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ICH Materials 821
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Lintas Nusantara: Dance Forms from the Malay WorldSingapore’s Malay Heritage Centre (MHC) organizes Lintas Nusantara, an annual dance festival that serves as a platform for dance masters and troupes from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and other countries in the region to showcase their work and capabilities and to facilitate cultural exchanges among the countries involved.\n\nTo commemorate the tenth anniversary of the festival, MHC will be launching a publication entitled Lintas Nusantara: A Spectacle of Dance and Music in October 2021. The publication will provide a visual record of all the dances performed at the festival and include several essays that aim to provide a deeper understanding of the various dance forms as well as their origins, development, and evolution.\n\nIt will cover a total of twenty-three Malay dance forms performed in Singapore, different states in Malaysia, and different regions of Indonesia. These dance forms include Zapin Sungai Kallang from Singapore; Mak Yong and Tari Asyik from Malaysia; and Pajaga Makkunrai (Bugis), Tari Golek Menak (Yogyakarta) and Tari Gending Sriwijaya (Palembang) from Indonesia.\n\nAs part of the publication’s aim to foster more extensive research into dances from the Malay Archipelago, it will feature twenty-seven essays by academics and researchers from Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, East Timor, and the Philippines. These essays will cover topics such as preserving dance and community traditions; spirituality in dance and movement; forging cultural and community identity through dance; cultural borrowings as expressed through music, costumes, and movements.\n\nLintas Nusantara: A Spectacle of Dance and Music will also include reflections regarding the importance of cultural exchanges in the growth and evolution of dance and music as well as the development of a dynamic Malay dance ecosystem from musicians Thow Xin Wei (Gamelan Singa Nglaras) and Fadhli Ramlee (aluNada Muzik) as well as an interview with Mr. Osman Abdul Hamid, a dance practitioner renowned for his artistic contributions to the Malay dance scene in Singapore since the late 1970s.\n\nThrough this publication, MHC hopes to provide an overview of the wide spectrum of Malay dance forms, contribute to existing research and documentation on Malay performing arts, and promote greater cross-cultural understanding and appreciation of the diverse dance forms from the Malay world.\n\nLintas Nusantara: A Spectacle of Dance and Music is a bilingual publication written in both English and Malay, and interested parties can send their inquiries to Jamal_Mohamad@nhb.gov.sg.\n\nPhoto 1 : Dancers from Guntur Mataram Dance Company (Jakarta) performing the Tari Golek Asmaradana Bawaraga. Photograph courtesy of Malay Heritage Centre\nPhoto 2 : Artist Seni Budaya (Singapore) performing the Tari Gending Sriwijaya with dancers from Universitas PGRI Palembang (Indonesia). Photograph courtesy of Malay Heritage CentreYear2021NationMalaysia
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Tteok Making to become National Intangible Cultural Heritage"The Cultural Heritage Administration plans to designate tteok making (떡만들기), Korean rice cake making, as National Intangible Cultural Heritage. The designation will recognize the making and sharing of Korean rice cakes as a traditional culture and way of life.\n\nKoreans have made tteok by steaming grain flour in siru, a traditional steamer, or by boiling or baking, depending on the type of the rice cake being made. From a long time ago, Koreans have enjoyed making and sharing different kinds of tteok for major milestones in their lives as well as for important national holidays.\n\nHistorically, rice cakes have been a key offering for various rituals. They include rites held for village gods wishing for peace and prosperity as well as similar rites held for house gods like sangdalgosa. Rice cakes are also offered at gut rituals held by traditional shamans. In modern-day Korea, people distribute tteok to others in their community when they open a business or move into a new place.\n\nIn many ways, tteok is more than just a delicacy—given that Koreans distribute rice cakes to others for special moments of their lives, it can be considered an embodiment of sharing and generosity as well as a symbol of the unique Korean concept of jeong or a deep connection and harmony.\n\nIt is also notable how different types of rice cake are made for different occasions and how they have a story of their own. This makes tteok intangible cultural heritage that people need to learn to fully understand Korean culture.\n\nIt is unclear when Koreans started making rice cakes. However, archaeological findings show that Koreans have been eating rice cake since ancient times. Siru has been unearthed in historic sites of the bronze age and iron age. Siru can also be seen in the mural of fourth-century Anak Tomb No. 3 in South Hwanghae, North Korea."\n\nPhoto : Two women shaping tteok CCBYSA World to Table / WikimediaYear2021NationSouth Korea
