Materials
collective
ICH Materials 67
Publications(Article)
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PUNNUK, THE TUGGING RITUAL IN HUNGDUAN, CLOSING AN AGRICULTURAL CYCLEIn Hungduan, Ifugao, three communities—Hapao, Baang, and Nungulunan—observe three post-harvest rituals, collectively known as huowah. Punnuk, an intense tugging match in the Hapao River, is the last of the three rituals.Year2014NationSouth Korea
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Punnuk: Unwinding after the Harvest, the Tugging Ritual in the PhilippinesThe 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.Year2019NationJapan,Cambodia,South Korea,Philippines,Ukraine,Viet Nam
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ICH in Public Transport: Truck Art in PakistanListed on the UNESCO Register of Good Safeguarding Practices, the Oselvar boat was resurrected from near-extinction when the Os Båtbyggjarlag Boat-Builders Guild, Os municipality, and Hordaland County founded the non-profit boatyard and workshop foundation Oselvarverkstaden in 1997 with the support of the Arts Council Norway. The Oselvar boat used to be western Norway’s main mode of transportation and, as predominantly known, it is a Norwegian cultural icon that symbolizes the kingdom’s leisure craft. On the other hand, Costa Rica’s carreta or traditional oxcart is the Central American country’s most famous craft. Inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008 (though originally proclaimed in 2005), the traditional oxcart used to transport coffee beans in a ten-to-fifteen-day journey, from Costa Rica’s central valley over the mountains to Puntaneras on the Pacific coast. As a mode of transport, it lingers on a mobility that is built around agriculture, transcending a cultural aesthetics informed by rural imaginary. The presence alone of carreta is an explicit call to end deforestation and be much more mindful about climate change. The Oselvar boat of Norway and Costa Rica’s traditional oxcart are two living examples of the creative union between transportation and craft so that we may see public transportation as a cultural understanding of intangible heritage.\n\nThe South Asian nation of Pakistan, with its twenty-six national highways and three strategic highways, does not shy away from parading the abundance and importance of ICH in public roads. Pakistan’s truck art, the largest art industry in the country, is a living construction of identity by making visible a host of cultural signifiers, from religious piety to popular imagination. Albeit there is no economic benefit from decorating a truck, and even though such undertaking costs at least a whooping USD 2000 back in 2011, it has been the norm, according to Jamal J. Elias, for fleet owners to have their trucks decorated. Since 96% of the freight in Pakistan is carried by trucks, one can easily imagine the widespread presence of truck art. Focusing on the art in the craft of vehicular decoration, as well as on pleasure, protection, and suffering experienced by truck drivers, Anna Schmid contends that truck art is a form of popular culture in which central societal assumptions and values are contested in that truck art, by the very process of putting it in the public sphere, puts social mobility in a terrain bounded by semiotics or the study of signs and how these signs meaningfully interact with each other in religious, political, and cultural terms. Schmid draws truck construction by highlighting the specialized craftsmen principally responsible for it: blacksmiths (who attach a steel skeleton to the chassis to hold the body and the driver’s cabin), the body makers (who create the body composed of wooden pine slats held together by metal and wooden cross-pieces), lacquerers (who spray paint the body), upholsterers (who install the seat of the cabin), and the painters (who apply motifs and other necessary decorations).\n\nUnsuspecting the ethnic diversity of Pakistani society, on the basis of categorical decorative motifs such as explicit religious symbols and images, talismanic and fetish objects, talismanically or religiously loaded symbols, idealized elements of life, elements from modern life, the non-religious calligraphic program of the truck, Jamal J. Elias, a scholar who thoroughly examined the typologies and evolution of truck art and proposed five regional styles of truck art: Punjabi, Swati, Peshawar, Baluchi, and Karachi styles.\n\nTruck art is an exemplary case to theorize that the process of understanding ICH is a public work, a work that compels mediation and collective valuation. Something that transforms personal sentiments into public feelings. And what’s more interesting about the truck art of Pakistan, other than it being an industry of its own, is its direct connection to transportation—that a vessel practically meant to transport a commodity from one place to another actually carries something more than what it does, and it does beyond time and place, connecting cities and regions that ultimately become unknowable large-scale social processes. Indeed, when a symbol travels, its meaning exponentially multiplies.\n\nPhoto : Truck art ⓒ B.B.P. HosmilloYear2019NationPakistan
