Afrikan combat arts and sciences are the very oldest in the world as Afrikan people are the first human beings in the world. According to Hamblin, “the oldest discovered cemetery in the Nile Valley at Jebel Sahaba in Nubia (northern Sudan)—broadly dated to roughly 12,000– 9000—provides the earliest evidence of tribal warfare, for roughly half of the 59 skeletons at site 117 had flint projectile points among the bones, probably indicating death in battle; some had evidence of multiple healed wounds, perhaps indicating repeated fighting” (2006, p. 32). This site has since been more accurately dated to between 13,140 and 14,340 years ago (Graham, 2016). At another massacre site at Nataruk in contemporary Kenya were found a mixture of people killed with blunt instruments, sharp pointed weapons, projectiles, and so on. According to Lahr , “Ten of the twelve articulated skeletons found at Nataruk show evidence of having died violently at the edge of a lagoon, into which some of the bodies fell. The remains from Nataruk are unique, preserved by the particular conditions of the lagoon with no evidence of deliberate burial” (2016, p. 2). Researchers at Nataruk also found:

Based on the accumulated experience over the course of fifteen years since the adoption of the 2003 Convention, Southeast Asia is well known for its diverse and abundant intangible heritage. Many states in this region have already initiated ICH safeguarding plans with active participation of communities.\nHowever, a number of Member States are still having difficulties employing community‐based safeguarding plan and programs. In implementing the 2003 Convention, much attention should be paid to build capacity to support and safeguard a wider range of ICH Stakeholders, including communities, group, and individuals.\nTherefore, this session will provide an opportunity to share experiences and discuss on the roles the community should exercise in safeguarding ICH. In this session, we will discuss the following questions: (1) Do ICH communities, groups, individuals, and practitioners fully recognise the spirit and significance of the 2003 Convention? (2) Are they subsequently assigned to embody appropriate roles?

Capoeira , a Brazilian martial art (MA) expression, was in 2014 inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity for its fundamental values and characteristics, transmitted from one generation to another (Vianna, 2016; UNESCO, 2020). The is a circle formed by capoeiristas, musicians, and the audience, in the center of which capoeira matches take place.

ICCN, Interurban Cooperation Network for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, is an international organization of local governments and cultural institutions which includes 31 states, 29 cities and 34 associations. Its main objective is the protection of the intangible cultural heritage around the world and the promotion of sustainable local development. Moreover, it also seeks to achieve cultural peace through mutual understanding and intercultural dialogue between the different populations that are part of it. Julio Nacher shared some good examples of cultural events that successfully held in pandemic situation.

Jeonju is the most popular city in Korea for its traditional culture. Jeonju is ranked number one in terms of the number of living human treasures, the cultural heritage index, and the traditional cultural and art performance index, indicating that traditional culture is more actively practiced and performed in the city than any other city in the country. Against this backdrop, the Korean government designated Jeonju a traditional cultural city, and traditional culture has been at the heart of the urban-development strategies of Jeonju. The city’s rich traditional culture dates far back in history.

Une musicienne entre chez nous et dépose sa grosse boîte sur la table du salon. Comme un écrin, celle-ci s’ouvre et laisse apparaître un accordéon. Un autre musicien barbu pose un étui et en sort une guitare, sous l’œil accoutumé de son chien. La salle s’enflamme à travers le rythme et les volutes de fumée de cigarette. Mes parents, tantôt danseurs ou musiciens, me somment d’aller me coucher, mais je fais semblant d’y aller et je reste caché en haut de l’escalier avec mon frère. Fasciné, je m’arrache au sommeil pour écouter jouer des membres de groupes culte tels que Le Rêve du diable ou La Bottine souriante.\n\nD’aussi loin que je me souvienne donc, j’ai été bercé par ce son si caractéristique de l’accordéon diatonique et de ses anches dites mouillées, c’est-à-dire des lamelles accordées suivant des fréquences suffisamment éloignées entre elles pour que cela produise une sonorité forte et large, avec un soupçon de dissonance parfaite pour accrocher les cœurs et surtout les chanteuses, les danseurs ou les gigueuses!

The Muong Cultural Space Museum is a cultural and art institution in Vietnam, deeply inspired by an artist’s desire to reproduce a whole living space of the Muong tribe. The Muong museum was the creation of its owner, Mr. Vu Duc Hieu. The museum is situated in the hills above a small, narrow limestone valley about 80 km from Hanoi to the west, in Hoa Binh City, where the ancient Muong people used to live. After almost ten years collecting and preparing, and another year for construction, the Muong Cultural Space Museum was officially inaugurated on 16 December 2007 by the chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong, with a performance of the symbolic Muong gongs.

