Stakeholders
role
ICH Stakeholders 9
Organization
(6)-
THE INSTITUTE OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA STUDIES
The Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies (IPNGS) was established under the Cultural Development Act, passed by the Papua New Guinea House of Assembly on 14 October 1974. Papua New Guinea had become self-governing from Australia almost a year earlier, but independence was still about another year in the future. Today IPNGS is a national cultural institution under the National Cultural Commission Act. It moved to its present location towards the end of 1976. The distinctive welded sculptures on the outside walls and gates depict the Orokolo story of Aru Aru and his journey to the moon, as told by Sir Albert Maori Kiki.\nAlthough laws, governments, ministries, and even the location of the Institute have changed over the past four decades, the main focus has remained constant: the documentation, archiving, and promotion of Papua New Guinea cultures. Overseen by the Director, IPNGS is divided into departments for its present three main functions: Music (5 staff), Ethnology (3), Literature (1). There are also two staff in administration, and five casual workers. nResearch staff members under take research in villages and towns, or at festivals. Such research might be on specific topics, such as clan origin stories or the variety of dances performed at a particular festival, or more general survey work, such as documenting musical traditions in a particular village. While the primary focus is on traditional expressions, attention is also given to more recently developed expressions of culture, such as those performed in church or as part of widespread popular forms.\nThe Ethnology Department is responsible for documenting the many myths, legends, and other oral traditions found in the country. Publications have been produced in English as well as local languages, both to promote the maintenance of this important body of knowledge and to encourage vernacular literacy.\nFor many years, the Literature section was responsible for promoting creative writing, especially through the running of the annual National Literature Competition. Many submissions were made for categories such as novels, short stories, poetry, radio plays, essays, etc. The results appeared in our journals such as Gigibori, Bikmaus, and Sope, or as separate publications. We hope to revive the National Literature Competition in the near future.\nIPNGS Music Department has strived to develop its music archive to reflect all music-related research that has been done in the country. Although the collection can always be expanded, to a large extent this goal has been achieved.\nThe Music Archive presently contains about 12,000 hours of recordings on reels of tape, cassettes, discs, films, videos, CDs, and DVDs, with over 10,000 photos and 4,000 books, articles, and theses. These materials are a mixture of things collected by IPNGS staff, other researchers, commercially produced items, and historical recordings of PNG music from other archives around the world.\nAs with the other sections of the IPNGS, the Music Department has issued numerous publications. Presently, there is a series of cassette and disc recordings, a monograph series (Apwitihire), and a journal (Kulele). Our publications are widely used in the school system and have been well received overseas.\nIn total, IPNGS has produced about 250 publications, printed, audio, and films/videos. It has also played an important role in making materials published in languages such as German, Japanese, and local languages accessible through translations in to English or Tok Pisin.
Papua New Guinea -
INDONESIAN HERITAGE CITIES NETWORK
The Indonesian Heritage Network—Jaringan Kota Pusaka Indonesia (JKPI)—is a good example of networking among local governments for safeguarding ICH.\nThe Indonesian Heritage Cities Network is an inter-local government organization (not an NGO) that coordinates on a national level among cities and districts possessing varieties of natural and/or cultural heritage (tangible and intangible). JKPI aims to jointly safeguard natural and cultural heritage including ICH. JKPI was declared on 25 October 2008 in Surakarta City by twelve cities. One of the mayors who declared the establishment of JKPI was Ir. Joko Widodo, then Mayor of Surakarta and host of the meeting, (presently 7th President of the Republic of Indonesia.) As of the seventh National Working Meeting Karangasem, Bali in June 2019, JKPI has seventy member cities and districts. The objectives of JKPI are:n• To develop collaboration amongst cities (and districts) having important natural and cultural heritagen• To develop collaboration for safeguarding heritage with stakeholdersn• To promote a role of communities in safeguarding heritage and its positive development in social lifen• To inventory the wealth of the heritage of the member cities/districts of JKPIn• To develop an understanding of the diverse nature and culture to strengthen the Unified State of the Republic of Indonesian• To be used as a vehicle for promoting existing heritage for JKPI member cities/districts3nJKPI is a non-profit and independent organization, and is not intended to advance the interests of, or be affiliated with, any group or political party.
