ICH Courier is the quarterly magazine on ICH in the Asia-Pacific region issued by ICHCAP since 2009. Every issue has its own theme under the title of the Windows to ICH, and the theme of the Vol 3 is 'ICH AND TEXTILES'.

ICH Courier is the quarterly magazine on ICH in the Asia-Pacific region issued by ICHCAP since 2009. Every issue has its own theme under the title of the Windows to ICH, and the theme of the Vol 10 is 'ICH AND NEW YEAR FESTIVALS.'

In November 2013, Jindo County hosted a symposium on shaman heritage and public events. Organized by ICHCAP and the World Ethnic Dance Institute with the support of the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea, the participants from Northeast Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia explored measures through which shaman cultural heritage can be safeguarded with international cooperation. Diversity and Commonality of Shaman Heritage in Asia—Current Safeguarding Status and Challenges of Asian Shaman Heritage is a dual-language publication with the meeting’s discussion and presentation papers available in both English and Korean.

The 2016 Sub-Regional Meeting for Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding in Southeast Asia: Enhancing Viablity in Intangible Cultural Heritage Community, jointly organized by ICHCAP and George Town World Heritage Incorporated, was held on 18 and 19 September 2017 in George Town, Penang Malaysia.\n\nThis report is composed of twenty presentation papers delivered at the meeting by national representatives, NGOs, UNESCO Office in Bangkok, and facilitators of UNESCO Capacity Building Workshop. In addition, the outcome document of the meeting is also affixed to put it on record the adopted recommendations of the participants in moving forward together.

UNESCO-ICHCAP, with cooperation of the International Institute for Central Asian Studies(IICAS) and Korea-Central Asia Cooperation Forum Secretariat, organized the launching events of the Silk Roads Living Heritage Network (SLN) on October 28 and 29, at DDP, Seoul, and Online during Korea Foundation’s ‘Public Diplomacy Week. This publication contains about this event.\n\nThis 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.

ICHCAP published the book Living Heritage Series, Water: Interconnectivity between Intangible Cultural Heritage and Science in collaboration with the i-WSSM.\n\nThe subject of this publication is water. This book was made with contributions of nine authors with stories about ‘water management’ and ‘water and culture’ of the Asia Pacific region. The objective of the publication is to expand the boundary or interface of water centering on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6, Clean Water and Sanitation.

This book explores creative and historical traditional food of the world through the articles provided by sixteen authors from different countries. Food is a critical element in human life and is intimately linked to the history and identity of individuals and communities. Traditional food and food ways of a community, region, or an ethnic group have become unique practices through close interactions reflecting the diverse features of the community, including the natural environment, society, politics, economy, and culture. Traditional food and food ways are then firmly embedded in the community while they are transmitted, adapted, and recreated across generations. As such, traditional food is an indispensable element in communal life and is the root of life. This book presents information on ICH reflected in traditional food and allows readers to explore the intangible value of traditional food through historical backgrounds and stories concerning the food.

ICHCAP initiated the project Field Survey of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Efforts in the Asia-Pacific Region in 2009. The project aims to collect information on safeguarding systems and policies, ICH inventories, ICH related organizations, ICH lists, and pending issues regarding ICH safeguarding, and it aims to obtain a grasp on the current situation to discover appropriate measures to promote ICH safeguarding. This is the basic field survey report from Thailand.

Kathakali (lit. story- play) is a highly sophisticated and stylized semi-classical dance drama prevalent all over Kerala. It evolved amalgamating features from all folk and classical performing art forms of Kerala. \nKathakali as a performing art evolved from Ramanattam. The King of Kottarakkara adapted eight episodes from the Ramayana as Ramanattam. However, in the 17th century, the King of Vettathu Nadu modified Ramanattam to develop a classical dance-drama, the Kathakali.\nKathakali derives its themes from the Indian epics, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Bhagavata Purana. The language used for the songs in Kathakali is a mixture of Malayalam and Sanskrit (manipravalam). For theatric communication, the actor uses dance movements, a codified language of gestures and facial expressions. Kathakali displays great dexterity and potential for the actor to show his histrionic and interpretative skills through resorting to an elaborate method of acting.\nThe performance of Kathakali follows a particular sequence. At dusk, the percussionists play their instruments to announce the event (keli). The traditional lamp is lit in front of the performing area (vilakku veppu). The horizontal drum is played to signal the commencement (arangu keli or suddha manddalam), and singers recite the invocation (sloka). \nTwo performers dance a ritual invocation behind the curtain, salute the deities. \nAnother prayer dance is performed in front of the curtain, followed by the ensemble of the drums (chenda, maddalam, chengila, elathalam). The actual story (katha) begins only after these preliminaries. \nIn Kathakali, the make-up and costume represent different traits of character. The colours are symbolic; green represents satwik (pious and virtuous characters); red patch on a green face to represent rajasi’(valorous characters); and a thadi (beard) is added to represents tamasic (evil traits of a character). Elaborate costumes and intricate face make-up In Kathakali is done to mask the human face and invest it with super-human characteristics. \nKathakali has transformed over the recent years from all-night performances in temples and other sites, to three-hour presentations in contemporary settings. The plays have become abridged to suit the tastes of a new audience.

