Our current climate change crisis, termed the Anthropocene, has been tied to the history of the colonial plantation, capitalism, empire, nuclear testing, and a globalization era of disposability and waste. All of these histories have impacted (tropical) islands to a far greater extent than their continental counterparts, because islands have often functioned as laboratories for colonial experimentation, from the plantation complex of the Caribbean to nuclear testing in the Pacific. The climate crisis alerts us to the peril of living beyond our limits, yet islanders have long had to negotiate ecological crisis as well as find innovative solutions of sustainability and resilience in bounded lands and with limited resources.

This paper intends to describe the role and function of Shaman in Myanmar society. The background history of Shaman, the role and function of Shaman, Natkadaw in Myanmar society, and the current situations of Shaman living in Yangon, are elicited. Especially, what are the essential or key factors to become a Shaman in Myanmar, why Myanmar people believe in Nats (spirits), how they offer to the Nats, when they offer to the Nats, what are necessary, who is essential for this ritual or ceremony and how the Shaman maintains and transmits his or her super power from generation to generation are discussed. Descriptive or exploratory and oral history methods are used as the research designs. Secondary analysis, key informant interview are conducted for data collection. As the result outcomes, why Shaman is important to safeguard as Myanmar intangible cultural heritage, why and how the government safeguard the Shaman officially are explored.

Nepal is a multiethnic, multilingual, and multicultural country with rich cultural heritage located between India and China. The 2011 census recognized 125 caste and ethnic groups and 123 different languages. The new constitution of the Nepali federal republic has further recognized all the spoken languages as national languages. The National Foundation for Development of Indigenous Nationalities (NFDIN) recognized fifty-nine indigenous nationalities residing in Nepal in 2002 (NFDIN 2011). However, in the 2011 census only forty-seven indigenous nationalities were reported (CBS 2012). Among them, Tharu is the second-largest indigenous group with a population of 1.7 million residing in various districts of southern Nepal (CBS 2012).

We all need space to fully immerse ourselves in our work, whether it’s an office, a research lab, a café, or a transmission space. Only when we have secured an area in which we can focus on work, we produce a high quality of work. To this end, we select such spaces by ranking them according to criteria such as the floating population, demand, rent, condition, and infrastructure. An artist I know established a studio in the vicinity of Hongik University in Seoul, since it is a bustling downtown area with a large floating population of people involved in art and culture. One pottery artist launched a workshop in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, since Icheon has close historic ties with pottery to the point that there is a village consisting entirely of pottery workshops and factories. The space in which a person takes root for months—or even decades—can reveal much about their life and personality, while allowing visitors to discern what they are about to see. That is the true power of a space.

"It is not for nothing that the Pamir Mountains in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region of the Republic of Tajikistan (GBAO) are called the “Roof of the World”—Ismoil Somoni’s peak reaches 7,495 meters. Pamir is characterized by huge permanent glaciers and narrow mountain ranges with sharp snowy ridges, and large lakes sitting 5,500 meters above sea level. The impenetrable mountain gorges go some way to explaining the emergence of an exceptional lifestyle, different languages, dialects, and monocultures. Currently, six of the oldest East Iranian unwritten languages are in use in the Pamirs: Shugni, Rushani, Bartangi, Yazgulami, Wakhi, and Ishkashimi as well as some Persian dialects and Kyrgyz lan- guages. The folklore of the Pamiri people is passed on not only in local vernacular, but also in Tajik, the official language. The Pamir highlanders have their own distinctive tradi- tions. A person from this region has their journey from birth to death accompanied by all kinds of rituals, customs, and traditions. Life events such as maternity, family and house- hold, wedding, marriage, holiday, and calendar production are marked, adding meaning to the highlanders’ daily life."

The Foundation for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage is a UNESCO-accredited NGO located in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. It was established in 2000 with the objectives of protecting and safeguarding various natural and cultural heritage elements, including intangible heritage values, and carrying out various activities for researching, studying, and promoting natural and cultural heritage properties and ICH values.

