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ICH Materials 158
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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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Guthi System: Tracing Indigenous Practices of Heritage Conservation in Kathmandu ValleyKathmandu Valley is also known as the city of temples with stupas, shrines, and statues in every nook and corner of the historic centers. Festivals and rituals unfolding throughout the year make the place even more outstanding. It would be interesting to know how most of these monuments and festivals have survived for over hundreds of years.\n\nThe Newar people, or indigenous people loosely identified as those living in Kathmandu Valley, are accustomed to caste, locality, and the system of guthi. Guthi refers to social associations with objectives similar to a format of trusts that play an important role in safeguarding both tangible and intangible heritage. It is still a backbone for the continuity of most festivals, rituals, and traditional practices in Kathmandu Valley.\n\nIn Nepal, every household is a member of at least one guthi formed for a specific purpose, like taking care of temples, performing mask dances, playing musical instruments, lighting butter lamps, taking care of stupas or bridges, and many more. Among many types of guthi is si guthi or sana guthi, which means being in charge of the cremation ceremony. Another example is twa guthi or the responsibility of male family members to be serve a certain function for their caste—teaching traditional musical instruments and taking care of specific temples, rituals, and festivals are exemplary functions of twa guthi.\n\nOne of the important aspects of the guthi system is the land endowment for sustaining guthis. In ancient times, wherever the temples were built or whenever festivals were initiated, the land was endowed to guthi. From the revenue generated from the given land, guthis paid priests, masons, craftsmen, artists, and others. In Nepal, it was not only kings and royals who did such endowments but also regular people. There were several reasons for this. People donated land for various purposes, such as religious piety or to fulfill the obligation one’s social status affords; moreover, this was done to avoid the state confiscating the land in times of political unrest. Once it was endowed to the god, to revoke it would be considered a great sin. Due to these reasons, there were many guthis and sufficient funds to safeguard several hundred temples, festivals, and rituals.\n\nIn the early phases of Nepali history, land endowments were taken by the state and rulers for their personal use; eventually repossessed lands were used to construct public buildings. The nationalization of guthi lands was a major setback to the indigenous community. Many guthis disappeared due to lack of the funds and rapid modernization of Nepal. The guthi system is not taken seriously in formal heritage conservation practices. If timely measures are not taken, then this unique practice will not survive long.\n\nPhoto : The guthi belonging to farmer Kilagal community performing the mask dance called Devi Pyakha during the Yenya Punhi Festival © Monalisa MaharjanYear2018NationNepal
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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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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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ICH Policy Brief MOVE 2023 JUL01 UNESCO Trends\n* The Open-ended intergovernmental working group gathered to reflect on a broader implementation of Article 18 of the 2003 Convention\n* United States rejoined UNESCO as 194th member state\n* The Great Himalayan Exploration to document local ICH supported by Royal Enfield – the world’s oldest motorcycle brand\n* Iran firmly adheres to 2003 convention\n\n02 Asia-Pacific Trends\n* ‘2023 Cultural City of East Asian’ Opening Ceremonies\n* Indonesian ‘Batik’ and Korea’s Hyundai Motors collaborate to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic tie\n* Rising demand for cultural heritage tourism which helps local employment and local legacy safeguarding\n\n03 Korean Trends\n* Global meeting and announcement of ‘Seoul Vision’ for 20th Anniversary Celebration of the 2003 Convention\n* ‘Hanji, Traditional Knowledge and Technology’ selected as a candidate for UNESCO List nomination in 2024\n* Foreign corporates in Korea support the restoration, rehabilitation, and promotion of Korean heritage as part of social contribution\n* Korea Foundation held an exhibition highlighting female craftsmen in Pacific island countriesYear2023NationSouth Korea
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The Universality and Distinctiveness of East Asian Printing TechniquesFirst, What areas are included in East Asia? This article deals with East Asian printing technology so it is necessary to give a thought on the area where printing technoloy was developed in pre-modern times. Even though there are differences depending on the order of time, countries where printing technology has developed are China and its neighboring countries such as Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Therefore, this article aims to look into characteristics in these countries, grouping them into East Asia category.\nSecond, what is the scope of printing technology? Printing is the technology for mass copy of texts. Human civilization of copying texts has evolved from oral transmission to transcription, from transcription to printing, from printing to digital copying. It has been only thousand years since printing began to be used in human society in earnest. Social needs drove a development of new technology, and craftsmen who has assimilated its knowledge and skills created new things. In other words, intangible needs and technology produced new tangible things. Diagraming of printing technology is as follows;\nSocial needs for printing → Craftsman and Technology → Woodblock or Movable - Type → Books\nIn this article, we will examine why printing technique was needed and what its social background in each area was, focusing on woodblocks and movable-type, two representative methods of printing technology in pre modern times.\nYear2021NationSouth Korea