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Intangible Heritage without Borders: Ramayana Masked Dance Listing Emphasize DiversityThe recent 2018 inscriptions of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) on UNESCO Lists has raised again global awareness in variations of masked dance in Southeast Asia, which retell the story of Rama, the god-reincarnated king who defeats the demon king Ravana.\n\nIn the last week of November 2018, UNESCO announced the inscription of Thailand’s and Cambodia’s masked dance known as Khon and Lkhon Khol, which unfortunately drew ire from some people in both countries who are immersed in historical hostility.\n\nQuestions have come from many directions, in particular, on why these lists can inscribe similar traditions and which ones deserve better recognition. Indeed, such inquiries have been made within other contexts of heritage protection, which have no relevance to intangible cultural heritage.\n\nMost people are familiar with the concept of World Heritage, which concerns built heritage, from archaeological sites, ancient cities to cultural and natural landscapes. The outstanding universal value of World Heritage properties can be defined by one of ten criteria, such as being unique evidence of human ingenuity, manifestation of important historical events, last reserve of distinctive biodiversity, etc. The realization of these characteristics comes from scientific and historical backing. Such an analytical process requires comparison among different properties to demonstrate each site’s importance in its national and international context.\n\nHowever, these criteria of physical comparison cannot be used to judge the value of intangible heritage, which includes oral traditions; performing arts; traditional artisanship; local wisdom about nature and the universe; and different aspects of social practices, festivals, rituals, food cultures, and sports. Being immaterial in appearance and living in nature, the value of intangible heritage is defined by communities, groups, or individuals who have practiced it as part of their tradition and constantly transmit and recreate its forms and meanings in the ever-changing environment.\n\nThe UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage governs the List of ICH in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, the Representative List of ICH of Humanity, and the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices, with ICH inscriptions decided by an intergovernmental committee. What is often overlooked is that the Convention goes beyond the lists and register. It highlights the role of communities, groups, and individuals concerned as key players in identifying and transmitting ICH vital to their way of life. It requests each country to take actions to ensure that ICH present in its territory is safeguarded, whether they are on the lists, and to respect the widest participation of local stakeholders especially in identifying, inventorying, and safeguarding their ICH.\n\nThat said, what is the most interesting in the value of masked dance about Ramayana is not how beautiful they are as art forms, or how they are made prize possessions of countries in the nomination process. Instead, they are most interesting as local traditions that are still viable to many different communities across the region, so all of them practice and pass on the skills and passion to the next generation. These masked dance variations have survived until today, thanks to the stewardship of local communities. This safeguarding success is something that state ownership of the culture cannot achieve.\n\nLast year, at the intergovernmental committee meeting, two variations of masked dance for Ramayana were inscribed. The first one is Lkhon Khol Wat Svay Andet, practiced at a community near Phnom Penh. The aim of the dance is to appease guardian spirits for protection and prosperity for the community’s people. Transmitted orally within the community for generations, Lkhon Khol Wat Svay Andet has only recently been documented by monks and local youth. Considering surrounding threats to this meaningful tradition from war to poverty and migration, the community has worked with the government to include it in the List of ICH in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. This will enable international assistance for the Wat Svay Andet community to encourage the initiative to safeguard their Lkhon Khol.\n\nThe recent 2018 inscriptions of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) on UNESCO Lists has raised again global awareness in variations of masked dance in Southeast Asia, which retell the story of Rama, the god-reincarnated king who defeats the demon king Ravana.\n\nIn the last week of November 2018, UNESCO announced the inscription of Thailand’s and Cambodia’s masked dance known as Khon and Lkhon Khol, which unfortunately drew ire from some people in both countries who are immersed in historical hostility.\n\nQuestions have come from many directions, in particular, on why these lists can inscribe similar traditions and which ones deserve better recognition. Indeed, such inquiries have been made within other contexts of heritage protection, which have no relevance to intangible cultural heritage.