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ICH Materials 91
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TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE CONTAINED IN KIMJANG, THE ANCIENT PRACTICE OF KIMCHI MAKINGThe tradition of storing vegetables harvested in autumn to eat throughout the winter is an ancient practice on the Korean peninsula that can be traced back to the Neolithic era when agriculture began. When buried in the ground for storage, the portions of vegetables that contain moisture would retain their freshness within even as the outer portions dried up. However, this method had the drawback of rendering large portions of the vegetable inedible. This led to the method of drying vegetables under the shade for prolonged storage. However, this method could not preserve the original flavor of the vegetables. Generations of trial and error in search for a better method of preservation led to the discovery of pickling in salt water.Year2013NationSouth Korea
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ICH as a Metaphysical Product: The Case of Wualai Silversmith Village in ThailandWualai Silversmith Village is located along Wua Lai Road, Hai Ya, Muang, Chiang Mai, Thailand. The village is well-known for handmade silver products. People in the village have been making silver goods for a hundred years, after they moved from Bagan (an old city in Myanmar). After farming, most of the villagers spend their free time as silversmiths. Family members are involved in creating silver products for trade and their daily life. Almost every household is also a workplace for creating silver goods.\n\nNecklaces, bracelets, paddles, and trays are some of the most common products of the Wualai Silversmith Village. However, the silver bowl or salung is most representative of their identity. In the past, these silver products were used to represent family wealth, especially for a grand occasions. With unique and sophisticated patterns and styles of the villagers’ silver products, for example, Kratin flowers, pineapples, twelve zodiac signs, Ramayana figures, and animal patterns, Wualai silver products became famous.\n\nIn May 2018, I went to the village to observe the process of making handmade silver bowls and interview a number of silversmiths. The silversmiths explained that there are many steps in making a silver bowl, and it takes days or weeks to finish one. The most difficult stages are forging and carving. A few days are commonly needed to forge a silver bowl by hitting silver coins or bars. Those responsible for forging should be demonstrably strong, patient, and resilient against hot temperatures.\n\nOn the other hand, there are two kinds of carving expertise. One in creating the patterns; the other is in detailing the bowl to be seen as three-dimensional. Not everyone easily learns and practices these skills. This impracticality is why it is difficult to continue the practice of creating silver products in Wualai. In addition, the cost of materials has also caused a decrease in practitioners and successors.\n\nThe local government is now concerned about safeguarding this intangible cultural heritage element. To act upon the problem, they created a silver product safeguarding network, which includes schools, temples, and other relevant institutions. Local knowledge on making silver products has recently been introduced as a part of academic curriculum. Relevant pedagogical programs are offered in schools, temples, and non-formal educational centers. The Ministry of Culture of Thailand also promotes the safeguarding of silverware as a metaphysical product or something priceless and invaluable. This is specifically helpful to the Wualai walking street, a space built by the villagers to commercialize their products. The Wualai walking street is visible every Saturday, beginning in the late afternoon and ending before midnight.\n\nPhoto 1 : Forging a silver bowl in Wualai Village, Thailand © Ratchda Sukka\nPhoto 2 : Firing up silver molds in Wualai Village, Thailand © Ratchada SukkaYear2018NationThailand
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Bali Arts Festival: Safeguarding Cultural Heritage in a Tourism-Oriented SiteEvery year for the past thirty-nine years, Bali hosts the Bali Arts Festival (Pesta Kesenian Bali), a traditional performing arts celebration featuring artists from all over Indonesia. Starting from 10 June with a magnificent parade where all Balinese regencies are represented, the festival continues until 9 July with several daily performances, all open and free for the public. Held in Taman Budaya in Denpasar, the festival venue represents a beautiful ensemble of traditional architecture pavilions.\n\nMost participating performing groups come from Bali to demonstrate rare art forms from the distant parts of the island or compete in mostly popular genres, which include barong, legong, kecak, and various mask dances. Safeguarding these arts being the main objective of the festival, it has contemporary music, dance, and theatrical styles that reflect the motifs and patterns of traditional culture. Along with performing arts that are indisputably central to the festival, traditional Balinese foods and crafts, and even ways of conducting religious ceremonies are also showcased.\n\nThe Bali Arts Festival started in 1979 as a provincial initiative of Ida Bagus Mantra in response to rapid expansion of the tourism industry, attempting to prevent the extinction of traditional Balinese arts. It proved to be successful; and a series of various district and regency contests helped galvanize cultural life while dance and art schools were opened with government support. The festival remains mostly a local communal event allowing performers, artists, and craftsmen from different regencies to meet and occasionally compete with the support of the spectators from their own villages. Amidst the overwhelming growth of tourism industry in Bali, a condition that brings compounding threats to sustaining traditional cultural production, the presence of foreign tourists in the festival remains rather insignificant.\n\nPhoto : Traditional Balinese dancers preparing themselves for performance © Eva RapoportYear2017NationIndonesia
