Cambodian Living Arts’ (CLA) mission is to be a catalyst in a vibrant arts sector, inspiring new generations. Established in 1998, the organization’s original goal was to keep Cambodia’s endangered intangible heritage alive. As the context of Cambodia changed, and a new generation of artists began to emerge, CLA started offering scholarships, fellowships and professional development training, whilst creating job opportunities and encouraging cultural entrepreneurship. To support the transforming environment, CLA also engaged in cultural policy advocacy, supported the development of arts education in public schools and built new audiences for arts. CLA’s programs aim to give artists the resources and opportunities to start telling stories of contemporary Cambodia. Cambodian Living Arts believes that arts are at the heart of a vital society and supports cultural participation for all.

UNESCO’s Intangible Heritage Convention, which was adopted in 2003 and entered into force in April 2006, highlighted “Recognizing that com-munities, in particular indigenous communities, groups and, in some case, individuals, play an important role in the production, safeguarding, mainte-nance and re-creation of the intangible cultural heritage, thus helping to enrich cultural diversity and human creativity.” Articles 1 and 15 on purposes of the Convention make further references to issues relating to the participation of communities, groups, and individuals. By respecting and empowering practicing communities to define, desig-nate their intangible heritage, and engage in protecting ICH, many states have come to acknowledge community as one of the central goals of the convention. In fact, the interrelationship between community and heritage seems to be inseparable. Valdirmar Tr. Hasfstein pointed out that “At closer inspection, intangible cultural heritage is practically synonymous with community” and therefore “the purpose of the conven-tion is not only to safeguard traditional practice and expressions, but also, and just as importantly, to safeguard communities” (Valdirmar Tr. Hasfstein 2004, p.212)

Since the organizers of this international academic conference sent the four essays to be featured in Session 1 in advance, I will present my opinions and questions regarding the said four essays and end by opening shared agendas for discussion based on the aim of this international academic conference, which was organized as a way to contribute to the transmission and growth of traditional maritime culture in the Asia-Pacific region.

This networking program is based on experiences and achievements obtained from the collaborative work of UNESCO-ICHCAP in the living heritage field in Central Asia over the last decade.\n\nFor reference, the networking program comes on the heels of a three-party MoU signed by ICHCAP and organizations in Uzbekistan in 2019 and was followed by a Central Asia network meeting in Kazakhstan in 2019. In 2020, ICHCAP in cooperation with International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS), conducted a survey project about ICH festivals along the Silk Roads, particularly with countries along the steppe route. Regarding the survey result, ICHCAP, IICAS and Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum Secretariat of the Korea Foundation (KF) held an online webinar and a strategic meeting to consider the need for realizing the multilateral values of Silk Roads-related cooperation

Tug-of-war is a universal cultural phenomenon all around the world. Especially in Asia, the tug-of-war is related to rice farming and is thus commonly found in the farming cultures of Northeast and Southeast Asia. As practiced in Asia, the tug-of-war is performed either as a prayer for rain, or for a good harvest, or to foretell whether the year’s harvest will be good or bad. Tug-of-war activities have similarities that include two teams pulling at the opposite ends of a rope. They also have distinctness, individuality, and creativity interactivity with the climate or environment, making tug-of-war events worth preserving as a common element of Asian intangible cultural heritage (ICH).\n\nRecognizing the universality and distinctness of tug-of-war traditions in Asia, Cambodia, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam prepared a multinational file to nominate “Tugging Rituals and Games” to the UNESCO Representative List of the ICH of Humanity through mutual communications and meetings. The Republic of Korea submitted the nomination file to the Convention Secretariat on behalf of the four countries on 31 March 2014. The nomination file was eventually recognized on 2 December 2015 during the tenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee held from 30 November to 4 December 2015 in Namibia.\n\nThe inscription of Tugging Rituals and Games to the UNESCO Representative List of the ICH of Humanity has brought about a sensation in each country. The news of the multinational inscription was covered in a slew of media outlets in each country, and in particular, Vietnam selected the multinational inscription as one of the top ten cultural news events of 2015. The Republic of Korea, which led the multinational inscription, conducted commemorative events, such as holding an exhibition and publishing books in Korean and English.

The intangible cultural heritage of the Tajik people has seen a long history of formation and development and has grown in multiple ways and expressions and forms. These intangible cultural forms have always played significant functional role both in past and today. Indeed, in the course of history as society developed from ordinary ways to more complex some of the cultural forms and expressions being affected by different factors (for instance industrial development) have either ceased or transformed. \nHowever the academic study of the aspects of intangible cultural heritage in Tajikistan begun in the last decades of the 19th and early decades of the 20th centuries. In 1951 at the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tajikistan specialized research Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography named after Ahmadi Donish was set up and henceforth major ethnographic and historical expeditions and special researches were conducted employing local scholars.

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.

Many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) concern themselves with biological conservation but fewer explore the need for conservation of intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Pacific Blue Foundation focuses both on biological and cultural conservation, primarily in Fiji, and recognizes fundamental linkages between the two. For example, traditional marine resource governance at the community level often created “tabu” (pronounced tamboo) on their reefs that restricted or prohibited fishing. Modern ecologists who propose marine protected areas (MPAs) recognize Fijian cultural tradition as knowledge the ancestors understood to be healthy for the ecosystem. Pacific Blue Foundation (PBF) has sought to learn the stories of ancestral tabu areas to assist creation of new MPAs. One of the most iconic elements of Fijian ICH is their more than 3,000 years of construction, and navigating double-hulled sailing canoes. Here we briefly explore the role these traditional sailing canoes had in the human migration into Oceania, and the effort PBF has made in the past 15 years to revitalize the construction of these canoes and to envision their role in providing sustainable livelihoods in the future.

Of the fifty-four ethnic groups in Vietnam, the Kinh (also known as the Viet) people account for 85 percent of the entire population of Vietnam while the remaining 15 percent of the population is made up of the other fifty-three minorities. Within the group of minorities are the Nung people who have a population of around one million and reside in the northern mountainous provinces on the border with China.

Laos is aware that culture is the foundation for a nation’s survival. At the same time, culture is considered a driving force and end target for social development. A Lao proverb says, ‘culture proves nationality, and behavior proves social standing (of someone), so to lose culture means to lose the nation (population)’. Based on this consciousness and belief, the Lao government generally considers cultural affairs as the basis for formulating policies and strategies to preserve, promote, and develop national culture. A recent and noticeable achievement by the Ministry of Information and Culture can be seen in the organization’s growing success in promoting and expanding ‘the cultural family model’ and ‘the cultural village model’ within communities nationwide.

Throughout the years, I have been researching Korean recreational activ-ities, and among them, the tug-of-war was definitely the most central theme. According to my research, the Korean tug-of-war has many different fea-tures following the different regional characteristics, but they also have similar patterns. Although it is possible to speculate that the diverse characteristics of each region’s tug-of-war is due to the area’s geo-ecological, sociocultural, and magi-co-religious factors and culture exchange, it is difficult to prove these factors in depth. Thus, this paper examines the diverse features present in the tug-of-war through studies completed up to now. Also I would like to add that the only intent for the tug-of-war studies was to compile and examine them in this report. Despite many methods in examining the diversity of tug-of-war, this paper sets a few standards to reveal the present features, and with these standards, the meaning of Korean tug-of-war can be understood.