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ICH Materials 132
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NAVRUZ, SHARING TOGETHER ON NEW YEAR’S DAY—SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE CULTURE OF NAVRUZNavruz (Nowruz) is not just about the first day of spring, but it is also not just a celebration of the New Year marked by indulging in a feast; it has a much wider historical and cultural context with deep doctrinal significance.Year2011NationSouth Korea
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People on Vanuatu’s Malekula Island Speak More than 30 Indigenous Languages. Here’s Why We Must Record ThemMalekula, the second-largest island in the Vanuatu archipelago, has a linguistic connection to Aotearoa. All of its many languages are distantly related to te reo Māori, and the island is the site of a long-term project to document them.\n\nVanuatu has been described as the world’s “densest linguistic landscape,” with as many as 145 languages spoken by a population of fewer than 300,000 people.\n\nMalekula itself is home to about 25,000 people, who among them speak more than thirty indigenous languages. Some are spoken by just a few hundred people.\n\nIndigenous languages around the world are declining at a rapid rate, dying out with the demise of their last speakers. The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues estimates one indigenous language dies every two weeks. As each language disappears, its unique cultural expression and world views are lost as well. Our project in Malekula hopes to counter this trend.\n\nMalekula Languages\nThe work in Malekula began in the 1990s when the late Terry Crowley hosted a Neve’ei-speaking university student from a small village. The encounter inspired his interest in the island’s many Indigenous languages.\n\nThe Malekula project works with communities to facilitate literacy initiatives, often in the form of unpublished children’s books and thematic dictionaries. The research highlights the value of Indigenous languages as an expression of local cultural identity. The Malekula project is a response to the urgent need to record the island’s indigenous languages in the face of significant changes to almost every aspect of traditional life. These changes have brought indigenous languages into contact and competition with colonial English and French and the home-grown Bislama, a dialect of Melanesian pidgin. From education to religion, administration, and domestic life, Bislama is now often the language of choice.\n\nWhy is that a problem? The value of indigenous languages lies in the fact that they articulate the way in which people have engaged with and understood their natural environment.\n\nMalekula has a 3,000-year history of human settlement. Each language spoken on the island encodes unique ways in which its speakers have sustained life. Indigenous languages preserve ways in which people engage with their environment.\n\nAnother fundamental aspect of indigenous languages is their direct link to cultural identity. In a place where distinctive local identities are the norm, the increasing use of Bislama reduces the linguistic diversity that has been sustained for millennia.\n\nIn recent times, the way of life for the people of Malekula has shifted from intensely local communities to broader formal education. Imported religions have similarly influenced local belief systems.\n\nThe same centralized governance that facilitates infrastructure development and access to medical care also affects the autonomy of small communities to govern their affairs, including the languages in which children are taught.\n\nTraditionally, linguistic field research has produced valuable research for a highly specialist linguistic audience. Most scholars had no expectation of returning their research to the community of speakers. We initially followed this tradition in writing about the Neverver language of Malekula but grew increasingly dissatisfied with the expectations of the discipline. Looking to modern decolonizing research methodologies and ethical guidelines in Aotearoa, we developed the “first audience principle.” This means indigenous language communities should be the first to hear about any field research findings.\n\nIn 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and travel bans brought linguistic fieldwork to an abrupt halt. During this unwelcome hiatus from fieldwork with Malekula communities, it has been tempting to focus on more technical analysis for our fellow academics. But our obligation to communities remains, and we are developing new ways of working with our archived field data in preparation for the time when we can return to Malekula.\n\nThis article is based on the free flow of information, the creative commons from https://theconversation.com For the original source with additional links, please visit https://theconversation.com/people-on-vanuatus-malekula-island-speak-more-than-30-indigenous-languages-heres-why-we-must-record-them\n\nPhoto : Indigenous languages preserve ways in which people engage with their environment. CCBY Royce Dodd, Author providedYear2021NationVanuatu