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Thruebab, the Blessed Rainy Day in BhutanAmong fifteen national festivals celebrated in Bhutan, Thruebab or Thrübab is considered a grand event observed not only by the Bhutanese but also by Tibetans. It is a spiritual event that roughly falls between 20 and 25 September coinciding the early date of the eighth month of the Bhutanese calendar. Based on the etymology of Thruebab (thrue—wash, bath, holy water; bab—descend), the Buddhist term literally means “holy water descending”. Due to climate change, however, there is an unexpected shower and sometimes not a single drop of rain (or holy water as it were) from the sky. Regardless, the day of Thruebab is widely known as Blessed Rainy Day. The significance of the day is well connected to the view of both astrological and philosophical texts of Tibetan Buddhism. A special star, believed to be Rishi, is formed by crystal (chu-shel) and a gemstone (ketaka). With similar precious stones, an image of Vairocana Buddha was said to be erected by the great yogis with prayers to fulfill the wishes of all sentient beings. While the star Rishi revolves around the mythological mount Meru, it’s calculated that the star reaches directly above the Buddha’s figure exactly on the early date of the eighth lunar month emitting divine water drops from the collusion of rays from the star and from the Buddha’s crest. Both the rays and water drops permeate the streams and rivers of the world with immense healing power and blessings.\n\nThruebab, as an officially declared holiday, is observed by the whole of Bhutan. Various media platforms predict the beginning of the descent of the holy water and cover the entire event. However, the descent may happen early morning, after dawn, or sometimes even at noon. If it happens early in the morning, people would fill a container of flowers with the water falling down and keep it outside their house to receive the light of Rishi. As the descent happens, people use the water in taking a bath and drinking. Although Thruebab is primarily a spiritual event, people also take advantage of it to celebrate. They would take shower in open streams, ponds, or water taps and wash their clothes. Elderlies merrily shout Thrue! Thrue! Thrue! It means “cleanse us of sins and diseases”. Taking a bath is certainly the highlight of the day.\n\nThe program is then followed by making offerings and prayers. After supplication, family members gather in the dining room to eat rice porridge called thugpa as served either by the mother or eldest daughter. After this, families either visit temples and monasteries or go out for a picnic with relatives, friends, and neighbors. While men often play traditional games like archery, women sing and dance to give the game more elements of entertainment. Thruebab is considered as an integral part of intangible cultural heritage of Bhutan, fortifying social cohesion among the people. It engages people with religious activities and connects them to natural resources.\n\nPhoto : CONTRIBUTED BY YESHI LENDHUPYear2017NationBhutan
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PROJECT “KALYAK – CHON-ALAI’S HERITAGE”A project to revive kalyak – the traditional female headdress, by involving the local community of Chon-Alay region, Osh province (Kyrgyzstan) to document and popularize, is being implemented by voluntary association “Uz Datkalar”, with the support of the Institute for Sustainable Development Strategy, public foundation. “Uz Datakalar” is a community of needlewomen of Sary-Mogol village, Chon-Alai region, Osh province.\n\n In the framework of the project, needlewomen of Kyrgyzstan visited the villages of Koono – Korgon, Yran – Kol, Kara-Kol, of Murghab region, Republic of Tajikistan. This is the village where ethnic Kyrgyz live. In the regional studies, needlewomen from Kyrgyzstan managed to record information on how to sew patterns on scarfs, the location of woven fringe, various methods of tying kalyak on the head, as well as to fix samples of skullcaps (kep takyya), dressing scarves (duruya jooluk), veils or wraps for the face (zhuz zhapky), towels (chachpak) and jewelry (asem buyumdary).\n\nFor the students of the schools of the village Sary-Mogol (Kyrgyzstan), 2 workshops were held on embroidering patterns of special dressing scarves (duruya) and frill embroideries (kyrgak) for headdress, on the basis of which 6 girls by themselves embroidered a dressing scarves “duruya jooluk” along their edges they embroidered a kyrgak.\n\nOn July 20, 2019, at the foot of Lenin Peak in Chon-Alai region, the “Journey to the Mountains” festival was held, at which “Uz Datakalar” participated and presented collection “Muras” (Heritage). In a theatrical performance, the ceremony “Seeing off the Bride” was performed using headdresses kalyak.\n\nIn order to show the skill of needlewomen working in the framework of the “KALYAK – CHON-ALAI HERITAGE” project, a network of special ART GALLERIES was opened in the villages of Daroot-Korgon, Kashka-Suu, Sary-Mogol (Kyrgyzstan). In this art gallery, all the conditions have been created so that women can learn the methods of tying kalyak , consolidate skills and spread their knowledge, improve all skills in manufacturing quality products, organize master classes for those who want to learn this type of art.\n\nPhoto : Community of Chon-Alay region, Osh province © AbdirahmanovaYear2020NationKyrgyzstan