\n\nMost people are familiar with the concept of World Heritage, which concerns built heritage, from archaeological sites, ancient cities to cultural and natural landscapes. The outstanding universal value of World Heritage properties can be defined by one of ten criteria, such as being unique evidence of human ingenuity, manifestation of important historical events, last reserve of distinctive biodiversity, etc. The realization of these characteristics comes from scientific and historical backing. Such an analytical process requires comparison among different properties to demonstrate each site’s importance in its national and international context.\n\nHowever, these criteria of physical comparison cannot be used to judge the value of intangible heritage, which includes oral traditions; performing arts; traditional artisanship; local wisdom about nature and the universe; and different aspects of social practices, festivals, rituals, food cultures, and sports. Being immaterial in appearance and living in nature, the value of intangible heritage is defined by communities, groups, or individuals who have practiced it as part of their tradition and constantly transmit and recreate its forms and meanings in the ever-changing environment.\n\nThe UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage governs the List of ICH in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, the Representative List of ICH of Humanity, and the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices, with ICH inscriptions decided by an intergovernmental committee. What is often overlooked is that the Convention goes beyond the lists and register. It highlights the role of communities, groups, and individuals concerned as key players in identifying and transmitting ICH vital to their way of life. It requests each country to take actions to ensure that ICH present in its territory is safeguarded, whether they are on the lists, and to respect the widest participation of local stakeholders especially in identifying, inventorying, and safeguarding their ICH.\n\nThat said, what is the most interesting in the value of masked dance about Ramayana is not how beautiful they are as art forms, or how they are made prize possessions of countries in the nomination process. Instead, they are most interesting as local traditions that are still viable to many different communities across the region, so all of them practice and pass on the skills and passion to the next generation. These masked dance variations have survived until today, thanks to the stewardship of local communities. This safeguarding success is something that state ownership of the culture cannot achieve.\n\n\nLkhon Khol Wat Svay Andet ⓒ Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts of Cambodia\nLast year, at the intergovernmental committee meeting, two variations of masked dance for Ramayana were inscribed. The first one is Lkhon Khol Wat Svay Andet, practiced at a community near Phnom Penh. The aim of the dance is to appease guardian spirits for protection and prosperity for the community’s people. Transmitted orally within the community for generations, Lkhon Khol Wat Svay Andet has only recently been documented by monks and local youth. Considering surrounding threats to this meaningful tradition from war to poverty and migration, the community has worked with the government to include it in the List of ICH in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. This will enable international assistance for the Wat Svay Andet community to encourage the initiative to safeguard their Lkhon Khol.\n\nAt the same intergovernmental committee meeting, Khon, masked dance drama in Thailand, was inscribed to the Representative List of ICH of Humanity. This List contains the majority of ICH being nominated globally, aiming to increase the awareness of the traditions’ importance and need for a safeguarding plan to ensure that it stays viable in concerned communities. For Thailand, this is the first successful nomination since it ratified the Convention in 2016. At a country level, this recognition will enable wider public support to Khon practitioners and more sustainable transmission of knowledge and skills.\n\nIndeed, Lkhon Khol Wat Svay Andet is not the first masked dance nomination from Cambodia. In 2008, Cambodia nominated its royal ballet to the Representative List. The masked dance portrays the story of Rama through characters existing also in episodes of Khon. After the war, the ballet faced difficulty from the lack of funding and performing spaces, as well as being overtly adjusted for tourism. The nomination at that time aimed to help create awareness about practitioners’ livelihoods under threat from commercialization.\n\nTo boot, it is not the first time that Ramayana masked dances were concurrently nominated. The year 2008 also saw Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana in India, being nominated alongside the Cambodian Royal Ballet. Ramlila recounts episodes of Ramayana through series of performances lasting from ten days to one month. The tradition is organized by hundreds of villages during the Dussehra season to celebrate the legend of Rama’s return.