The Foundation for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage is a UNESCO-accred-ited NGO located in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. It was established in 2000 with the objectives of protecting and safeguarding various natural and cultural heritage elements, including intangible heritage values, and carrying out various activities for researching, studying, and promoting natural and cultural heritage properties and ICH values. Since its establishment, the Foundation has been actively involved in state efforts to implement the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the ICH and introduce its new requirements in Mongolia. Both members and the president of the Foundation himself have initiated new ICH amendments into existing heritage law to be more compliant with the 2003 Convention (2006). \nSince 2007, in close cooperation with other ICH NGOs, experts and members of the Foun-dation have elaborated on and implemented action policy, introducing the UNESCO Living Human Treasures program in Mongolia. As a result, in 2015, the primary registration work of ICH elements and their bearers was conducted for the first time in Mongolia, and, overall, 88 ICH elements and more than 3,000 individuals as ICH bearers were identified. One hundred individuals were registered on the “National List of ICH Bearers Possessing the High Level of Skills and Knowledge.”

There are many aspects and dimensions to do research on Myanmar lacquer. Myanmar lacquerware has been studied by both local and foreign scholars from artistic and historical points of view. This research highlights the history of Myanmar lacquer, lacquer industry, and its prospects. Myanmar lacquer has a long history and remains as an active cultural phenomenon. But there are very few people who make a living from the lacquerware business. The main problems are the lack of market and scarce resources (labour and raw materials). This research’s objectives are to be able to preserve the traditional Myanmar lacquerware industry, to make it widely known internationally about the process of making Myanmar lacquerware, and to cherish the intangible cultural heritage of Myanmar. It also aims to show and record the current situation of lacquerware industry and to find ways of helping lacquer industry survive the challenges it faces today. In this research, a review of the relevant books, library survey, and field study are done, in addition to interviews with lacquerware makers, taking photographs on many aspects of Myanmar lacquerware, and foreseeing its prospects. The research areas focused on are Bagan and Kyaukka village.\nKey words: lacquer in Myanmar, Bagan, Kyaukka village, industry, production

Since ancient times, Syrians have practised traditional medicine just as many eastern and western civilizations have, where common natu-ral ingredients—such as tea and opium in the east and tobacco, coffee and wine in the west—were used in traditional methods for healing ailments and diseases. Traditional therapies used in Syria include plant- and animal-based therapies, leech therapy, cupping, cauteriza-tion and others.\nToday, traditional medicine is practised by all Syrian communities, where traditions and beliefs vary among different governorates and areas. There are literally hundreds of traditional healing methods still practiced in Syria today.

Traditional Mongolian medicine has a history of more than 2,500 years, and it is one of the most valuable heritages of the Mongolian people. During this long period, although keeping its own distinct features, traditional Mongolian medicine developed a close relationship with Indian Ayurvedic, Tibetan, and Chinese medicines. In fact, Mongolian and Tibetan medicines have the same theory, diagnostic methods and treatment. Traditional Mongolian medicine was the only available method of healthcare before Western medicine was introduced around the turn of the last century. The service provided by practitioners of traditional medicine covered the entire healthcare spectrum and dealt satisfacto-rily with most health problems at that time. As one of the birthplaces of ancient civilization, Mongolia was one of the earliest areas where medicine developed. Our ncestors discov-ered treatment for sicknesses that grew out of their lifestyle and passed these treatments on to the known world at that time.

"In a region as geographically immense and culturally diverse as the Pacific, intangible cultural heritage must be seen in terms of diverse worldviews, each with its own knowledge system and philosophy of life that structures and informs. This section addresses how intangible cultural heritage is reflected through specific cultural worldviews. As specific and unique as they are, however, each Pacific worldview can be seen as having a commonality structured by three dimensions: the spiritual, the physical, and the afterlife or ancestral realm. \nDespite their commonalities, the themes in this section still represent Pacific elements of knowing, philosophy, governance, and wisdom that sculpt life from vastly unique perspectives. The Tongan concept of heliaki, for instance, is not just a knowledge of language and prose, but rather a construct through which the Tongans build views about themselves and their interactions as well as the hierarchy within their society. In a similar way, Palauan place names are much more than words to mark locations; they are capsules of knowledge, events, and history that help the Palauan people identify themselves and their connections to one another. In these and the other themes in this section, the included values incorporate how the Pacific peoples perceive reality and interconnectedness and how their knowledge has shaped their worlds."

