Seated Tugging is practiced in the village festival of Thach Ban Ward, Long Bien District, Hanoi city.\nThis village is situated on the land along the Red River dike. The people live mainly on farming and rice cultivation, so water is extremely important. The legend of Seated Tugging is rooted in the desire for sufficient water for life and production. Thus, the saints that people worship are all related to water. Seated Tugging expresses the desire for good weather and good harvest.\nSeated Tugging is done on the ground. A rattan rope is threaded through ironwood pillars fixed to the ground. The tugging game is played by two teams (nineteen people per team) sitting on the ground. One leg is bent, the other is straight, and the heels provide the leverage to pull. The teams also have to prepare gifts of sticky rice and a pig head covered with fat to offer to the saints. Seated Tugging is a ritual and a game, played in three-round matches at the Tran Vu temple festival. There is always a winning team. According to the compact of the community, it symbolizes luck and flourishing for the year. These compacts, concepts, and conditions for participation for Seated Tugging are prescribed\nby the community and maintained from generation to generation. The value of the ritual and game has a spiritual character and also expresses cultural creativity. It is the conversion of beliefs or desires into a cultural expression of offerings, rituals, and performances, which is reflected in the behavior between the two teams, as well as between the game participators, flag keeper, and drum player. All communities participate in the ritual and game voluntarily, fairly, and without rivalry.

Thánh Gióng’s Statue at Phù Đổng Temple, Phù Đổng Commune, Gia Lâm District Photographer Nguyễn Trung Bình, 2009. © Vietnam Institute of Culture and Arts Studies.

Thánh Gióng’s horse at the enacted battle at Gióng Festival, Phù Đổng Commune, Gia Lâm District.\nPhotographer Xuân Át, 2005. © Vietnam Institute of Culture and Arts Studies

Flycam to shoot the panorama of Phu Dong village

The film is about the traditional village festival in Phu Dong village that is organized annually to commemorate the Giong God from the 7th to the 9th days of the fourth lunar month. Among the Commanders, the Commander of the Flag is the most important, symbolizing the communal God. It is the task of Hieu to choose good people from decent families to serve the God. After taking part in the festival, they are honored by people in the area. The film emphasizes the social and religious aspects of the life of the local village people who worship their local god and the festival reflects the spiritual life of the community.

Fabric making art has been known in the territory of Uzbekistan since ancient times. Initially fabrics were weaved only from cotton. But in the first and second centuries bce, due to trading along the Great Silk Road, our ancestors learned the secrets of weaving silk fabrics.\n\nThis film includes some of the thirty-two stages involved with making abr fabrics. Rasuljon Mirzaahmedov is the representative of the ninth generation of abr makers. He revived various secrets of abr making as the result of his research on Uzbek fabrics being kept not only in the museums of Uzbekistan but also in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg and in other cities of Europe. As follow up his studies he established ikat weaving workshops in many regions of Uzbekistan as well as in neighboring countries.

In the historical books and folk beliefs of the Việt, there have been many stories and legends of Thánh Gióng - the Saint of the ancient Việt who was considered as one of the four immortal gods by the Vietnamese nationwide. The monarchic dynasties of the Great Việt in Vietnam bequeathed him as a Heavenly King. Legend has it that he was born as the result of a magical union between a girl from Gióng village and the giant footprint of the rain god in the Việt’s myths. At the age of three, he grew miraculously into a giant after hearing the King’s appeal to find gifted people to save the country and its people. After defeating the foreign invaders, the hero went to Sóc mountain and flew into the heaven.

Phu Dong Village in Vietnam holds a traditional festival to celebrate Saint Giong from the seventh to the ninth days of the fourth lunar month every year. One of the most important figures in the festival is Hieu, the Flag Commander. It is the Flag Commander's responsibility to select young men of good character from decent families in the village to serve the saint. Those selected are honored by the local residents after taking part in the festival.\n\nThis video shows the social and religious aspects of the lives of local people who worship their local god, as well as the spiritual life of the local community reflected in the festival.