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Appreciating the Traditional Music of the Maldives through Bodu BeruBodu beru (literally “big drum”) is the most popular and one of the oldest surviving forms of music and dance in the Maldives. The tradition is thought to have been brought to the Maldives by African slaves in the nineteenth century. Some people also believe that it evolved as an alternative to eleventh-century court music.\n\nBodu beru is usually performed by a group of fifteen to twenty people—composed of at least a lead singer and three drummers. Goat skin is commonly used as the drum’s membrane and the wood of coconut palm as the drum’s barrel; stingray skin is also used as a substitute for goat skin. The beat is hammered out with bare hands in a slow tempo, building up into a crescendo. This intensity continues before reaching an abrupt end. The song accompanying this drumming is called baburu lava or negro song. In the olden days, the lyrics were a meaningless combination of local and African words usually sung after a hard day’s work.\n\nNowadays, songs sung with bodu beru accompaniment are written in Dhivehi, the local Maldivian language. During musical shows, performers render a dance called baburu neshun or negro dance while wearing a sarong and white short-sleeved shirt. Bodu beru is popular at weddings, Eid occasions, and events held in relation to the circumcision of young boys. Also, with many tourist resorts realizing the commercial benefit of a relatively inexpensive cultural activity for their tourists, many bodu beru groups have been formed to perform in resorts. A current and more commercial revival has been led through an annual reality show/competition known as Boduberu Challenge. Some videos of the program are available here.\n\nPhoto : Bodu beru performance by young practitioners CCBY2.0 Shafiu HussainYear2017NationMaldives
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Tusau Keser (Cutting of Fetters) CeremonyToday, the issue of preservation and popularization of national traditions, customs, and rituals associated with the human life cycle is relevant. Kazakhs have many ceremonies that must be carried out throughout a person’s life. One such significant rite of initiation into a new life is the Tusau Keser ceremony.\n\nTusau keser is fetters cutting on feet, symbolizing the beginning of a new stage in a child’s life—the ability to walk and to learn about the world. Kazakhs believed that if this ritual was not performed, the child would often stumble and be insecure and awkward. This custom is carried out when the child first begins to walk. In most cases, this will be when the child turns one year old. Our ancestors believed that if this custom is not carried out, the future of the child would be bad and if it is held, then a bright future awaits and brings luck and happiness. To hold this ceremony, the child’s parents organize toi (party). To do this, the day before the ceremony, they send invitations to relatives and friends. The next day, the invited people come with gifts as well as sweets for shashu (a festive throwing of sweets). A festal dastarkhan is set for guests and a feast begins. After the festive table, the tusau keser ceremony itself begins.\n\nRite Attributes\nFor holding of a tusau keser a colorful flagellum is prepared—ala jip, or colored interlaced from several woolen threads of different bright colors. This flagellum is called tusau—fetters. The threads consist of three colors: white (a symbol of purity), green (a symbol of health and longevity), red (a symbol of wealth). There is also an old form of fetters called ala jip, which were made of white and black threads symbolizing the philosophy and reality of the world—good and evil, light and darkness, and warmth and cold.\n\nSuperstitions and Beliefs\nThe toddler’s legs are tied with black and white threads. These colors are chosen to distinguish black from white in the future, to be a respectable citizen, and not to cross the road from anybody. Some people, instead of a striped rope, tie the legs with the fatty intestines of an animal so that the child would be rich and authoritative in the future. Such a superstition exists to this day. Sometimes they use a rope woven from grass so that the child would grow up quickly, mature faster, have a large family, and so on.\n\nThere are two ways to decide who will cut the fetters of the child. One option is for the parents to choose. This right is mainly granted to a multi-child, energetic woman or grandmother. The person who cuts the fetters should be smart, energetic, and respected. Our ancestors believed that if such a person cuts the fetters, then the person’s energy will be transmitted to the baby. The person entrusted with this process must bring a knife and a rope. After the feast, everyone goes out into the street. A special carpet is laid. They put the baby on the carpet and the chosen person cuts the fetters. Then two people take his hands and lead him off the carpet. When the baby is led, the people throw gifts and coins in a solemn atmosphere. In some regions, special items like books, mirror, or a whip are placed on the carpet, and the child chooses one of the items to determine the future. For example, if the child chooses a book, he or she will become a scientist or enlightened person. And if the child chooses the whip, he or she will become belligerent man.\n\nA second variant to decide who will cut the fetter is a fast-walking competition among boys. The boy who wins first place will do the cutting. This is done to transmit the energy of this boy to the baby. The boy is then given gifts, most often a sledding horse or a foal.\n\nPhoto : Tusau Keser symbolizing the beginning of a new stage in a child’s life ⓒ Nazym MalibayevaYear2019NationKazakhstan