\nThere are many other expressions rooted in the Ramayana in South and Southeast Asia. India, as the birthplace of Ramayana epic, also in 2010 nominated Chhau masked dance from eastern India that blends the Mahabharata and Ramayana epics with local folklore. Cambodia further showed that Ramayana does not have to be portrayed only through masked dance, when it nominated Sbek Thom, Khmer shadow theatre, in 2008.\n\nThere are many more variations not yet nominated that, nonetheless, have proven to bear immense value to the practicing communities. Phra Lak Phra Ram in Lao PDR and Hikayat Seri Rama in Malaysia and Southern Thailand, for instance, are oral traditions that have influenced numerous festivals and dances that fuse local cultures and beliefs to the Hindi origin of the story.\n\nRecollecting masked dance and many more throughout the history of UNESCO ICH listing, we can see that the emphasis of these lists is not to show which one is the best or deserves higher recognition. The lists welcome nominations of similar traditions and encouragement to prepare joint nominations proves their function as cultural maps rather than ranking lists. In this case, they map how masked dance for Ramayana, as a collective art form by diverse groups of people sharing beliefs and appreciation, can extensively represent the great diversity of the intangible heritage of the humanity.\n\n*Edited by Duong Bich Hanh, originally published in The Bangkok Post and by UNESCO Bangkok.\n\nPhoto 1 : Khon, masked dance drama in Thailand ⓒ Department of Cultural Promotion\nPhoto 2 : Lkhon Khol Wat Svay Andet ⓒ Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts of Cambodia\nPhoto 3 : Ramlila, the traditional performance of Ramayana ⓒ Sangeet Natak Akademi, New DelhiYear2019NationCambodia
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Singapore’s Hungry Ghost FestivalThe seventh month of the lunar calendar is regarded as a month in which the gates of heaven and hell are opened so that ghosts and spirits, including deceased ancestors, can come back to visit the living in China and other Asian countries with Chinese migrants, such as Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The fifteenth day of the month is called Zhongyuan Jie (中元節) in China, Baekjung (百中) in Korea, Obon (お盆) in Japan, and the Hungry Ghost Festival in other countries. The day’s story origin derives from an old Buddhist tale about Mu Lian.1.\nMu Lian, one of Buddha’s disciples, converted to Buddhism after losing his parents at a young age. As his longing for his mother grew stronger, his clairvoyance found her suffering from ravenous appetites that could not be satisfied in hell. He tried to offer food to his mother, but the food burned into ashes when it touched her mouth. Mu Lian asked Buddha about how he could relieve his mother’s suffering. When he prepared food offerings as directed by Buddha, his mother was saved from suffering. This tale developed into a Buddhist ritual2. to offer food for ancestors and was combined with Taoist tradition to celebrate Zhongyuan Jie. At Zhongyuan Jie, people hold memorial services for ancestors and other spirits.\n\nIn Singapore, people prepare ritualistic food offerings and burn incense and joss paper in front of their apartments, stores, or companies for their ancestors’ visiting spirits. They murmur prayers while burning joss paper and go round in a circle with nobody else getting inside. Some even burn miniature paper houses, cars, and smartphones. Unlike most countries that hold traditional rites, the city-state celebrates Zhongyuan Jie in a more modern way. A getai3. is held at vacant lots or parking lots during the Ghost Festival. Getai performances were usually of Chinese operas or puppet shows in the past. Now they have evolved into various forms, including songs, dances, and stand-up comedy. A getai performance usually begins with jokes and comedy, using various languages such as Mandarin, Hokkien (a Southern Min Chinese dialect originating from Fujian Province), English, Malay, and Indian. The first row is left empty so that the spirits can sit and enjoy the performance comfortably. Although getai performances have been modernized, all the songs and dances serve the same purpose of consoling dead souls and pleasing the king of the underworld.\n\nDuring the festival, evil spirits come out with ancestral spirits. There are taboos to protect innocent people from evil spirits, such as going home late and swimming so as not to be pulled by water ghosts. People are also recommended not doing new things, like a trip, wedding, or risky movements, to avoid curses from evil spirits. They should spend their time in a more religious and controlled way than usual.\n\nSingaporean authorities have made various social and cultural efforts to preserve the Ghost Festival and pass it on to future generations. Singapore’s Taoist and Buddhist Federations have encouraged devotees to burn offerings responsibly as Nanyang Technological University scientists found that concentrations of small pollutant particles increased by 60 percent during the Hungry Ghost Festival, saying that it is not a case of “the more the merrier” since it is sincerity that counts. Singapore has grown based on coexistence and harmony among various peoples. As such, it emphasizes respect for different cultures even when enjoying a festival, highlighting that such celebrations should not be limited to a certain group. Collective efforts at all levels of society have made the Hungry Ghost Festival open to all people in Singapore. This festival provides lessons on how to discuss and resolve social issues and ethnic conflicts amid the progress of globalization.\n\nPhoto : Hungry ghost prayer table CCBYSA3.0 Mezanurrahman (Wikimedia)Year2018NationSingapore
