music, songs, and dances; and in national costumes as well as in decorative and applied arts and crafts.

Azerbaijan is one of the countries whose history is inextricably linked with the Silk Road. From ancient times, the network trade routes connecting the east with the west and the south with the north crossed the territory of Azerbaijan.

For revitalize local crafts after COVID 19 pandemic, Joseph Lo proposes that in order to build greater resilience for the crafts sector to mitigate against future crisis, it is imperative to strengthen the linkages of craft products not only with other sectors but within the cultural system which it was initially made for. Focusing on the two case-studies - one in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, Joseph Lo suggested a new approach to prevent negative consequences of future global crisis.