Three Mother Goddesses: Mother Goddess of Heaven (in the middle, red color), Mother Goddess of Forest (on the left, green color), and Mother Goddess of Water (on the right, white color). \n2014. Photo by Dương Hồng Đức; \n©2014 Viet Nam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies

The petition ceremony before a spirit possession ritual at Vân Cát Palace, Kim Thái commune, Vụ Bản district, Nam Định province. \n2014. Photo by Nguyễn Văn Huynh; \n©2014 Viet Nam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies

The band of the singers of the songs for spirits at a spirit possession ritual at Tiên Hương Palace, Kim Thái commune, Vụ Bản district, Nam Định province \n2014. Photo by Nguyễn Trung Bình ; \n©2014 Viet Nam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies

The word puzzles of Hoa Trượng performance at Dầy Palace festival, Kim Thái commune, Vụ Bản district, Nam Định provincen\n2013. Photo by Nguyễn Ngọc Quang; \n©2014 Viet Nam National Institute of Culture and Arts Studies

Worshiping the Mother Goddesses of the three realms-heaven, water, and mountains (or forests)-has been a cultural activity since the sixteenth century, significantly influencing the lives of Vietnamese people. In worshiping Mother Goddess Lieu Hanh (the "Mother of the World") and other spirits of legendary heroes, followers practice spirit possession rituals and traditional festivals.\n\nThese cultural expressions combine traditional costumes, music, and dance to help maintain the community's cultural heritage. Through interviews with spirit mediums, this video shows how belief in the Mother Goddesses have united and healed the community.

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is transnational in nature. It is necessary to spread the perception that ICH transcends geographical spaces and national borders, creating dynamic relations, connectedness, and continuity, which is why it is a timeless bearer of cultural diversity, the foundation of the heritage of humanity. However, as the modern structure of nation-state determines the boundaries of culture with national borders, forming the concept of “culture within the country”, subsequently led to the perception that the ownership of culture belongs to the state.\n\nThe concept of exclusive ownership of culture is often controversial in the UNESCO listing process, particularly in instances where cultural heritage and cultural domains have been shared for a long time by two or more nation-states. Such conflicts lead to excessive competition for nomination, overshadowing UNESCO’s fundamental purpose of contributing to peace and security in the world by promoting collaboration among nations, as well as the very spirit of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage that promotes international cooperation and assistance in the safeguarding of ICH as a matter of general interest to humanity.\n\nConsequently, UNESCO encourages multinational inscriptions of shared intangible cultural heritage to promote regional cooperation and international safeguarding activities, preventing conflicts among countries and coping with already existing ones. By emphasizing joint nominations of shared ICH, UNESCO revised its implementation guidelines three times to deal with conflicts between countries due to the cultural property rights. In addition, States Parties are encouraged to develop networks among relevant communities, experts, professional centres, and research institutes, particularly with regard to their ICH, to cooperate at the sub-regional and regional levels.\n\nAt the 13th Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held in the Republic of Mauritius in November 2018, Traditional Korean Wrestling was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as the first joint designation by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Republic of Korea. This milestone in the life of the Convention demonstrates that ICH contributes to the peace-building, reconciliation, mutual understanding, and solidarity among peoples. Indeed, only when acknowledging that shared cultural values are empowering characteristics of ICH, the true perspective of the unifying agent of the cultural diversity can be achieved, and that it is the cornerstone of reaching peace among nations.\n\nCountries in the Asia Pacific region are deeply connected by a long history of interactions, exchanges, flows of people, goods, and ideas that have shaped shared values, practices, and traditions. Having a balanced view, advocating for cultural diversity, and recognizing the commonalities among individuals, communities, and countries as a strength are virtuous tenets in the present time.\n\nIn this regard, APHEN-ICH Secretariat, ICHCAP, and UNESCO Bangkok Office are inviting the APHEN-ICH member institutes and public to this seminar under the theme of Diversity and Distinctiveness: Looking into the Shared ICH in the Asia-Pacific, to re-assess that while fragile, intangible cultural heritage is an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity, connecting bounds, and enhancing international dialogue and peace.

ICHCAP hosted an international forum, ‘Unlocking the Potential of Tertiary Education for ICH Safeguarding’ on 17 July in Seoul, Republic of Korea, in cooperation with UNESCO Bangkok Office and the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage.\n\nICH education experts from twelve Asia-Pacific countries attended the forum to discuss the main subjects of ICH education in universities in the Asia-Pacific region and community-based approaches for ICH safeguarding. Participating experts shared ICH-related curricula of regional universities and discussed the roles and importance of tertiary education institutions in the safeguarding of ICH through community-based curriculums.

ICHCAP, together with the Digital Heritage Lab, Graduate School of Culture Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, organized an international seminar entitle “Protecting the Past for the Future: Digital Documentation as One of the Imperative Tools for Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage,” 20 July 2019.\n\nThe seminar consisted of three sessions: the first covered the archiving and visualization of intangible cultural heritage; the second focused on digital documentation methods for tangible cultural heritage; and the third discussed the challenges faced by Korea in establishing cultural heritage-related digital data.

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 9 is 'ICH AND CIRCLE DANCES.'

ICHCAP is pleased to announce the publication of the Handbook on ICH Safeguarding system in the Asia-Pacific, which aims to facilitate information sharing in the Asia-Pacific region.\n\nThe main contents of this publication are reports from thirty-two nations collected by ICHCAP from 2009 to 2015 as part of its annual projects to collect information on intangible cultural heritage safeguarding in the Asia-Pacific region. We have also compiled information from other reports and conference materials collected by ICHCAP to present key data, such as national inventories and information on related organizations, in an easily accessible format.