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ICH TRANSMISSION THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA: THE MEVLEVI SEMASocial media has become a powerful means to record and disseminate global intangible cultural heritage (ICH). YouTube specifically provides an avenue for a range of users to distribute ICH videos on this commercial platform. YouTube is essentially designed to monetize the labor and communication of users through algorithms and business models. With the aim of making corporate profits, this platform simultaneously offers a social service by distributing diverse ICH representations in video format. In light of the paradox of disseminating ICH on a commercial platform, the issue is raised as to whether YouTube’s diffusion of heritage videos transmits community expressions of ICH that are not recognized by nation-states. Communities produce ICH within the boundaries of nations, yet the practices of given communities may be excluded from national heritage narratives. The narratives addressed here are those that have been put forward by state representatives through UNESCO. Since 2003, UNESCO has safeguarded ICH through the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (Convention). This research is approached through the case study of the Mevlevi Sema (Whirling Dervish Ceremony) of Turkey, recognized as official ICH by UNESCO in 2005. Representatives of the Turkish state safeguard the Sema as a practice that is linked to Sunni Islam and performed in public ceremonies only by men. This national safeguarding renders the Sema a political tool to realize the ruling government’s nationalist agenda of privileging Sunni Islam above other religious affiliations (Aykan, 2012). This safeguarding through the Convention leads to the exclusion of other Sema communities, particularly a community known as the Foundation of Universal Lovers of Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi (EMAV), which has allowed women to perform in public ceremonies since 1993 (Pietrobruno, 2014).Year2016NationSouth Korea
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Peñafrancia, the 300-year-old Fluvial Procession Festival in the PhilippinesSeptember marks the celebration of one of the most famous and oldest festivals in the Philippines, the Peñafrancia where thousands of people flock to Naga City and show their fervent devotion to Our Lady of Peñafrancia, the patroness of Naga City in the Bicol Region. For more than three hundred years, religious devotees and pilgrims have attended the religious rites for the Peñafrancia Festival.\n\nThe Peñafrancia Festival involves two festivities. The celebration for the Divino Rostro or the Divine Face, usually held in the second week of September, is to pay homage to the image of Jesus Christ. People’s devotion to the Divino Rostro may have begun in 1882 during a sudden spread of cholera from Manila that reached Naga City. During that period, there was no cure for the epidemic, but according to the locals, when the image of the Divino Rostro was placed at the altar of the town’s cathedral, the epidemic astonishingly vanished. The weekend following the celebration of the Divino Rostro are the festivities for Our Lady of Peñafrancia. Due to the popularity of the Peñafrancia Festival, Naga has been dubbed the “pilgrim city” in the Philippines.\n\nDue to the 333-year Spanish colonization in the Philippines, various cultural traditions have been hemmed and blended into the country’s heritage particularly on religion. At present, almost 85 percent of the Philippines’ population are Roman Catholic. Thus, most festivals in the Philippines are associated with Catholic beliefs and traditions. The devotion of millions of Roman Catholics to Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Naga City every year is one of the most intense religious rites in the country. During the festival, a nine-day novena is dedicated to Our Lady of Peñafrancia. A ceremony called Translación marks the first day of the novena through a land procession to transfer the image of Our Lady of Peñafrancia to Naga Cathedral. The most awaited part of the festival is the ninth day of the novena when the image of Our Lady of Peñafrancia is returned to Basilica Minore in a fluvial procession along the Naga river.\n\nDuring the fluvial procession, images of Our Lady of Peñafrancia and Divino Rostro are boarded in a gazebo on a boat with Catholic clergies. The barge with the religious images is then followed by long canoes paddled by young men in colorful shirts. They paddle as fast as they can as though in a boat race. Only men are allowed to paddle the canoes, according to the beliefs of locals from the Bicol region, as women could trigger disaster. However, only chosen devotees (voyadores) can ride the canoes while the remaining devotees watch the procession on the shores of the river as they cheer “viva la Virgen.” A religious mass is held once the religious images arrive at the Basilica of Our Lady of Peñafrancia.\n\nPhoto 1 : A scene of Peñafrancia ⓒ Gregory Ian Nicerio Opeña\nPhoto 2 : A scene of Peñafrancia ⓒ Gregory Ian Nicerio OpeñaYear2018NationPhilippines