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Roles of Shared Heritage of South Korea and North Korea Based on the Viability of ICHCultural heritage had been defined and maintained centered around physical structures or tangible features. It is only recently that the focus has shifted to nonphysical and intangible values of heritage, which incorporate natural, social, and cultural elements. Roles of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) are increasingly emphasized, as it involves the respect for cultural diversity and the representativeness of each cultural heritage, rather than just recognizing excellent universal values accepted by all. ICH has been created, practiced and used by people and has been inherited through generations in a cultural context. The viability of ICH is like a person’s life cycle. As our life is the finite period between birth and death, heritage is also doomed to disappear without a conscious effort to continue the viability of created heritage. Heritage has a finite life and transmission is the force to keep it alive.\n\nKorea is the only divided country in the world. Seventy years have passed since the Korean War, but the wounds of the war and the pain of the division still remain in the hearts of displaced people and dispersed families. Even amidst such a tragedy, there are intangible cultural properties of North Korea that have been transmitted in the South. One of them is “Aewonseong,” a song that has been designated in South Korea as an intangible cultural property of the ibuk odo (which literally means five northern provinces). “Aewonseong” (哀怨聲) reflects the joys and sorrows of life and expresses sounds of sadness and lamentation as the name suggests. People living in the barren areas of Hamgyeong-Do in the North used to hum the song when things were hard and tiring. Currently in South Korea, the song is transmitted by displaced people as a form of a musical performance accompanied by instruments and dance. It allows those people to find consolation and ease their longing for their hometown, thus providing a special sense of identity. Although the song is being practiced differently compared to its original version performed in the North, it still has the same function of consoling people now living in the southern part of the peninsula.\n\nDuring the thirteenth Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the ICH, which was held in Mauritius in November 2018, Traditional Korean Wrestling, ssirum/ssireum was jointly inscribed on the Representative List of the ICH of Humanity. The joint inscription was especially meaningful as it was intended for ‘peace and reconciliation.’ Since 2014, ICHCAP has organized biennial sub-regional meetings of five Northeast Asian countries (South Korea, Mongolia, China, Japan, and North Korea). The participants looked at the status of ICH safeguarding in North Korea and discussed the necessity for stronger exchange and cooperation in the fields of ICH in the region, laying a collaborative foundation for support for North Korea. This year in October, the fourth sub-regional meeting will take place in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, under the subject of the safeguarding of shared heritage in East Asia.\n\nAccording to the ‘Kit of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage’ published by UNESCO, safeguarding activities promote reconciliation through intercultural dialogue and respect for cultural diversity around the practice of living heritage and thus constitute an effective and sustainable way to restore peace and security within society. Even in the situation of national division, the viability of ICH can bring together different parties beyond the border to share a collective memory and the values of heritage. As such, shared heritage can play a vital role in maintaining peace and security in the two Koreas. ICH, which has survived to date and can be shared by both peoples, could hopefully help achieve inter-Korean cooperation and further establish a culture of peace in Northeast Asia.\n\nPhoto : Joining two Koreas © Shutterstock/eamesBotYear2020NationSouth Korea