Every nation has its comfort and social foods. Dishes play an influential role as a social object that interacts with people at the table. These recipes are more than just something to eat.\n\nAbgoosht or dizi is a unique, national, and comfort course in Persia. Relatively new, but shows the best of the culinary art in this land. In a word, abgoosht means meat and stock and is the general name for the mixture of meat, legumes, vegetables, and herbs with its own traditional eating habits, tools, side dishes, drinks, and even special dessert. It’s Persian folklore eating habits and a meal prescribed to cure illness.\n\nAbgoosht is a new dish in the Persian kitchen, but it descends from the mighty Safavid kitchen. Cooking a fine cut of lamb with spices between four to six and even ten hours is a subtle oriental cooking technique. The key to a good abgoosht is not losing any water during cooking so, chefs use many methods to keep the moisture locked into the pot. There are around eighty well-known types of this food in Persia, and the ingredients vary from region to region. Ingredients vary, even seasonal, and it follows today guidelines of sustainable food eating habits, and the meat can be substituted with the goat, veal, mutton, chicken, duck, etc.\n\nThis existing dish also has a special custom and tricky habit that would make this recipe even more interesting to try. First of all, you must strain the solid parts of the dish into a bowl and mash them with a mortar until it turns into a soft texture. The name of this part is Goosht-Koubideh eaten with warm oriental bread, herbs, and raw onion; the liquid portion is eaten with cracked and soaked bread like a soup. Abgoosht well developed after the Persian famines to not lose even one calorie of ingredients. So, when the “Goosht-Koubideh” is leftover, some cooks mixed it with eggs and fried the dough in a shallow pan to preserve the food even longer.\n\nSome unique Persian side dishes make the taste unforgettable, side dishes like torshi (pickled vegetables), fresh herbs (mostly reddish and basil), strained yogurt with shallots, etc. Dizi, is accompanied with a drink, a fermented savory yogurt-based beverage usually mixed with dried herbs like thyme or mint. And as the last course of the meal, it’s tradition to have a cup of hot black tea served with rock candy or some other Persian sweets to make the pleasure of trying a rich and nutritious Persian meal.\n\nAbgoosht is one of the most famous Persian dishes among the people, and it is enjoyed on busy days for lunch or after work. There are places around the bazaars in big cities that only serve dizi; these establishments are called dizi-sara (the house of dizi). People get together on big social tables, the floor, or even on beds in restaurants to enjoy this hearty meal.\n\nIn the past, four or even eight people shared a big pot of dizi without knowing each other, and that was a fun way to talk about politics, society, and work. Dizi is also served in ghahve-khane (coffee house) as a lunch that ends with two or three cups of tea with hookah for smoking as a dessert and listening to some ancient folklore narrations from the famous Shahnameh.\n\nThe name of ‘dizi’ itself reflects the pot that the food is cooked in. In Khorasan, artisans make dizi pots from unique stones that keep the heat long and effectively, which is it is one of the best pots for making dizi. The food is traditionally eaten on holiday lunches with the whole family gathered in elders’ houses. It is a social recipe that brings family members together around the table.\n\nYou can have dizi in many other countries around Persia, as culinary cultures with varied recipes have inherited it. Dizi traveled to many neighboring countries and mixed with their own kitchen. Piti is a kind of abgoosht famous in south Caucasian countries like Azerbaijan and parts of Georgia. Also, Iraqi people enjoy tashreeb, the same cooking pattern of dizi making and eating that assimilated in Iraqi culinary traditions.\n\nPhoto : Dizi feast © Mohammad Shirkavand