The Book of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Timor-Leste is a rich and vivid documentation of the living traditions that shape the identity, resilience, and spirit of the Timorese people. Developed through close collaboration between local communities, cultural authorities, and ICHCAP (International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO), the book highlights the depth and diversity of Timor-Leste’s intangible cultural heritage (ICH).\n\nFeaturing 14 carefully selected elements—from ritual dances and sacred ceremonies to traditional craftsmanship, music, and ecological knowledge—the book reflects the wisdom passed through generations and the values that continue to guide community life today. Each element is presented with detailed descriptions, vivid images, and QR codes linking to videos that bring the traditions to life.\n\nAt a time when modernization and global change pose challenges to cultural continuity, this publication serves both as a record and a call to action. It encourages appreciation, safeguarding, and intergenerational transmission of practices that are not only culturally meaningful but vital to social cohesion, environmental stewardship, and identity.\n\nWhether you are a researcher, cultural practitioner, educator, or simply someone interested in the living heritage of Timor-Leste, this book offers a gateway into the heart of a nation's cultural soul—where memory dances, stories sing, and tradition breathes.

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 8 is 'ICH AND TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AS AN OCCUPATIONAL LIVING.'

Oral tradition consists of diverse narratives. It is passed on by word of mouth as everyday wisdom and transmitted through the generations. After that, it becomes infused in a region’s history, philosophy, and way of life, thus forming the foundation for a community’s knowledge systems. This volume introduces traditional tales in Sri Lanka, Palau, Kyrgyzstan, and Vietnam.

On 28 October 2020, ICHCAP and the UNESCO Apia Office co-organized the 8th Pacific Network Meeting virtually. This meeting report includes presentation materials from the meeting as well as summaries of the meeting with the intent of providing information to promote international cooperation among experts and institutions in the ICH safeguarding field in the Pacific region.\n\n

Since the beginning of 1950s, the Institute of Language and Literature at the Academy of Sciences in Mongolia has initiated sending the survey teams, 1-3 times a year, for researching and gathering data on oral literature and local dialectics. The initiation of above activities has set the groundwork for official establishment of a new archive with written documents and magnetic audio tapes, utilization for research purposes and the maintenance. Along with sending the survey teams, individuals/bearers were invited to the Institute from the local areas and their repertoire were recorded on magnetic tapes.\n\nAs a result, a rich repertoire of the epics, folk tales, folk songs, benedictions, odes, riddles, proverbs and other main elements of Mongolian oral heritage in their local dialectics and characteristics were succeeded to be recorded and collected at once as never before. The language and dialects that have already lost their distinctiveness or absorbed into the central one, now already the extinct forms of oral literary expressions and heritage are remained and preserved on magnetic tapes. This fact is raising the historic and academic values more for those original forms which were preserved on the magnetic tapes.\n\nDue to the fact that the most of the magnetic tapes being kept at the Institute are more than 60 years old, the storage period of some of the tapes has already been expired. Also, the un-proper storage conditions have caused some tapes to get dried, clung to one another or fractured. Due to above reasons, the inevitable need has risen for restoration and digitization of these magnetic tapes as well as improvement of the storage conditions and environment. Accordingly, since 2008, some efforts have been made towards restoration and digitization of these superannuated magnetic tapes within the internal capability and capacity of the Institute. Although, due to the lack of capable human resources, finance and proper tools and technical equipment, these efforts to restore and digitalize faced several obstacles and have shown un-successive results.\n\nIn 2009, the authorities of the Institute have introduced to the Foundation for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage their request to cooperate. Since, the organizations have started to collaborate on the possibilities to restore and digitalize the superannuated magnetic tapes. Accordingly, the Foundation for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage proposed to ICHCAP to continue the Joint Project and take measures for restoration, digitization of the superannuated magnetic tapes, and distribution and dissemination among general public.

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 26 is 'HEALING RITUALS AND INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE.'

Together with the UNESCO National Commissions in the Central Asia, the Seventh Central Asi Sub-regional Meeting on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage was held between 16 and 18 May at Dushanbe, Tajikistan.\n\nThe report includes papers of the thematic symposium on Sacred Cultural Spaces, Safeguarding ICH and Enhancing Identity and country reports.

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 23 is 'Traditional Navigation of Pacific Islanders.'

ICHCAP hosted an international seminar, ‘ICH Pedagogy: Status and Challenges in the Asia-Pacific Region in Reference to UNESCO’s Overall Results Framework,’ at the National Museum of Korea, Seoul, on 10 May, in cooperation with the Asia-Pacific Education Network for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage (APHEN-ICH), UNESCO Bangkok Office, and Korea National University of Cultural Heritage (KNUCH) and with support from the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea.

On 13 September 2018, experts of the Asia-Pacific region gathered to discuss maritime topics. Organized and hosted by ICHCAP and the National Research Institute of Maritime Cultural Heritage, the symposium, in two sessions, allowed an opportunity to discuss issues related to traditional shipbuilding and navigation skills as well as traditional maritime knowledge in contemporary life.\n\nThis report is composed of seven presentation papers from seven countries, namely China, ROK, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, PNG, and Madagascar, regarding on transmission of traditional ship making and navigation skills.\n

The word “jewelry” brings to mind something shiny or glamourous that makes people more beautiful. Jewelry can take the form of a pretty-looking hairband in a high-street shop, rings that a couple exchange as a symbol of their promise to each other, or an item that helps people stand out in smart clothes. \n\nBeyond aesthetic functions, jewelry can also have shamanistic meanings, such as the seashell masks of ancient times. This section introduces various meanings through ornaments from the Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan, India, and Fiji.