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Intangible Cultural Heritage Information in Critical Times: Questions on Production and DisseminationThis essay is the second in a series that chiefly argues for the importance of seeing intangible heritage protection as a form of human rights protection and thus a necessity in critical times such as COVID-19 pandemic. But is “heritage in critical times” a new concept? How do we qualify “critical times”? How has the discursive portrayal of bodies of knowledge and practices, as well as natural and built environments, in need of protection reinforced the concept of critical times?\n\nThis idea of “heritage in critical times” initially surfaced in the discourse around intangible heritage: when a cultural symbol is threatened by a physical harm. In Terrorism, Conflicts and the Responsibility to Protect Cultural Heritage (2016), Federico Lenzerini notes that the intent to eliminate communities is the common denominator characterizing all main cases of destruction of cultural heritage throughout history such as the demolition of part of the Pyramid of Menkaure in Egypt by Sultan Al-Aziz Othman at the end of the twelfth century, the systematic destruction of mosques and other religious or historical constructions during the Balkan wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and the destruction of the two ancient giant Buddha statues in the Afghan valley of Bamiyan by the Taliban in 2001. What’s deeply significant in the discussion of Lenzerini is its commitment to the concept of cultural heritage as a “common good” belonging to all of humanity, noting the preambles to the 1954 Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and the 1972 World Heritage Convention, affirming that “deterioration or disappearance of any item of the cultural or natural heritage constitutes a harmful impoverishment of the heritage of all the nations of the world.” This collective belongingness to heritage from tangible cultural heritage definitely persists when intangible cultural heritage (ICH) came to the fore, except ICH introduced threats to heritage in an abstract sense such as globalization and abandonment of traditional ways of life. Nevertheless, this kind of attitude toward heritage succinctly legitimizes the responsibility to protect all cultural heritage elements, tangible (including natural) and intangible, as an innate obligation, a part of coming into humanity. This also implies that the idea of “critical times” has made it possible to see and imagine some objects and practices as representative of our humanity and call it heritage. In other words, “critical times” arguably directed the generation of heritage knowledge as well as public measures to protect and rescue those cultural symbols we now call heritage of the humanity.\n\nThe above description of a link between “critical times” and heritage signals that even before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, safeguarding and conservation practices were already situated within complex circuits of cultural interactions, interventions, and initiatives. And when social activities began to be restricted, cities placed on different forms of lockdowns, festivals cancelled as among the calamities brought by the pandemic, heritage protection has just become more complicated and challenging. Due to the fact that social distancing has become the most pervasive preventive measure against coronavirus, it has become almost instinctual to us to heavily rely on the internet to gain some modicum of normalcy, to be in touch with each other. In my observation, cultural practitioners in the ICH field also adopt the same formula in continuing their work, resorting to online infrastructures to conduct relevant activities. For example, UNESCO is developing a plan of action for Central America to ensure universal access to documentary heritage, which includes the use of community media to assuage the limited capacity of many people to internet access. I can only imagine the strong intent of organizations to continue the safeguarding and transmission of ICH thru every possible means, though this time, with a stronger consideration of digitizing community traditions, translating practices into electronic records, cultural rituals into screen. However, the reflexive use of internet or online technologies in ICH safeguarding and transmission in the pandemic may calibrate problems such as heritage fossilization. What are our views on the internet or digital technologies in areas of heritage archiving, documentation, and information dissemination in critical times? I argue that the continuous safeguarding and transmission of ICH must include a consideration of how ICH information is produced at the community or individual level, not only the possible means that such information can be disseminated in critical times. How then can we support communities, groups, and individuals in order for them to remain at the center of ICH information production? What new modes of documentary procedures can we implement that regard the fluency of the ICH of communities, relevant ethical frameworks as well as possible health risks?\n\nAlbeit the use of digital technologies can alleviate the feeling of impoverishment of information, there certainly is no single solution to a massive problem and sharing of experiences, as well as persistent networking, can make a difference in better understanding different contexts, specifically community needs and available instruments for heritage work to continue. The consumption of ICH information as a digital output may well be very possible in a context of restricted social mobility, but the production of such ICH information (for example, this online exhibition of ICH in South Asia and the Pacific) nonetheless requires actual social interaction. I maintain that ICH communities and tradition bearers should remain at the center of any effort to produce and disseminate ICH information.Year2020NationAfghanistan