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Woven Sail of Lamotrek AtollFor centuries, the people of the central Caroline Islands have relied heavily on their voyaging canoes as their primary means of transport. They made voyages to islands near and far to obtain food, tools, and other valuables. In some instances, following devastating natural calamities, their canoes are used to relocate to a different island as was the case for the Carolinians who now reside in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas (CNMI). Today, the art of canoe building and traditional celestial navigation continues in these remote islands of the Federated States of Micronesia. Although at a smaller scale than what it used to be, the important knowledge of their ancestors is being passed on to younger generations. Waa’gey is a community-based organization working with island communities to transfer traditional skills and knowledge. Realizing the challenges brought to the shores of Micronesia by globalization and environmental issues including climate change and rising sea levels, the people of Lamotrek Atoll in Yap worked with Master Navigator Larry Reigetal and his crew to build an outrigger canoe named The Lucky Star1.. Using only traditional seafaring methods and no modern navigation technology, the eight-man crew led by master Reigetal braved storms and powerful ocean currents to travel over five hundred miles to Guam over five days to showcase the Micronesian culture at the Festival of Pacific Arts in May 2016. After the festival, the crew sailed back to Lamotrek over a period of ten days.\n\nThe crew brought along a traditional pandanus sail woven by the people of Lamotrek to use during the festival and to display the skills used to create it. The entire process of weaving the sail took more than six months, with over thirty people contributing to its construction. Due to modern seafaring technologies, the traditional weaving techniques in Lamotrek had not been in practice for over half a century. However, through this project, Waa’gey was able to enlist the help of a 95-year-old Maria Labusheilam, the last master weaver in Lamotrek. She taught the skills to twenty women apprentices, led by her daughter Maria Ilourutog, granddaughter Pualina Lairegiyalo, and daughter-in-law Esther Letalimepiy. The men of Lamotrek, led by Xavier Yarofaliyango, cut and stretched the leaves and stitched the sail together. Labusheilam died two weeks after passing on the knowledge. She did not see the final outcome of her work. The pandanus sail is woven from the Pandanus odoratissimus (screwpine) commonly grown on beaches of tropical islands. The leaves are harvested, dried under the sun, and stripped into single fibers. They are then woven into longer strips of sheets that are then strengthened by stretching and wrapping the sheets around coconut trees. The sheets are then sewn together with sennit twine ropes made from coconut fibers. Sail weaving is not the same as weaving sleeping mats, as they need to be doubled and overlapped to ensure strength and durability.\n\nThe sail was displayed at the University of Guam and the Honolulu museum. It is now in Hawaii and will make its way to New York where it will be the main art display at the UN Headquarters during the Ocean Conference. It will then travel to Europe, Asia, and Australia before making its final voyage to the Federated States of Micronesia in 2018 to sail the MicroGames torch in Yap . It is autographed by all the people from Lamotrek and the president of the FSM, H.E. Peter Christian.\n\nPhoto : Master Navigator Larry Raigetal and his crew entering Guam harbor on their canoe the Lucky Star during the opening ceremony of the 12th Festival of Pacific Art and Culture © Waa’geyYear2017NationMicronesia
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HIPAMS IndiaThe Heritage-sensitive Intellectual Property and Market Strategies (HIPAMS India) aims to investigate how developing ‘heritage-sensitive’ intellectual property protection strategies can give communities greater control over the commercialization of their heritage while contributing to its safeguarding and on-going viability.\n\nIntangible cultural heritage (ICH) practices, such as craft, dance, musical performance, storytelling, and painting, give communities a sense of identity and belonging. The sale of products created by ICH practices can also create jobs and income. However, many communities in developing countries like India experience significant difficulty preventing the appropriation of their heritage by others, for example through mechanization of production methods. Conventional intellectual property (IP) rights, such as copyright, patents, and design protection, offer limited protection to the authors of original creations or new inventions that cannot easily be used to protect cultural expressions whose authors are unknown, and that have been passed down through the generations, changing and adapting to new contexts. HIPAMS India engages with three Indian ICH practices—Baul and Fakiri music, Chau dance, and Patachitra tradition to investigate how developing ‘heritage-sensitive’ IP protection strategies can give communities greater control over the commercialization of their heritage while contributing to its safeguarding and on-going viability.