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Loy Krathong Festival of ThailandLoy Krathong Festival is a yearly event in Thailand on the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month, usually in November. This festival has a long history dating back to the Sukhothai era and continuously maintains its popularity in the present. It is a local ritual in honor of the goddess of water to get rid of misfortunes for a better future. During the festival, people gather by a river or canal float krathong, a basket made of banana trunk and leaves in the shape of a blooming lotus. This performance is more of a prayer that the krathong will take their hardships and bad luck far away. Traditionally, families make at least one krathong as beautiful as they can, decorated with various flowers, candles, and joss sticks. Strands of hair, nails, clothes, and money are sometimes placed in the krathong, too. Before floating it, people light the candle and joss sticks and make a wish, asking for forgiveness from the goddess of water for any deeds that may have disappointed her, and ask her to take their bad luck away.\n\nThis ritualistic performance is practiced throughout Thailand, though each location has its own way of performing it. There are also some fun activities during the festival such as the Best Krathong Competition to honor the most beautiful and creative krathong, Noppamas beauty pageant to crown a beautiful and smart girl (named after Noppamas, a beautiful consort of the King Lethai’s grandson during the Sukhothai era), fireworks display, traditional costume display, and many other traditional entertainment and performances.\n\nLooking into how the festival has been carried out over the last decade, people have come up with more resourceful and impressive ways to participate in the festival. Some have used foam or plastic and artificial decorations to make a lighter krathong that can float well on water. In response to global warming, people have also become more vigilant in using eco-friendly materials in creating Krathong. For example, a krathong-shaped bread has already been created for the festival; it didn’t leave waste on the water, and it also served as a fish food. Commonly, banana trunks and leaves have also been used to create krathong.\n\nPhoto : Loy krathong ⓒ Department of Cultural PromotionYear2018NationThailand
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Nomadic Horse Games in KyrgyzstanPrevalent in Kyrgyzstan, the horse symbolizes nomadic culture. The country’s folk literature reflects how the Kyrgyz people harmoniously live with the animal. For example, in Manas, the epic poem, the hero was inseparable from his horse, Ak-Kula, in every battle he fought. The deep association of the Kyrgyz with horses is embodied in nomadic horse games.\n\nOccurring in summertime, nomadic horse games are usually played by men. These games are a depiction of spectacular skills and manliness. Men participating in these games demonstrate excellence in horse riding, prompt reaction, agility, and strength. There is a significant number of horse games in Kyrgyzstan collectively perceived as a traditional sport. Among the most important of these games is kok boru. Also known as ulak tartysh, it is a famous nomad horse game historically believed to train young men to be fearless. The game consists of two teams on horseback, where players have to throw a dead animal (ulak or sheep) to the opponent’s goal. The team with the most goals wins the game. Another game, at chabyish, is a long-distance horse-racing competition. Depending on the distance and age of horse, this game as classified as kunan chabysh, zhorgo salysh, or byshty zhorgo. Wrestling is also incorporated in nomadic horse games. Er enish is a good example of this. Requiring great stamina, this game consists of two horsemen who attempt to push each other off each other’s horse. The first to touch the ground loses.\n\nTo preserve and develop these traditional games of nomadic culture, the Republic of Kyrgyzstan initiated the World Nomad Games in 2012. The First World Nomad Games were held in 2014 in the Issyk-Kul Oblast of Kyrgyzstan. Around nineteen countries participated in the nomad games competitions. The Second Nomad Games were held in 2016, where sixty-two countries participated in twenty-six different nomadic sports. The Third World Nomad Games will take place this year, from 2 to 8 September in Cholpon-Ata, Issyk-Kul Oblast, Kyrgyzstan. For this year, around seventy-seven countries are expected to participate. The nomadic horse games mentioned in this article will be included in the program.\n\nPhoto 1 : Man riding a horse© National Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO\nPhoto 2 : Girl riding a horse © Tynchtyk Turdaliev\nPhoto 3 : Riding a horse © Tynchtyk TurdalievYear2018NationKyrgyzstan