ICH Video Production in the Asia-Pacific Region : Central Asia\n\nRapid urbanization and westernization are changing the environments in which intangible cultural heritage is rooted. The importance of documentation that traces the effect of social changes on intangible cultural heritage is being emphasized as a safeguarding measure. Quality video documentation is an important resource that enables the conservation and transmission of existing intangible cultural heritage and raises its visibility.\n\nVideo documentation is the best medium to record intangible cultural heritage in the most lifelike manner, using the latest technologies. It is also an effective tool for communicating with the public. However, conditions for video production in the Asia-Pacific remain poor, requiring extensive support for quality video documentation.\n\nICHCAP has been working to build the safeguarding capabilities of Member States and raise the visibility of intangible cultural heritage in the Asia-Pacific by supporting the true-to-life documentation of intangible cultural heritage as this heritage is practiced and cooperating with experts, communities, and NGOs in related fields.\n\nSince 2010, ICHCAP has hosted annual Central Asian sub-regional network meetings with Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Mongolia to support the ICH safeguarding activities of Central Asia. Through their collaboration, ICHCAP has supported projects involving collecting ICH information, producing ICH websites, and constructing ICH video archives.\n\nAt the Sixth Central Asia Sub-regional Network Meeting in Jeonju in 2015, ICHCAP, four Central Asian countries, and Mongolia adopted a second three-year cooperation project plan on producing ICH videos to enhance the visibility of ICH in Central Asia.\n\nICHCAP developed guidelines and training programs for the project and invited video and ICH experts from the participating countries, and held a workshop in November 2015. After the workshop, focal points for the project were designated in each country, and each focal point organization formed an expert meeting and a video production team to produce ICH videos.\n\nInterim reports were submitted to ICHCAP in February 2016, and the first preview screening was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, during the Seventh Central Asia Sub-regional Network Meeting in May 2016. Since then, each country has carried out the project according to the project plan. ICHCAP met with each country between October 2016 to February 2017 to check on the project progress.\n\nAfter the final preview screening during the Eighth Central Asia Sub-regional Network Meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in 2017, final editing process took place in each country, and fifty ICH videos were completed by October 2017.\n\nAll photos introduced on this page along with fifty ICH videos are from the exhibition 'Living Heritage: Wisdom of Life' held in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and the Republic of Korea. Designed for introducing various ICH in the five countries, this exhibition shows photos on representative twenty elements in each country collected during the process of on-site survey and documentation for ICH Video Production Project in Central Asia by experts participated in the ICH video production project.\n\nICHCAP will continue its ICH documentation projects in the Asia-Pacific region for the next ten years by expanding the scope from Central Asia and Mongolia to Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, and the Pacific.\n\n\nPartners\nMongolian National Commission for UNESCO • National Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO • National Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan for UNESCO and ISESCO • National Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan for UNESCO • National Commission of the Republic of Tajikistan for UNESCO • Foundation for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage Mongolia • National Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage under the National Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan for UNESCO and ISESCO • School of Fine Art and Technical Design named after Abylkhan Kasteyev • State Institute of Arts and Culture of Uzbekistan • Tajik film • Tajikistan Research Institute of Culture Information • Korea Educational Broadcasting System • Asia Culture Center\n\nSupporters\nUNESCO Almaty and Tashkent Cluster Offices • Cultural Heritage Administration • Panasonic Korea • Turkish Airlines

This is a Manqabat, a Qawwali poem in praise of great religious personages, especially Sufi saints. \n\nLyrics: Batufail-e-daman-e-Murtaza, main bataaun kyaa mujhe kyaa milaa Keh Ali mile to Nabi mile, jo Nabi mile to Khudaa milaa Tere naqsh-e-pa se qadam qadam, woh maqaam-e-sabr-o- raza milaa Kahin khak-e-ahl-e-junun mili, kahin khun-e-rang-e-wafaa milaa Tu amir ibn-e-amir hai, teraa faiz-e-azim hai Tere dar se jo bhi milaa mujhe, mere hausle se siwaa milaa Tu sharik-e-haal e butul hai, tu rafiq-e-al-e-Rasul hai Main-e-marifat kas-e-ashiqi, yeh to jam kis ko milaa milaa. \nTranslation: “How can I describe what I have gained through my attachment to Murtaza*! When I reached Ali, I reached the Prophet; when I reached the Prophet, I reached God. Following your example, step by step I have attained perseverance and submission. Somewhere, I encountered the traces of the ecstatic; somewhere, the blood in the color of faithfulness. You are a lord of lords; your beneficence is the greatest of all. The uncountable blessings I have received from your bounty have gone beyond my aspirations. You are joined with the daughter of the Prophet, you are close to the Prophet’s kin.You are the wine of cognition, the object of love; oh, to receive this goblet!” Meraj Ahmad Nizami, Bulbul-e-Chisht, normally known as Meraj is the most senior among the descendants of Tan Ras Khan, the famous nineteenth-century court singer. Nizami indicates his attachment to the saint Nizamuddin Auliya, while Bulbul-e-Chisht is his honorific title, conferred upon him by the late Khwaja Hasan Nizami, who was a famous Sufi sheikh. .

Rang means “color.” It is the second principal ritual hymn sung at Nizamuddin Auliya, and is sung after the qaul. It celebrates the saint’s spiritual guidance (coloring) of his disciple Amir Khusrau. Most rangs are attributed to Amir Khusrau. Amir Khusrau says he is “doused in the color of Nizamuddin.” Lyrics: Aaj rang hai, e maa rang hai ri Mere mehboob ke ghar rang hai ri Mohe pir paayo Nizamuddin Auliya Nizamuddin Auliyaa Jab dekho mere sang hai Jab dekho mere sang hai e maa rang hai ri Nizamuddin Auliyaa jag hai ujiyaaro Woh maange par sang hai ri E maa rang hai ri Me to aiso rang aur nahi dekho Nizamuddin Des bides me dhondh phir hu Tero rang bhaayo Nizamuddin Khusrau rain suhaag ki So jaagi pi ke sang Tan mora, man pihu ka To dono ek hi rang Me to aiso rang aur nahi dekho

Bake attributes this song to Kabir Das, though it is unclear whether this is medieval saint poet Kabir. It is sung by a dhobaniya, “washerwoman,” who sings about herself. It could be considered a work song, but if it is, in fact, by Kabir, it could have spiritual connotations.