\n\nHIPAMS India Operates under the Following Objectives\nAssess the impact of Contact Base’s AFL strategies on socio-economic development and ICH safeguarding in the identified communities and on market outreach.\nCo-create effective, replicable and scalable HIPAMS for use by these communities, based on this review process and research on similar case studies in other contexts.\nConsider the impact of implementing these HIPAMS on socio-economic development and ICH safeguarding and market penetration.\nDisseminate the findings in co-authored academic publications incorporating case studies from the project.\nTranslate research findings into policy briefs and workshop tools.\nThe project aims thereby to contribute to the sustainable development goals of Agenda 2030 by helping to build sustainable communities, protect and safeguard cultural heritage, enhance wellbeing, address income inequalities, promote economic empowerment (of women), and reduce poverty.\n\nVisit the HIPAMS India’s website to learn about its activities and download their marketing strategies toolkit.\n\nPhoto : Purulia mask © HIPAMSYear2020NationIndia
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The Kyrgyz Shyrdagy FestivalThe Kyrgyz Shyrdagy Festival was inaugurally organized in 2010 by felt carpets producers in Kyrgyzstan, after UNESCO inscribed the traditional Kyrgyz felt carpets ala-kiyiz and shyrdak into the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.\n\nThe festival is held every year in June in the mountainous Naryn region, famous for its felt carpets. The festival is managed by the Craft Council of Kyrgyzstan under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and the Information and Tourism of Kyrgyz Republic with the support of the regional administration and in partnership with the local crafts communities, NGOs, international agencies, and private businesses.\n\nThe goals of the festival are to attract social attention to the necessity of safeguarding the art of traditional Kyrgyz felt carpets, to develop the local market of the felt carpets, and to develop event/cultural tourism, especially in remote mountainous areas of Kyrgyzstan.\n\nThe art of making felt carpets among Kyrgyz has ancient historical roots dating back to the first century BCE. Felt carpets are an important decorative component in the yurt, the traditional nomadic dwelling of Kyrgyz people, which is used by local residents in everyday life.\n\nThe process of making felt carpets is a socializing, unifying factor. It involves all family members and often relatives and neighbors. During the joint work, knowledge and skills are interactively transmitted by the older generation to young people.\n\nIn the past, felt carpets were not intended for sale; they were passed down from generation to generation, playing the sacred role in the family as an ancestral memory of the mother. Therefore, the carpet ornamentation was marked individually by the woman-creator—an imagery of the benevolence or the blessing of the mother to her descendants.\n\nShyrdak felt carpet today is a popular product on the local tourist market and international craft market, providing a significant income for rural women. Being exported to western countries, shyrdak carpets are highly appreciated as handmade eco-friendly products with unique ornamentation.\n\nWith about three hundred crafts artisans and participants, the Kyrgyz Shyrdagy Festival has become a national holiday, recognizing the Kyrgyz people’s cultural values. Residents of neighboring villages go to the festival, dressed in traditional festive clothes. At the festival, attention is given to master classes of the carriers of knowledge of ancient felt-making methods and contests are held for felt carpet producers to better carpet preservation.\n\nIn the past festivals, seventy craftspeople were awarded with diplomas and monetary prizes from state institutions and private foundations. Twenty-five awarded shyrdaks were gifted by organizers to five leading museums in Kyrgyzstan. In 2018, within the framework of the festival, it is planned to hold an international conference on preserving traditional crafts with the participation of the National Commission for UNESCO, museum representatives, and tourism and craft organizations.\n\nThe Kyrgyz Shyrdagy Festival is currently a meeting point for artisans, traders, representatives of travel companies, scientists, and aficionados of felt carpets from Kyrgyzstan and other countries. It promotes the development of the craft market in Kyrgyzstan and other regions, consequently improving the living standards and social status of artisans. The festival also demonstrates the inseparability of cultural ties between generations, stimulating young people to study, preserve, and develop traditional crafts and drawing the attention to preserving Kyrgyz ICH.\n\nPhoto : Shyrdagy festival photo © Photographer Urmat Osmoev CACSARC-kgYear2018NationKyrgyzstan