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Kobyz: Kazakh Traditional Musical InstrumentKobyz (kyl-kobyz) is a sacred instrument embodying the spiritual world of a nomad. It is perhaps the most magical traditional musical instrument of Kazakh people. From being a sacred solo-instrument that sounded at the hands of nomads to moving to orchestras in large concert halls, kobyz went through a long journey onto the big stage.\n\nKobyz is made of a whole piece of wood, which is one of the most ancient ways of making musical instruments. It is an ancient belief that the living soul of a tree that is projected into the instrument is preserved only in the whole piece of wood. Kobyz is not a factory instrument, so it is always made by craftsmen. Making a high-quality kobyz is an extremely laborious process that requires considerable knowledge and skills. Many musicians admit that Kobyz is very selective and does not match with everyone. According to the local ethno-designers, kobyz might stop producing a proper sound if a person with negative energy is around it.\n\nKobyz Heritage: Importance of Revitalization\nMany valuable and interesting thoughts are contained in the ancient sounds and memories that come to life through the traditional musical instruments. As such, it contains morals about mutual respect, loyalty, justice, love for the motherland, and caring attitude towards elders. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully study and use those knowledge, traditions and customs in our lives today. Korkyt-ata himself, who is creator of kobyz and a legendary historical figure in Turkic world, became a symbol of national revival, the personification of high ideals of spirituality, morality, and love for the motherland.\n\nIt is believed that kobyz has a beneficial and healing effect to its surroundings. Traditionally, kobyz melodies were believed to have an ability to banish evil spirits, sicknesses and death. Sometimes the sound of a kobyz resembles a person’s speech coming from the depths of the soul. It is capable of transmitting the sounds of the wind, the voices of birds and animals, as well as the modern acoustics of the cities. However, the main point is a person’s feelings and soul hidden behind the melody. Having heard a kobyz play once, it is hard to forget its sound.\n\nSafeguarding and Popularization of Kobyz in Modern Musical Culture\n\nAncient ‘kyl-kobyz’ underwent several improvements, and the ‘kobyz-prima’ was born in the bowels of the orchestra. Like many folk instruments, kobyz defended its right to be placed among the popular classic instruments in an orchestra and has demonstrated its ability to adapt to any musical situation. the 20th century became a turning point for many ethnic groups with a predominant vector towards the tendency to rethink folklore within the framework of new aesthetic views. There was a transition from old traditions of solo performance to polyphonic orchestral sounding, which allowed the entrance into the big stage and entailed the improvements of Kazakh folk musical instruments.\n\nRevitalization of kobyz in the 20th century was contradictory: the pursuit of original traditions in national music was accompanied by the intensification of research in the field of folklore ethnography. However, people do not think of adaptation of traditional kobyz to contemporary time as a negative influence, rather they look at it with gratitude that this is how kobyz did not completely extinct as many other instruments. In fact, contemporary kobyz was constantly brought closer to the violin, which made it possible to present the instrument to the whole world, gain international recognition and move on to a new era – the era of reviving the “original ” traditional kyl-kobyz in the 21st century.\n\nphoto 1 : © Jean-Plerre Dalbera\nphoto 2 : “Playing on Kobyz-prima at friend’s wedding celebration” © Zhansulu Issayeva\nphoto 3 : “Kobyz-prima” © Zhansulu IssayevaYear2021NationKazakhstan
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Empowering ICH NGOs as Catalyst for Sustainable DevelopmentUNPLI, the italian network of Pro Loco associations, represents approximately 6,000 Pro Loco associations (a unique type of Italian association devoted to promoting a specific town or location) from various municipalities and old medieval towns, where approximately 600,000 members work as volunteers organizing over 10,000 events, fairs, festivals and much more. Many Italian towns and small cities have a Pro Loco, a civic membership association of volunteers that works with schools, universities and institutions in order to project ways to enhance the town and provide assistance to visitors. In 2010 UNPLI created the online inventory on You Tube “Progetti UNPLI” with hundreds of videos and interviews with craftsmen, musicians, local experts and many other people on their connections with the cultural heritage of their\nregions: http://www.youtube.com/user/ProgettiUNPLI. UNPLI in collaboration with SIMBDEA, another italian accredited NGO, is working in order to build an Italian network for ICH. These Ngos are collaborating in the building of a participatory inventory strategy in Cocullo, a little town in Abruzzo, where every 1th of May takes place the “Feast of San Domenico Abate and the rite of snakes”.Since 2013 UNPLI runs the website of the ICH NGO FORUM (www.ichngoforum.org) and the Facebook’s page “Intangible cultural heritage and civil society”.Year2014NationSouth Korea
