The culture of the Central Asian steppes expresses itself vividly in the lifestyle of traditional nomadic practices. Mongolian culture has been in practice in the nomadic life and the traditions surrounding the nomad’s home (ger). And it is present in religious celebrations, national festivals, art and crafts, music and dance, language and literature, which form the backbone of Mongolian intangible cultural heritage of Mongolia. Mongolia is filled with valuable cultural properties and intangible cultural heritage of humanity that have been kept or practiced for thousands of years.\n\nGer, Mongolian Traditional Dwelling\nThe traditional architecture of the Mongols differed strongly from that of the settled peoples of Asia and other continents. Centuries ago, there the ger, also known as a yurt, appeared. It still offers shelter to nomads in particular places in Central Asia. Its development and fundamental principles are determined by the specific features of the way of life of Mongol tribes, which made it necessary to evolve a light and collapsible structure to be used as a dwelling or for public functions.\n\nMongolian Language and Literature\nMongolian is the language of most of the Mongolian population and inner Mongolia. By origin, Mongolian is one of the Altaic family of languages, and the history of the Mongolian language is long and complicated. Significant literary work of early Mongolia includes The Secret History of the Mongols, which was published in 1228).\n\nMongolian Religion and Beliefs\nThe Mongols have practiced several religions, of which Shamanism and Buddhism were the most common. The faith in Mongolia is Buddhism, though the state and religion were separated during the socialist period, but with the transition to the parliamentary republic in the 1990s, there has been a general revival of faiths across the country\n\nMongolian Art and Crafts\nMongolian arts and crafts have been passed down across generations from the Paleolithic times to today, leaving behind deep impressions on all facets of life and conscious, aesthetic, and philosophical thinking. Highly developed Mongolian arts and crafts come from the second millennium BCE. The works included sculptured heads of wild animals with exaggerated features. Other items include knives, daggers, and other items of practical and religious use.\n\nMongolian Music and Dance\nMusic is an integral part of Mongolian culture. Among Mongolia’s unique contributions to the world’s musical culture are the long songs, overtone singing, and morin khuur (the horse-headed fiddle). The music of Mongolia is also rich with varieties related to the various ethnic groups of the country. Among the most popular forms of modern music in Mongolia are Western pop and rock genres and the mass songs written by contemporary authors in the form of folk songs.\n\nHorse Culture of Mongolia\nIt is famously known that horses play a large role in the Mongols’ daily and national lives. Common sayings are, “A Mongol without a horse is like a bird without wings,” and “Mongols are born on horseback” these are arguably true words. Even today, horse-based culture is still practiced by nomadic Mongolians.\n\nVisit https://www.toursmongolia.com/tours for additional information about Mongolian culture.\n\nPhoto 1 : Prairie meadow grass inner Mongolia traditional clothing © Batzaya Choijiljav\nPhoto 2~7 : © Batzaya Choijiljav

Efforts for the sustainable development of human cultures, which is defined by UNESCO as its most important goal, have already affected our lives in many ways. Among others, the inheritance and development of ICH are considered unique to humanity and the quintessence of human life. Education plays a vital role in the process of cultural inheritance and development. In particular, the experiences and education we receive during elementary school as young members of a future generation have a critical and meaningful influence on our lives. The significance of ICH education for the sustainable development of humanity is evidently underlined in UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and its Operational Directives.

The Vietnamese Institute for Musicology and the Binh Dinh Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism have jointly organized Bai choi Folk Art of Vietnam and Similar Art Forms around the World, an international conference held on 13 and 14 January 2015 in Qui Nhon City, Binh Dinh Province, Vietnam.

Sonsorol State, one of the Republic of Palau’s sixteen states, is one of Palau’s most remote and inaccessible states. Almost five hundred kilometers south of the Palau’s main islands and a two-day boat journey away, Sonsorol is composed of three island groups (Sonsorol and Fanna, Merir, and Pulo Anna), each approximately a hundred kilometers from each other.