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An Overview of Shamanism in NepalIn Nepal, Shamanism was practiced before the arrival of Hinduism and Buddhism. Now it is integrated within both of these religions. Depending on the credo of a particular ethnic community, shamanistic rituals have no monolithic shape but the core value of shamanism is consistently upheld. Shamans are commonly known as dhami or jhakri though ethnic communities have various terms assigned for them. Traditionally, shamans act as mediators between the spirit world and the human world. They are healers, soothsayers, advisors, and priests. Shamans are common people who work as farmers or in some other day job, and they just happen to practice shamanism, typically in the evening.\n\nAmong many ethnic communities in Nepal, Tamang, a cultural and linguistically distinct community, practices shamanism. They believe spirits in the environment help shamans solve people’s problems. In the Tamangworld, spirits are present as microbes in our environment; this worldview is never written, only maintained by oral culture. Some even say that they learn some mantras in their dreams. It’s also very important to have a master and to learn more mantras from them. In addition to teaching mantras to his disciples, a master also helps shake the body and control trances. The disciple-master relation is important and is seen during rituals.\n\nTamang shaman rituals are impressive to watch as the shaman also renders a captivating dance performance during the ritual. The attire of white dress and feather headgear he wears helps bind the people’s gaze. He uses a garland of 108 rittha seeds and rudrakshya (seed of Elaeocarpus granitreus). They wear bells arranged like a belt, producing sounds when they shake during the rituals. Along with the attire they also require ritual objects like phurba (three headed dragger), tiger bones, and materials like incense, uncooked rice, and seed of oroxylum indicum tree (which is almost like white petals). Beating a drum made of deerskin is one of the most important ritual objects. By beating and shaking his body, the shaman goes into a trance where he communicate with the spirits and finds the cure or answer for the clients’ problems. After every ritual, the shaman tells the people the solution to their problems, which he finds during the rituals. Many people in remote parts of the country still rely on the shaman for cures where they don’t have medical facilities. But in places that have medical facilities some people still go to shamans if doctors cannot cure them.\n\nDuring janai purnima (full moon of August or September), shamans have a special day when they gather at holy sites and perform rituals. It’s also a day to boost power among the other shamans. There was a time when all shamans were men. Today, however, though not too significant a change, a small number of women are also shamans.\n\nPhoto : Shaman performing a ritual in a Samarthali Village of Nepal ⓒ Monalisa MaharjanYear2018NationNepal
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COVID-19 Special: Singapore’s #RamadanTogether CampaignRamadan is the ninth month on the Islamic calendar and the holiest month of the year for Muslims all over the world. During this period, Muslims fast (referred to as puasa in Malay) from sunrise to sunset every day throughout the month. Muslims will have their breakfast before sunrise (sahur) and they will break the fast after sunset (iftar).\n\nPrior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Muslims in Singapore visited mosques for their daily prayers and were encouraged to take part in an extra session of night prayers known as terawih during Ramadan. Muslim families as well as Singaporeans would throng the streets of Geylang Serai and Jalan Bussorah to enjoy outdoor street markets selling a wide variety of Malay culinary delights, gifts, and clothes.\n\nDue to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, mosques in Singapore are closed until further notice, and all Singaporeans are encouraged to stay at home. As a result, the Muslim community is unable to breakfasts together at the mosque and/or visit one another during Hari Raya Puasa, a celebration that marks the end of the fasting month.\n\nIn view of the above, the National Heritage Board of Singapore (NHB) and the Malay Heritage Centre (MHC) decided to collaborate on the #RamadanTogether campaign which seeks to connect the Muslim community through digital platforms and to educate the non-Muslim community on the intangible cultural heritage practices associated with Ramadan.\n\nThe month-long campaign comprises three key components: “Iftar Together,” which encourages Muslims to break the fast together online; “Masak Together,” which shares recipes on how to make traditional Hari Raya dishes at home; and “Concert Together,” which features “live” performances from local artists and arts groups.