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GOLD AND SILK: A LONG-TERM COMMITMENT TO THE PROTECTION OF AFGHAN INTANGIBLE HERITAGE AND ITS COMMUNITIESTorn apart by decades of conflict, post-2003 Afghanistan was on the brink of an economic, social, and cultural collapse. Besides the much-mediatized shelling of the country’s material heritage, such as the Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan’s intangible heritage equally took an untold toll. In addition to various practices that had been directly targeted and proscribed (such as making the rubab, a short-necked lute), a general weakening of the national economy, disruption of raw material procurement networks, and an overall destruction of the social fabric put a majority of Afghanistan’s heritage at risk. Particularly threatened were its craftsmen, the stewards of woodcarving, goldsmithing, or miniature techniques, skills firmly rooted in more than 3,000 years of artistic traditions and defining features of many of the country’s communities.Year2018NationSouth Korea
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BLOCK PRINTING IN INDIABlock printing is a traditional techniques of textile design holding pride of place in the rich repository of Indian craft. Some scholars hold the view that it originated in China, and it came to India only in the twelfth century. Others cite fragments of printed cloth from Mohenjo-Daro or references in the Ramayana as evidence that it has existed in India since ancient times. The technique is unique in its ability to reflect both the creative ability of the designer and the sensibility of the printer-craftsmen. The creations of such bespoke production uniquely manifest the tiny imperfections that make it so highly prized. This singularity may never be achieved using automated machines.Year2019NationSouth Korea
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EMPOWERING AND STRENGTHENING RURAL COMMUNITIESAJIYER Fair Trade Ltd. began working as a social business enterprise for the betterment of Bangladesh communities in 2002. It aims to strengthen the livelihood of rural agricultural practitioners, craftsmen, and artisans; empower women and children; revive cultural heritage; and ensure food and nutritional security.Year2017NationSouth Korea
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A Festival of Tribal Traditional Craft and Culture in IndiaIndia has been known for centuries for its living heritage, tradition, and culture. The Rajasthan region is especially famous for its rich tribal tradition and craftsmanship. Different tribal groups have carried these traditions on since ancient times as the living heritage of the region. This practice is exemplified by the Aadi-Mahotsav, a three-day festival, which was most recently held in Udaipur from June 14 to 16, 2019. The festival demonstrates a discourse between the region’s tribal artists and the urban population in this cultural jamboree. The festival has earned a special importance in the conservation, exposure, and promotion of tribal traditions. \n\nAadi-Mahotsav is held by Tribal Area Development (TAD) and the Tribal Research Institute (TRI) in partnership with Bhartiya Lok Kala Mandal, Udaipur. The Aadi-Mahotsav starts in Udaipur, Rajasthan, on the second Friday of June and lasts for three days. The festival participants are children from tribal schools governed and run by TAD, tribal artists, craftsmen, musicians, singers, and other carriers of the intangible cultural heritage of Mewar, India, and other nearby villages.\n\nThe festival attracts all kinds of visitors: urban and rural residents, tourists, and collectors, representatives of businesses and cultural organizations, and so on. The festival traditionally opens with a sober procession of all the tribal artists, craftsmen, and participants of the festival in their traditional costumes. The participating artists welcome the distinguished guests at Bhartiya Lok Kala Mandal, the festival venue in Udaipur. More than 400 artisans, craftspeople, and experts from different districts of Rajasthan participated in the festival. \n\nTribal artists and students from tribal schools performed each day in the evening programs, while craftspeople, painters, and traditional healers displayed their tribal and rural products in the craft fair. Various conferences and workshops took place during the festival. These included a conference on arts and crafts for livelihood, as well as demonstrations of traditions, customs, and folk dances within the program framework. In addition, exhibitions and competitions for students like a talent hunt were included. \n\nAt the conferences and roundtables, participants and subject experts discussed the issues related to the current state of tribal culture in the region and in India more widely. Topics included the preservation of intangible cultural heritage, intellectual property rights, regional cooperation in developing the craft market, and cultural and rural tourism. During the festival, the Tribal Co-Operative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED), an organization under the administrative control of the Indian government’s Ministry of Tribal Affairs, opened a permanent store at Lok Kala Mandal to promote and market tribal/rural traditional produce. \n\nAadi-Mahotsav, which demonstrates the idea of cultural and economic cooperation and harmony, contributes not only to developing tribal traditions, and the cultural and ecological tourism industry in the region but also to helping the tribal population to take active participation in the socio-economic development of India.\n\nPhoto : Aadi-Mahotsav, a three-day festival ⓒ Lokesh PaliwalYear2019NationIndia