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Thanaka: A Traditional Beauty Commodity in MyanmarThe cosmetic value of thanaka is nationally recognized in Myanmar. Extracted from trees, thanaka holds a high level of public trust due to its connection to the traditional life of Burmese people. In the past, thanakha was worn as a natural cosmetic concoction during the period of Myanmar kingdoms. During the monarchy period, lighter and more fragrant thanakha was used for royal families, and it was added with tiny gold powder while commoners used the pollen of flowers named gant gaw (Mesua ferrea). In addition to it being considered a beauty product, thanaka is also used by farmers and sun-exposed workers for sun protection.\n\nSince Myanmar is in a tropical climate zone, thanakha can give cool sensations and heal sunburns. When thanakha is applied on the face, it becomes a moisturizing treatment that primarily soothes the skin. It also has antibacterial properties that help clear the skin of pimples. As a result, thanaka paste is an essential part of our beauty routine. The glorification of thanaka is well-reflected in Myanmar’s idealization of beauty, particularly female beauty. The ideal woman is perceived to have a long hair, wearing Myanmar’s traditional attire, and using thanaka. This idealization is portrayed in media culture of the country, as well as in folk literature.\n\nPeople make thanaka throughout the Myanmar. Following simple traditional procedures, it is taken from thanaka tree (Limonia acidissma Linn). Ten-year-old thanaka trees are downed and made logs about fifteen centimeters long. Thanakha paste is extracted from the bark by grinding it with a bit of water on a stone slab called kyauk pyin, until it becomes a yellow paste. The yellow paste, thanaka, is kept in a small container for daily use.\n\nIn recent times, Myanmar has seen the proliferation of foreign cosmetic brands in the country, specifically in urban areas. Despite this, thanaka is still used by many and promoted by concerned associations, as it represents Myanmar culture. Although people in the countryside faithfully use thanaka, the collective perception of people about it as a cultural component of ideal beauty should not be missed in understanding the intangible heritage of Myanmar.\n\nPhoto 1 : Mother and son with thanakha ⓒ Pisi (U2 Photo Studio) photography\nPhoto 2 : Lady with thanakha at a five-day market in Hsi Hseng , Shan State ⓒ Mg Chit Pan (Taunggyi) photography\nPhoto 3 : Little boy with thanakha applied ⓒ Sai Moon (tgi) photographyYear2018NationMyanmar
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Revitalizing the ICH of a Million Village Goddesses in IndiaVisually imposing sites often catch the imagination of the public. But there is often more than the monumental that informs local’s and visitor’s experiences. Few realize the importance of local civic spaces that demonstrate community benefits from safeguarding heritage in all its manifestations. Engagement with the local primary stakeholders and their spaces reveals deep knowledge for pilgrimage, tourism, education, and recreation. Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage (ICH) requires benefit analysis and integrated local area planning through a bottom up praxis for sustainability.\n\nA promising development in Amaravathi Heritage Town, Andhra Pradesh, birthplace of Mahayana Buddhism, is a major program for safeguarding its tangible and intangible heritage. Known to the outside world for its famous Amaravathi School of Buddhist Art, recent systematic cultural mapping revealed 2,900-year layers of history and a rich inventory of intangible heritage. Significant is the first Government Order for safeguarding the Balusulamma Thalli Gudi or temple. Its archaeological and historical importance is amplified through the collective memories and living heritage of Balusulamma as the village patron goddess of the ancient Dharanikota.\n\nTwo hundred years ago, local king Raja Vasi Reddy Venkatadri Naidu used to dismount his elephant on returning home from other villages and make offerings to Balusulamma. Last month, his direct descendants on an annual pilgrimage visited the place during the harvest festival and conducted vermillion or Kumkuma Puja for Balusulamma. They are now sponsoring an onsite educational room built strictly according to traditional architecture and in partnership with the Amaravathi Heritage Centre and Museum.