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Mongolian Culture and HeritageThe culture of the Central Asian steppes expresses itself vividly in the lifestyle of traditional nomadic practices. Mongolian culture has been in practice in the nomadic life and the traditions surrounding the nomad’s home (ger). And it is present in religious celebrations, national festivals, art and crafts, music and dance, language and literature, which form the backbone of Mongolian intangible cultural heritage of Mongolia. Mongolia is filled with valuable cultural properties and intangible cultural heritage of humanity that have been kept or practiced for thousands of years.\n\nGer, Mongolian Traditional Dwelling\nThe traditional architecture of the Mongols differed strongly from that of the settled peoples of Asia and other continents. Centuries ago, there the ger, also known as a yurt, appeared. It still offers shelter to nomads in particular places in Central Asia. Its development and fundamental principles are determined by the specific features of the way of life of Mongol tribes, which made it necessary to evolve a light and collapsible structure to be used as a dwelling or for public functions.\n\nMongolian Language and Literature\nMongolian is the language of most of the Mongolian population and inner Mongolia. By origin, Mongolian is one of the Altaic family of languages, and the history of the Mongolian language is long and complicated. Significant literary work of early Mongolia includes The Secret History of the Mongols, which was published in 1228).\n\nMongolian Religion and Beliefs\nThe Mongols have practiced several religions, of which Shamanism and Buddhism were the most common. The faith in Mongolia is Buddhism, though the state and religion were separated during the socialist period, but with the transition to the parliamentary republic in the 1990s, there has been a general revival of faiths across the country\n\nMongolian Art and Crafts\nMongolian arts and crafts have been passed down across generations from the Paleolithic times to today, leaving behind deep impressions on all facets of life and conscious, aesthetic, and philosophical thinking. Highly developed Mongolian arts and crafts come from the second millennium BCE. The works included sculptured heads of wild animals with exaggerated features. Other items include knives, daggers, and other items of practical and religious use.\n\nMongolian Music and Dance\nMusic is an integral part of Mongolian culture. Among Mongolia’s unique contributions to the world’s musical culture are the long songs, overtone singing, and morin khuur (the horse-headed fiddle). The music of Mongolia is also rich with varieties related to the various ethnic groups of the country. Among the most popular forms of modern music in Mongolia are Western pop and rock genres and the mass songs written by contemporary authors in the form of folk songs.\n\nHorse Culture of Mongolia\nIt is famously known that horses play a large role in the Mongols’ daily and national lives. Common sayings are, “A Mongol without a horse is like a bird without wings,” and “Mongols are born on horseback” these are arguably true words. Even today, horse-based culture is still practiced by nomadic Mongolians.\n\nVisit https://www.toursmongolia.com/tours for additional information about Mongolian culture.\n\nPhoto 1 : Prairie meadow grass inner Mongolia traditional clothing © Batzaya Choijiljav\nPhoto 2~7 : © Batzaya ChoijiljavYear2020NationMongolia
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Myanmar Laquerware and Its ProspectsThere are many aspects and dimensions to do research on Myanmar lacquer. Myanmar lacquerware has been studied by both local and foreign scholars from artistic and historical points of view. This research highlights the history of Myanmar lacquer, lacquer industry, and its prospects. Myanmar lacquer has a long history and remains as an active cultural phenomenon. But there are very few people who make a living from the lacquerware business. The main problems are the lack of market and scarce resources (labour and raw materials). This research’s objectives are to be able to preserve the traditional Myanmar lacquerware industry, to make it widely known internationally about the process of making Myanmar lacquerware, and to cherish the intangible cultural heritage of Myanmar. It also aims to show and record the current situation of lacquerware industry and to find ways of helping lacquer industry survive the challenges it faces today. In this research, a review of the relevant books, library survey, and field study are done, in addition to interviews with lacquerware makers, taking photographs on many aspects of Myanmar lacquerware, and foreseeing its prospects. The research areas focused on are Bagan and Kyaukka village.\nKey words: lacquer in Myanmar, Bagan, Kyaukka village, industry, productionYear2021NationMyanmar