Based on the ICHCAP Field Survey on Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Efforts in some South Asian countries (2010–2013), this summary provides a brief overview on the ICH situation in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka . The summary focuses mainly on ICH safeguarding systems, safeguarding policies, and ICH inventories as well as on pending issues and the urgent safeguarding needs of these countries. Moreover, information on the main entities in charge of ICH safeguarding and opinions of each country on the issue of community involvement are provided. To give a quick overview these countries’ participation in ICH safeguarding at the international level, some additional information related to UNESCO is specified as well. Some information on the ICH safeguarding status of Pakistan is updated, based on Periodic Report No.00794/Pakistan on the implementation of the Convention and on the status of elements inscribed on the RL submitted to UNESCO on December 2012. \n\nThis survey report offers a large sample of the diverse ICH situations in South Asian countries. Each country has a different background on the issue of intangible heritage. Although all the participating countries are concerned about the threats facing ICH, most of the countries participating in the survey haven’t defined the ICH and haven’t established national ICH lists and/or ICH inventories.However, each country expresses a high degree of motivation and encouragement for safeguarding o ICH, sharing experiences, and cooperating internationally. A common point noticed among them is that they tend to pay more attention to traditional performing arts in comparison to other ICH domains. Apart from the main subject, information on the situation of intellectual property related to ICH safeguarding in each country is included. However, this issue is very briefly reflected, so it is necessary to go through the ICHCAP Field Survey on Intellectual Property Issues in the Process of ICH Information Building and Information Sharing (2011–2012) to obtain more comprehensive and concrete information on this topic.\n\n-Ratified the ICH Convention in 2005; conducted survey in 2010.\n-As of April 2013, has one element on the RL of UNESCO and no accredited NGOs.

Based on the ICHCAP Field Survey on Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Efforts in some South Asian countries (2010–2013), this summary provides a brief overview on the ICH situation in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka . The summary focuses mainly on ICH safeguarding systems, safeguarding policies, and ICH inventories as well as on pending issues and the urgent safeguarding needs of these countries. Moreover, information on the main entities in charge of ICH safeguarding and opinions of each country on the issue of community involvement are provided. To give a quick overview these countries’ participation in ICH safeguarding at the international level, some additional information related to UNESCO is specified as well. Some information on the ICH safeguarding status of Pakistan is updated, based on Periodic Report No.00794/Pakistan on the implementation of the Convention and on the status of elements inscribed on the RL submitted to UNESCO on December 2012. \n\nThis survey report offers a large sample of the diverse ICH situations in South Asian countries. Each country has a different background on the issue of intangible heritage. Although all the participating countries are concerned about the threats facing ICH, most of the countries participating in the survey haven’t defined the ICH and haven’t established national ICH lists and/or ICH inventories.However, each country expresses a high degree of motivation and encouragement for safeguarding o ICH, sharing experiences, and cooperating internationally. A common point noticed among them is that they tend to pay more attention to traditional performing arts in comparison to other ICH domains. Apart from the main subject, information on the situation of intellectual property related to ICH safeguarding in each country is included. However, this issue is very briefly reflected, so it is necessary to go through the ICHCAP Field Survey on Intellectual Property Issues in the Process of ICH Information Building and Information Sharing (2011–2012) to obtain more comprehensive and concrete information on this topic.\n\n- Ratified the ICH Convention in 2009; conducted survey in 2010.\n- As of April 2013, has one element on the RL of UNESCO and no accredited NGOs.

This publication is prepared by the experts of Kazakhstani National Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) with support of the National Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan for UNESCO and ISESCO and with organizational and financial assistance of the International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO (ICHCAP). Its main purpose is to introduce a wide range of readers to the ICH of our country.