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Salburuun—Traditional Hunting Games of Kyrgyz PeopleSalburuun is a traditional Kyrgyz hunting game with a long history. Traditionally, salburuun comes from the nomadic tradition of protecting herds from wolves. Moreover, Kyrgyz people have a long tradition of hunting with eagles and faithful dogs called taigan. During hunting campaigns, people identify the best hunters, horses, eagles, and taigans. salburrun is not only about the skills of the hunter but also his relationship and courage with eagles or taigan. Therefore, salburuun is a complex hunting game with birds of prey, taigans, and traditional bow shooting. In Kyrgyzstan, different salburrun festivals have been held and is part of the World Nomad Games held every two years in Kyrgyzstan.\n\nThe various salburuun games include burkut salu, dalba, and taigan jarysh. Burkut salu is a complex hunting activity with eagle. Usuallys, the burkut salu team consists of six people with one team leader and other five berkutchi (hunter with an eagle). Participants test their skills two exercises as chyrga and ondok. Dalba is hunting with falcon. In this competition, the speed of the falcon’s flight to lure is tested. Each kushchu (falconer) is given two minutes to test his falcon. During this time, the falcon had to imitate an attack on a lure from the air. Judges note how many times the falcon flies and imitates an attack. Taigan jarysh is another type of traditional hunting game in the form of dog racing. After the judge’s signal, dogs are released simultaneously to chase a fox or hare dummy pulled by the rider or a special apparatus. There are three competitions the initial, semi-final and final races in which each dog’s ability is determined. If a dog tries to bite or hinder another dog during the race, the dog is disqualified.\n\nSalburuun is a unique traditional method of hunting that combines the teamwork of eagles, falcons, and taigan dogs. The games draw attention of thousands of people from all over the world, which is why it is part of the World Nomad Games that are held in Kyrgyzstan. Moreover, there are a number of festivals and competitions hosted to foster salburuun as comprehensive hunting game, which is now also considered an art form as well.\n\nPhoto : Engraving of Kyrgyz traditions, created in 1880Year2019NationKyrgyzstan
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Intangible Cultural Heritage as the Product of Collective Wisdom and Creativity that Citizens can Take Part InIntangible cultural heritage is a culmination of insight and wisdom for life. Intangible cultural heritage that has been passed down over the years affect our value systems in the present. It is also likely that this will continue in the future given a similar environment. Thus the transmission of intangible cultural heritage as the spiritual source behind tangible heritage is important. Intangible cultural heritage allows us to understand the past, find wisdom for the present, and predict the future. We can learn about the values, social consciousness and worldview that people held in the past through intangible cultural heritage. This then becomes a tool to understand the people of the present and predict the future based on the past. Thus, as the history of humanity progresses, the greater the need becomes to analyze the cultural elements accumulated in tradition. As people in modern society face the pressures of urbanization, industrialization and intense competition, intangible cultural heritage provides the spiritual comfort of a homecoming by reviving the nation’s cultural memory.Year2019NationSouth Korea
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Increasing Community Involvement in Salak Yom FestivalHeld in the twelfth lunar month of Thai Buddhist calendar, Salak Yom Festival is a tradition of the Yong people in the northern province of Lamphun, Thailand. It used to be a merit-making rite of passage for young Thai women of marriage-ready age, but by mid-twentieth century it started to fade away due to the high cost of individual donations. Starting 2004, however, as a result of collaboration between many local enthusiasts and the Buddhist temple Wat Hariphunchai Committee, the festival was re-established on slightly different grounds. What was too much of a burden for the young brides-to-be was transformed into a communal activity. In the present time, tall and neatly decorated Salak Yom trees are the hallmark objects of the festival as they are prepared and donated by the members of local communities working together. A competition was initiated when the festival was reintroduced. Through provincial sponsorship, prizes were awarded to those who created the tallest and most beautiful trees. This increased the number of participating villages; and the trees have grown way taller compared to their original form.