Prabartana is a social enterprise working in diverse sections for revival which includes: arts, crafts, food security, and community-led responsible tourism. The organization provides training to weavers and has contributed to technical enhancement through documentation of patterns in computers instead of the manual style of Jacquard pattern design. As safeguarding action, they involve artisans in exhibitions and workshops for cultural exchange, audio-visual documentation and publication of books, social media-based promotions and audience development through the Web, newspaper articles and festival-relevant brochures. The organization also promotes community-led responsible tourism through AJIYER, where the community has the rights and knowledge to operate tours and promote and conserve cultural heritage, apart from safeguarding their environment.

Johan Huizinga coined the term homo ludens to define humans as animals that play. The playful nature of Koreans as homo ludens is represented most definitively by the game, yutnori. It has been well loved by young and old and men and women alike throughout history. The game is especially important as a children’s game that helps develop strategic thinking skills while still being simple to learn.

Folkland, International Centre for Folklore and Culture is a nonprofit NGO devoted to promoting folklore and culture. Headquartered in Kerala in south-western India, Folkland has three main centers and several chapters in India and associations with other organizations abroad through MOUs and collab-orative partnerships. Folkland has been affiliated with the UNESCO ICH sector since 2010. Folkland envisions a society that respects cultural heritage by conserving arts and cultural traditions and transmitting them to future generations. As such, Folkland is proudly dedicated to promoting Indian culture and values with a focus on intangible cultural heritage. The center provides access to knowledge and information about intangible cultural heritage and is known for promoting indigenous culture that inspires audiences to explore the cultural and artistic heritage of Kerala. The main domains covered by Folkland are performing arts; oral traditions and expressions; social practices, rituals, and festivals; and traditional crafts. Folkland documents oral traditions and practices and extends training to younger genera-tions to revitalize old and near-extinct traditional art forms. One ICH element of particular interest to Folkland is tolpavakoothu (shadow puppetry).

The punnuk is a tugging ritual of the village folk from three communities in Hungduan, Ifugao in Northern Luzon, Philippines. It is performed at the confluence of Hapao River and a tributary as the final ritual after the rice harvest. Its consummation brings to a close an agricultural cycle and signals the beginning of a new one. \n\nThe punnuk is a ritual of pomp and revelry. Garbed in their predominantly red-col-ored attire of the Tuwali ethno-linguistic subgroup, the participants negotiate the terraced fields in a single file amidst lush greens under the blue skies. The tempo builds up as the participants reach the riverbank, each group positioned opposite the other. The excitement is sustained through the final tugging match, and the sinewy brawn of the participants is highlighted by the river’s rushing water.

The shamanism of the Mongols, based on the beliefs that animals and all things in nature have souls, originates in the worship of Father-Sky and Mother-Earth. Worshiping these elements has roots from the traditions of nature worship that also involves worshiping the souls of ancestors and magical power of the spirits (ongon), revering respect to the mountain and water deities through divine practices, and executing remedies and verses (shivshleg). People believe that a male shaman (boo) and a female shaman (udgan) are capable of averting and warding off misfortune and evil and taming any enemy by foretelling the future causes communicating with the ninety-nine deities (tengris) that exist in the heavens and the spirits of earth and water.

The Maranao of Lanao del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines has a vibrant culture that is evident in their way of living. It is as colorful as the malong1 they wear and as elaborate as the okir2 designs on their architectural structures. One of the more intricate pieces making up Maranao culture cannot be touched but heard through the epic singing of the Darangen.

Chak-ka-yer is a Thai word similar in meaning to tug-of-war in western countries. It is one of the oldest folk team games in Thailand. Thai people across the country know chak-ka-yer, and many may have had some direct and indirect experience with this game, either as participants or observ-ers. Chak-ka-yer benefits Thai society in several ways. People use chak-ka-yer for fun, pleasure, recreation, and relaxation from their routine work. Chak-ka-yer is played between teams, groups, or communities to test their physical strength. The game does not focus on competition, team preparation, contest regulations, and championship, but rather on unity, friendship, morale, and incentive of communities. Chak-ka-yer as a game is related to thoughts, beliefs, customs, traditions, rituals, and values of the people in different areas. Chak-ka-yer is a high-level game of development and doesn’t focus on systematic contests; it has specific agency to respond to and has the team seriously trained and practiced to win the championship. Chak-ka-yer as a sport is left unmentioned in this article since it has become an international sport.