CD2_HISTORICAL RECORDINGS FROM THE 1930S OF ARNOLD BAKE VOL. II: EVERYDAY SONGS\n\nThe recordings by Dutch ethnomusicologist Arnold Adrian Bake in India in the 1930s and later are one of the earliest examples of what may be called “ethnographic” recordings. Arnold Bake and his wife Corrie spent a long time in Bengal but travelled all over India, recording the music, sounds, and other forms of intangible culture of the people. These recordings cover an immense range of music and recitations that are part of people’s everyday lives, such as work songs, devotional pieces, and ritualistic performances, and include a high number of women’s songs and cultural expressions. Bake’s first field trip was in 1925 and his last was in 1955. During that time, he travelled not only to India but also to Nepal and Sri Lanka. Collections of Bake’s recordings are held in archives in the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States. Recordings from 1925 to 1929 were on cylinders, and those from 1938 to 1939 were recorded on a machine called Tefifon. The collection that has been digitized for this project consists of the recordings made in 1938 and 1939. \n\nThe Tefi recordings were transferred to spools and deposited in ARCE in 1982. During those two years, Bake travelled from Sindh, the Gujarat coast, to Kerala, and thus the recordings are from Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala. There are also recordings made in the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Thus, the selections presented on these albums are largely from the Southwest Coast of India. These recordings were chosen because they carry great historical value yet were not easily accessible until now. NB: The titles given by Arnold Bake have been retained. However, in the notes, places and names have been changed to reflect current designations – e.g. Canarese was changed to Kannada. Place names have also been modified to follow current spelling conventions.\n\nEveryday Songs - The everyday lives of people are what make up the core of intangible cultural heritage (ICH). This selection includes rituals, work songs, devotional and religious songs, as well as common songs that express joys and sorrows. In addition to songs, some tracks include cries and noises, reflecting the wide variety of sounds that Bake recorded.

CD3_SUFI TRADITIONS OF NORTH INDIA\n\nQawwali is a musical genre that shares general traits with the light classical music of North India and Pakistan but distinguishes itself by its religious function. The term Qawwali applies both to the musical genre and to the occasion of its performance, the devotional assembly of Islamic mysticism - or Sufism - in India and Pakistan. The practice of Qawwali extends throughout Muslim centers of the Indian subcontinent, but its roots are North Indian. Qawwali music is performed by qawwals, professional musicians who perform in groups led by one or two solo singers. Qawwals present mystical poetry in Persian, Hindi, and Urdu, alternating solo and group passages characterized by repetition and improvisation. Handclapping and drumming on the barrel-shaped dholak accompany the singers, and a small portable harmonium played by the lead singer highlights the song’s melody. Amir Khusro Dehlavi of the Chishti order of Sufis is credited with fusing the Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and Indian musical traditions in the late-thirteenth century in India to create Qawwali as it is known today. The word Sama is often still used in Central Asia and Turkey to refer to forms very similar to Qawwali, while in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the formal name used for a session of Qawwali is Mehfil-e-Sama.\n\nQawwali is performed at the dargah, the shrines of Sufi saints, as well as in Sufi mehfils, which are commissioned performances. The structure and order of the songs vary in both these contexts. As will be seen, in many forms of Qawwali, an object of love, such as a god or a husband or wife, is portrayed and worshipped. Qawwali was popularized by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, a Pakistani performer. And it has started to enter mainstream popular music thanks to the recent public interest in Sufi music. It is thus no longer purely devotional. There are many silsilas (orders) of Sufism and hence many forms of Qawwali. The recordings in this album are mainly of the Chishtiya silsila – the followers of the Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. Nizamuddin Auliya, also a Sufi saint, was his follower. The texts were written by Amir Khusrau and contain many references to these saints. This Qawwali party consists of seven or eight members. The group joins as a chorus and claps to add percussion. These recordings were made at Sufi shrines in the late 1970s by Regula Qureshi, one of the most famous scholars of this genre. Since they were recorded in a crowded area on the field, the tracks have disturbances and ambient noise. However, as recordings from an actual authentic context, they carry a lot of value.

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 20 is 'TRADITIONAL TUG-OF-WAR GAME.'

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 36 is 'Traditional Embroidery.'

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 15 is 'ORAL TRADITIONS AND PRACTICES RELATED TO SNAKES.'

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 29 is 'Traditional Shipbuilding Techniques.'