\n\nTo complement NHB’s digital offerings, MHC will also be producing a series of digital programs hosted on its social media platforms that feature community contributions. These include cooking and baking tutorials by well-known Malay personalities who will showcase family recipes for breaking the fast as well as traditional Hari Raya dishes. Videos and animations on traditional Hari Raya attire such as the baju kurung (a traditional loose-fitting outfit) and the kebaya (a traditional women’s dress) will also be produced.\n\nMHC’s #OnXOnRayaFest campaign will also involve a callout to members of the public to contribute user-generated content on how Hari Raya was celebrated in the past and how it is celebrated during these COVID-19 times to document the impact of the pandemic on intangible cultural heritage as practiced in the homes of the Muslim community in Singapore. Photo submissions from members of the public will be put up on MHC’s social media platforms and creative submissions will stand a chance to win attractive merchandise.\n\nIn addition, as part of its ongoing education and outreach efforts, MHC will also provide a glossary of terms associated with Ramadan and Hari Raya Puasa, offer bite-sized information focusing on Malay heritage and culture, and share traditional pantun (rhyming quatrains) greetings. MHC will also be working with local arts groups to produce Hari Raya music videos that will be filmed from home, to reach out to the community and lift up their spirits during the COVID-19 period.\n\nTo find out more about NHB’s #RamadanTogether campaign and MHC’s #OnxOnRayaFest campaign, please click on the following links: www.roots.sg/ramadan. and Malay Heritage Centre’s www.facebook.com/malayheritage respectively.\n\nPhoto : RamadanTogether Campaign ⓒ NHBYear2020NationSingapore
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Humor and Commemoration in the Newar Community of NepalThe Newar community of Nepal celebrates a festival known as Sa Paru (Procession of Cows or Festival of Cows) every year on the first day of the waning moon of Bhadra (between August and September). It fell on 27 August this year. On this day, people take cows to the streets for a procession throughout the ancient city. They also take young boys dressed as gods, carrying traditional musical instruments. Others join the procession with incense sticks. Two important components of the festival are entertainment value and religious piety. This is why people make sure the festival is a fun event and at the same time a space where they can demonstrate kindness to each other by giving and sharing water, juice, or milk.\n\nThe ancient tales regarding the origin of this festival date back to the seventeenth century, the time of death of the young son of King Pratap Malla. Seeing the queen inconsolable, the king started a procession of his kingdom’s common subjects who had lost their loved ones the same year. This was the king’s way of showing the queen that she was not alone in experiencing the pain of losing someone important; that other people, rich and poor, are equally vulnerable to loss and suffering. Even though the king of Kathmandu is believed to have started this procession, other cities like Bhaktapur and Patan also celebrate the festival. Without a doubt, it is also celebrated in other cities throughout the country where the Newars of Kathmandu Valley migrated and settled.\n\nA distinctive aspect of the festival is that humor has an oddly thematic attribute about it. People go on the streets dressed as various funny characters; some men are even dressed as women. This humor tendency of the festival is known as khyalaa. A reading of this in the context of the festival could be that humor may help people go through the sometimes intoxicating process of mourning and commemoration; that laughing about loss could be a way to deliver oneself from the pain. Furthermore, the humor tendency of the festival also serves as grounds for local actors to organize street plays satirizing the government. During times of strict political regulation and censorship, this festival provided artists with the freedom to express their dissatisfaction, giving the general public a chance to feel that their sentiments are still relevant. In contemporary times, these street plays are not as common as they were, but some villages and towns in Kathmandu Valley like Pyang Gau and Kirtipur continue the street plays. Now the dynamics and operation of plays during the festival are changing; most are commercially organized in public venues and theaters. At any rate, the festival is remembered as a spectacular union of humor and commemoration.\n\nPhoto 1 : Family members of the decreased person participating in the processions. The men in white dress are sons of the decreased family and its custom that the sons wear the white dress for the whole year if their parents die. The kids in the flashy dress are the children of that family. © Monalisa Maharjan\nPhoto 2 : Participants in the procession © Monalisa MaharjanYear2018NationNepal