Telugu language is the mother tongue for carriers and transmitters in safeguarding the Intangible Heritage of the Telugu people. We have come up with an interdisciplinary and innovative educational programming that safeguards our intangible heritage of over 53.6 million people in Andhra Pradesh (AP). Our higher educational programming cuts across the five domains delineated in the 2003 ICH Convention of UNESCO. It is an integral part of a systematic safeguarding plan that is unique. I will introduce the framework that enables us to bring together the teaching of intangible heritage in a linguistic environment through six tertiary educational institutions for the Telugu speaking people. I am responsible for the curricula, pedagogy, employment of carriers and transmitters as teachers and performance education in all the six colleges. \n\nWe also address the interface between intangible heritage and language through higher education. Moreover, I will also reflect on my own engagement as a carrier and transmitter of theatre traditions of the Telugu people. My conclusion would advocate that we need to think in new and innovative ways for safeguarding the rich diversity of the intangible heritage of humanity. Our innovative tertiary education programming provides a feasible role model.

Nuosu, a subgroup of the Yi ethnic minority residing in southwest China, has maintained a long yet continually evolving tradition of verbal dueling from generation to generation. It is called kenre in the local Yi language, which literally means “mouth movement.” The tradition has not only been recorded in historical documents, but continues as a living knowledge contest undertaken primarily for honor and identity and for enlightenment and entertainment throughout the mountainous villages in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, thereby imbuing audiences both young and old with a sense of cultural identity and strengthening dialogue, cooperation, and respect among Nuosu communities (belonging to three sub-dialect zones) and neighboring Yi areas.

Korean shamanism has two faces. One firmly preserves tradition maintaining consistency from ancient past and this is the essence of traditional shamanism. This is how shamanism retains continuity with the past and serves as an important part of cultural heritage. Meanwhile, Korean shamanism is also going through drastic changes to adapt to the changing social environments, becoming a part of modern cultural heritage. It continues in different dimensions of transition and being reborn with each new era. In this sense, Korean shamanism is constantly changing. On the other hand, some part of Korean shamanism remain constant amidst the process of change. The most pertinent modes of transmission are found in the dimensions of linguistics, oral tradition, behavior, and materials. Linguistic transmission in Korean shamanism is based on the linguistic foundation of local dialects a unified national language. It is also considered to be a result of historical transmission as it contains the legacies of certain historical eras. Oral tradition refers to the comprehensive sum of transmission through elements in muism and gut culture such as bonpuri, muga, ritualistic language and individual initiation ceremonies. Transmission through actions or behavior include ritual dances and other ritualistic acts. Material transmission refers to material elements derived from the shamanistic ritual of gut as well as the entire tradition.

Co-orgarnized by ICHCAP and Hue Monuments Conservation Centre (HMCC), this year’s Asia-Pacific ICH NGO Conference was held in Hue, Vietnam under the theme of ICH NGOs towards Sustainable Development of Communities.

Le balafon pentatonique Sénoufo, ou Ncegele en langue Sénoufo, est un instrument de musique composé de 11 à 21 lames d’inégales longueurs, taillées dans du bois et rangées sur un support en forme de trapèze. Il a pour résonateurs des calebasses d’inégales grandeurs rangées sous le support, proportionnellement aux lames. Ces calebasses sont perforées et garnies de membranes d’oothèques d’araignées pour donner de la vibration au son. Le balafon Sénoufo est accordé sur une division de l’octave en cinq intervalles égaux. Les sons s’obtiennent en frappant les lames avec des baguettes de bois attachées aux extrémités par du caoutchouc.