\n\nThe merit-making aspect of the contemporary version of the festival takes quite a peculiar form. Since the trees are decorated not only with colorful paper leaves and flowers, but also with various objects quite useful for everyday life—clothes, packaged food, household products, and even bank notes—as donations to the monks of the local monasteries. The monks, however, are not expected to keep all of those items but share them with those in need. Lottery decided which community’s donations are received by which monks. So during the last day of the festival, each community’s representatives are waiting in the tents erected precisely for this purpose while numerous monks are wondering around with papers saying whom exactly they are getting donations from this year. Despite the religious idea underlying this entire activity, its atmosphere resembles more that of a fair.\n\nThis year’s Salak Yom Festival was held from 3 to 5 September. The display of Salak Yom trees in Wat Hariphunchai was complemented by a parade, traditional crafts market, and traditional dance performances. The traditional dance performances, however, were unfortunately accompanied by pre-recorded music and lit by colorful projectors as the current organizers believed that the use of technology could help the festival become up-to-date.\n\nPhoto : Salak Yom trees being erected. © Eva RapoportYear2017NationThailand
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Puppeteers of Muragachha Colony: Relearning Art, Performing Bengali TraditionA puppet festival is a public-driven performance of tradition in Muragachha Colony in the Nadia District of West Bengal, about 120 km from Kolkata. It is organized by the local people under the aegis of Banglanatak dot com, a social welfare organization. Muragachha Colony, and its neighboring village, Borboria, are home to puppeteer families who have not only plied their craft across Bengal but also traveled to many fairs and festivals across India. Masters in string puppetry, or suto putul as it is known in Bengal, they are trying their best to preserve this traditional folk theater, often referred to as putul natok or putul nach in Bengal, against stiff competition with electronic media and modern forms of amusement.\n\nMost puppeteers in these areas trace their roots to Khulna and Barishal in Bangladesh; their practice of string puppetry originated from the Kathputli of Rajasthan. According to veteran puppeteers, however, they are facing challenges as the younger generation is not keen on pursuing a life of puppetry—typically a family-driven profession—due to dwindling income.\n\nConventionally, the puppeteers travel all over the Bengal region between Durga Puja at the beginning of summer, performing at various fairs, festivals, and household functions with their portable stage and dolls. A puppet head is usually made of sholapith, a mold-able milky-white spongy plant matter, which is then painted with facial expressions that require the delicate touch of a master. Designing and tailoring the colorful and intricate puppet garments are also important.\n\nBanglanatak dot com has been working with the puppeteers for the past few years, training them to create a script and a more contemporary, more relevant stagecraft; their intervention is chiefly to provide support to revitalize Bengali puppetry in a workshop setting. This activity helps not only to discover the cultural dimensions of entertainment but also to understand the ways in which puppetry can be a tool to disseminate cultural knowledge. A writer, narrator, musicians, puppeteers, and skillful assistants work together as a team to prepare the puppet festival.\n\nWith support from the West Bengal Khadi and Village Industries Board (WBKVIB) and Rural Craft Cultural Hub—an initiative of West Bengal government’s Department of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise & Textiles (MSME&T)—in association with UNESCO, the puppet festival, Putul Naach Mela, was held for the first time from 15 to 17 December 2017 at Muragachha Colony Primary School to spread awareness about the suto putul of Bengal.\n\nPhoto : Putul against a wall between showings © Banglanatak dot comYear2018NationIndia
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Chak-Ka-Yer: Traditional Tug-of-War of ThailandChak-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.Year2019NationJapan,Cambodia,South Korea,Philippines,Ukraine,Viet Nam
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The Four Noble Friends (thuen-pa pun-zhi)This fabulous story provides humanity with a strong moral for harmonious and peaceful living, which offers real food for thought in this era of modernization and competition in the world. The story is one of many enchanting Jakarta tales of Lord Buddha; it is not only highly revered in Bhutan but also included in school curricula to teach deep human values to future generations. The story begins in a dense forest in the land of Kashi, where once lived a partridge, a rabbit, a monkey, and an elephant who became incredibly close friends despite their different sizes and species. The friendship was made possible the fact that they shared the same feeling of love and kindness for each other. Every day they helped each other find food and wholeheartedly shared everything they found.Year2022NationBhutan