\n\nThe priest or pujari, potter Sambayya, is reviving famous Dharanikota pottery traditions. Scaled drawings of the cultural space were prepared by the School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada. Local farmers are assisting with documentation and the use of the cultural space for revitalizing the diversity of intangible heritage. The landscape has been carefully fenced. Five solar lamps, a water tank, and boring pump have been installed. A gateway has been constructed and landscaping is preventing soil erosion.\n\nThe rachhabanda or traditional meeting place under the large 200-year-old Banyan tree has been renovated with smooth granite. It is being used by the local village administration, school groups, and families. Everyone loves the ambience of the place, irrespective of caste, faith, age, and other cultural affiliation. The access road to the temple, along with drainage, has been completed. Festivities that have revived the intangible heritage of the place are once again bringing back people from the surrounding twenty-three villages. The Village Vathavaranam or village ambience is revitalized. It is a concept that is rarely addressed in critical heritage discourse.\n\nBalusulamma Thalli Gudi is an illustration of locating culture in development in safeguarding intangible heritage through integrated local area planning. There are about 14,000 villages in the state and an estimated 100,000 shrines to a high number of village goddesses across its thirteen districts—perhaps a million of heritage-rich sites in India. They are the bedrock of Andhra and Telugu culture and Indian heritage. They provide the essence of what it is to experience village atmosphere in the face of rapid urbanization and globalization.\n\nBalusulamma signifies culture as an essential component of human development as it is a source of identity, innovation, and creativity for the village life in India. UNESCO emphasizes that many people, especially the poor, depend directly on ecosystems for their livelihood, and, in effect, their economic, social, and physical well-being, including nonetheless their cultural heritage. Balusulamma Gudi is also a good representative example of the UNESCO 2011 Recommendation on Historic Cultural Landscapes and the 2003 Convention on Safeguarding Intangible Heritage. The value and role of community cultural reclamation and responsible tourism through safeguarding and promotion of heritage landscapes is better understood in Amaravathi Heritage Town.\n\nPhoto : Local folk theater revitalized © Amareswar GallaYear2018NationIndia
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STORYTELLING & TRANSFORMING EDUCATION IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDSStorytelling is an important aspect of the human experience. Through stories, we learn, we share, we feel, we express, and we remember. And in the Pacific, stories serve as the thread that connects us with our places. Our stories hold lessons of the strength, struggles, and solidarity that shape the identity all Pacific Islanders, as well as the accumulated knowledge, world views, and ways of knowing developed through firsthand engagement with our environment. However, while critical to survival in our places, our stories and the knowledge held in them are not always valued in school. This leaves a gap in education that alienates communities from classrooms and young learners from the collective wisdom that would guide them into a thriving future.Year2019NationSouth Korea
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ICH TRANSMISSION THROUGH FORMAL AND NON-FORMAL EDUCATIONAmong the many ethnic and linguist groups spread throughout Pakistan is the Pakhtun tribe of the Yousafzais, who live in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and across the Durand Line in Afghanistan. The Yousafzais are further divided into various khels (clans) and families. One is the Khawja Markhel in the village of Sumbatchan in the picturesque valley of Upper Swat, an idyllic place in the foothills of the Hindu Kush Range. The fiercely patriarchal society is organized under Pakhtunwali, an ancient tribal honor code; the ancient social institutions of the Hujra and Gudoor, men’s and women’s social spaces; Jirga system, a council of elders; and ashar, collective reciprocal labor.Year2013NationSouth Korea
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Preserving Uncultivated Food Resources for Food Security in Bangladesh"BeezBistar Foundation (BBF), a community action-based non-governmental organization, was formed in 2009 by development workers and researchers. “BeezBistar” means prosperity in life and peaceful and joyful relations between human beings and all other life-forms. BBF works with local communities, especially farmers, weavers, fishers, adivashi, dalit, and other marginalized and socially vulnerable people for a prosperous and healthy life. Its guiding ethical principles are non-discrimination on the grounds of caste, race, class, and gender. BBF believes in people’s capacity to transform their existing situation of poverty and become pros- perous through a mediated process of interdependent, collective, and community support and actions. The notion of BEEZ is grounded in the local and indigenous culture of the peoples of Bangladesh, as well as advanced by science and life-affirming knowledge and technologies."Year2020NationBangladesh