Established in 2000, The Loden Foundation is a registered civil society organization in Bhutan with the objectives of promoting education, cultural preservation, and entrepreneurship among the Bhutanese children and young adults; promoting education and learning at the preschool, school, and post-school stages, and thereby fostering an enlightened and educated society in Bhutan; promoting awareness of the education and the needs of local communities in relation to entrepreneurship, health education, practical skills and crafts, and literacy among remote villages and communities within Bhutan; preserving and promoting the cultures and tradi- tions of Bhutan; and undertaking, if need be, other charitable work that contributes toward the welfare of the public.

We are accustomed to considering how the participation of communities, groups, and individuals in safeguarding their own intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is both a practical necessity and an ethical imperative. Implicit in the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage is a bolder claim: that because intangible cultural heritage plays a vital function within society, its safeguarding is a powerful strategy for communities, groups, and individuals to fortify themselves in the face of rapid sociocultural, economic, and environmental changes. Theconvention is not concerned with safeguarding ICH for its own sake, and neither is it concerned with the past. Instead, the convention looks resolutely forward, its mission being to safeguard ICH as a means of strengthening the viability and resilience of the communities, groups, and individuals concerned. Our goal in safeguarding ICH is to ensure that future generations will continue to have access to the practices, expressions, representations, and knowledge that we enjoy today, and will remain able to utilize them to strengthen the social fabric of communities and groups, even as they face new and unforeseen challenges.

Established in 2000, The Loden Foundation is a registered civil society organization in Bhutan with the objectives of promoting education, cultural preservation, and entrepreneurship among the Bhutanese children and young adults; promoting education and learning at the preschool, school, and post-school stages, and thereby fostering an enlightened and educated society in Bhutan; promoting awareness of the education and the needs of local communities in relation to entrepreneurship, health education, practical skills and crafts, and literacy among remote villages and communities within Bhutan; preserving and promoting the cultures and tradi-tions of Bhutan; and undertaking, if need be, other charitable work that contributes toward the welfare of the public. \n

The Taumako voyaging arts include a wind-position based, systematic model of wayfinding, complex swell patterns not yet reported for other traditions, weather modification, and ancestral lights that signal the direction and distance of land. In this paper I observe that transmission of the ancient voyaging arts has promoted cultural fulfillment, and can result in greater resiliency and sustainability once a basic skill levels have been mastered and partnerships between islands have been re-established.

The decorative and applied art of any country is diverse and multifaceted, remaining a connecting thread between the past and the present, while reflecting the strict adherence of the peoples to the ancient culture of their ancestors. One of the most ancient types of decorative and applied art of the Turkmen people is embroidery, which occupies a special place in the decoration of traditional clothing of both women and men. Embroidery is connected by its theme, symbolism with the ancient history of Turkmenistan, with all the civilizations that have passed through this land.

유네스코아태무형유산센터는 ICHNGO FORUM #HeritageAlive와의 공동협력으로 무형유산 종목도서인 리빙 헤리티지 시리즈 <전통악기>편을 발간하였습니다.\n\n다섯 번째 출판되는 리빙헤리티지 시리즈 <전통악기> 편은 아프리카, 아시아, 유럽의 사례를 소개하는 15명의 저자들의 원고를 담고 있습니다. 특히 저자들은 전승 위기에 처한 전통 음악의 현황을 공유하고, 2003년 협약이 강조하는 활성화 방안에 관하여 서술하고 있는데요, 음악이 가진 치유의 힘을 보여주는 책이라고 할 수 있습니다.

In Japan, etoki, or picture deciphering, is a centuries-old form of performing arts that involves telling stories about Buddhist principles and historic events while using emaki (illustrated scroll) or kakejiku (hanging picture) as a visual reference. Other related performances are called sekkyou, or sermons, and they are distinguished from etoki in that sekkyou includes narration without any visual references. The stories for both arts, which were originally performed by monks and nuns, may explain the history of a shrine or temple, a pilgrimage, a biography of Shakyamuni, Buddhist sutra, or any other related topics. The origins of this heritage element is unclear, but some evidence indicates that it arrived in Japan from Southeast Asia through China and Korea, and historical records do tell us that monks were performing etoki for aristocratic audiences in Japan by the tenth century.