Cultural Space of Gong in Central Highlands covers all the fertility red soil in the territory of 5 provinces including Kông Tum, Gia Lai, Đắc Lắc, Đắc Nông, and Lâm Đồng. \nIt is the place where the Ba Na, the Gia Rai, the Ê Đê, the Xê Đăng, the Jẻ Triêng, the Mạ, the M’Nông, the Cơ Ho, the Brâu, the Rơ Măm,… have been residing for a long time. These ethnic groups live in small villages named pơ lây, buôn, bon and living mainly by agricultural cultivation, animal husbandry and benefitial resources of the nature.\n

List of ICH Festivals applied for the Silk Roads Living Heritage Network Membership

Gandharba, also written Gandharva or Gaine is one of the musician communities of Nepal. This community has their own unique culture, musical instruments, music, traditions, festivals, language, rituals and social practices perpetuated from their forefathers. Long before the postal networks and the use of electronic communications in Nepal, the musicians of this unique community would roam all over the nation to spray the news in the form of songs and music. The Gandharba were the sole entertainer and the information disseminator of the numerous isolated communities across the mountains of Nepal. Thus they are also wknown as the messenger of the nation. But due to the Modernization, Urbanization, Socio-economic challenges, limited Education and other changes seen in the society; the present status of the Gandharba community’s identity and the intangible cultural heritage is at risk. The outcome of this research have identified the major challenges of the survival of the community’s identity and possible solution and suggestion for building effective networking system among the Gandharba communities of Nepal to confront the challenges and to support, revitalize, reconstruct and safeguard their intangible cultural heritage and their identity in a long run.

The current topic of this conference is not very well studied in the Philippines. The word –shamanism- is regarded as an arbitrary umbrella-catch-all term for lack of something better because what it refers to in the Philippines is a far ranging set of practices, belief and value systems that are very specific. It is with some trepidation that these sets of practices, beliefs and value systems may not at all fit into the north-Asian concept of Shamanism, especially with reference to the structure and social organization. The latest local term used is –pagdidiwata – referring to the rituals invoking spiritual beings (diwata). The other terms used\nare bunung, baki, pagaanito, alisig, and many others depending on the culture of the some 80 different major ethno-linguistic groups in the country. Common to all is the belief in the existence of a spirit world to which the world of people should relate, through the medium of ritual specialists. There are differences, however, in the structure and social organization in the social behavior related to ethnic practice.

An exhibition of beldemchi was launched at the Gapar Aitiev Fine Arts Museum in Bishkek on 7 June 2017. The exhibition is still ongoing through the partnership of the Kiyiz Duino Foundation and the Gapar Aitiev Fine Arts Museum, an institution named after one of the first Soviet Kyrgyz artists who became a national artist of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic in 1954. The exhibition displays more than forty items collected from state museums and private collections. It represents all regions of the country and various embroidery styles and techniques. The event is a sign of increasing interest in beldemchi in Kyrgyz society; renowned designers are already coming up with unique beldemchi design.\n\nOne of the Kyrgyz ICH elements, beldemchi is a traditional women’s skirt worn over a dress, gown, and sometimes thin coat. Conventionally, women wear their first beldemchi after a severe stress, e.g. first labor or situations demanding warmth. When worn as postpartum clothing, beldemchi helps women correcting their posture. It also gives physical support. Historically, as Kyrgyz people led a nomadic lifestyle in inland continental climate conditions during pre-Soviet times until 1917, beldemchi was an essential part of Kyrgyz women’s traditional apparel.\n\nBeldemchi may be worn daily and in holidays or festive events. It is made up of velvet and silk adorned with embroidery. The embroidery could cover either the whole skirt or its edges. Viewed as a protective amulet against evil eye, jinxes, and other unpleasant troubles, it is also a determinant of a woman’s age, social status, region, and her artistic skills based on the composition, style, and quality of the embroidery since every woman is supposed to know how to make a beldemchi and its embroidery. The main base of beldemchi is a double-leaved swing skirt with wide and thick belt. Beldemchi has several regional differences. In the north where the winter season is cold and long, it is mainly a wraparound flared skirt from warm fabric with a thick band over the belt. In the south, beldemchi is a buttoned front open cut skirt.\n\nThe presentation of beldemchi at the exhibition displays how the making of traditional clothing for women has gradually turned into a field of rich female creativity. Notwithstanding, beldemchi has started to disappear from Kyrgyz everyday life, which may have been caused by the changing views and lifestyle. During the Soviet modernism in the 1960s, wearing beldemchi was a sign of backwardness and provincialism. Soon in the 1970s, it fell into disuse. However, elderly women in rural areas have kept wearing beldemchi until now.\n\nPhoto : Women wearing Beldemchi © Kyiz Duino Fund