Indonesia -
BITA (Bangladesh Institute of Theatre Arts)
Bangladesh Institute of Theatre Arts (BITA) is a Non Government Organisation established in 2004. The oraganisation works in the sector of performing arts, crafts and oral tradition for safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). Performing arts (like theatre, Kabi Gaan, folk songs etc.) is the specialization area where the organisation works closely using diverse modalities with engagement of grassroots artists from rural and urban area entangling multiple ingredients of cultural heritage like use of traditional musical instruments, folk cultural forms. The organisation has been working with multiple communities which are mainly derived from disadvantaged and neglected section of the society including fisher folk, ethnic minorities, peasants, blacksmiths, grassroots artisans, slum dwellers, children, youth adolescents, women etc from Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Lakshmipur, Noakhali, Feni and Bandarban Hill District. The extensive use of performing arts have been playing significant role reviving and promoting the cultural heritage from one generation to another in order to expedite human rights promotion, social harmony and sustainable development. The ICH safeguarding activities that they undertake are: skill development- technical improvement, knowledge sharing, workshop activities, use of folk elements, etc. They have initiated cultural exchange and are working within and outside the country. BITA also has documentation and publication both in the form of audio and books. As an organisation, BITA has been successful in engaging youth to take part in ICH practices and activities related to safeguarding and promotion activities of ICH as livelihood options.
Bangladesh -
THE KOREA CULTURAL HERITAGE FOUNDATION
Established based on the Cultural Properties Protection Law, the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation is a corporation that specializes in traditional culture, and disseminates information on traditional Korean culture, while engaging in international joint projects to develop intangible and tangible cultural heritage worldwide. The foundation promotes cooperative activity through its interaction with various intangible heritage safeguarding bodies from governments and public institutions to centers for intangible cultural heritage, bearers, and the public. The foundation plays a key role in using traditional culture to enhance communication and understanding across generational, class and sectoral divides.
South Korea -
VANUATU CULTURAL CENTRE
The principal role of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre since its establishment in the early 1960s has been to document and record the culture and cultural history of Vanuatu. This has been done by the Centre’s staff and a network of over one hundred volunteer fieldworkers. The documentation efforts focus on details of remembered histories and traditions; details of ritual practices, classification systems, and languages; details of cultural landscapes and particularly sites of cultural significance; and records of contemporary events of historical and cultural significance. The latter, which is essentially a history-in-the-making, is recorded on video as examples of material culture collected for museological display, but almost everything else is documented on audiotape. This is because our indigenous cultures are primarily oral, and therefore, all our cultural knowledge is retained and transmitted orally. This documented knowledge is held by the Centre and has been used as source material for the revival of certain traditional cultural practices no longer being practiced.
Vanuatu -
Kyrgyz Alliance of Midwives
The Kyrgyz Alliance of Midwives (KAM) is an independent professional association in the Kyrgyz Republic, which represents the interests and rights of midwives in the Kyrgyz Republic. KAM was created in 2011 and unites more than 2,500 midwives from all provinces of the Kyrgyz Republic. They are actively involved in strengthening the role of midwives in safeguarding traditional medicinal knowledge. In 2014, the Alliance became a Member of the International Confederation of Midwives.\n\nKAM regularly organizes activities to improve the skills and capacity of midwives, implements and monitors programs and projects such as Safe Motherhood, cooperates with the Kyrgyz State Medical Institute of Postgraduate Education to update the curriculum for midwives, etc. Moreover, the Alliance is engaged in safeguarding and promoting the traditional midwifery knowledge of Kyrgyz and supports communities and individual bearers including those from far mountainous areas. \n\nKyrgyz traditional midwifery knowledge and skills have been safeguarded and passed down through generations. From ancient times, the midwives played an important role in the communities as they possess knowledge and skills pertaining to childbirth, care for the mother and the newborn, as well as rituals and ceremonies dedicated to children. Moreover, midwives support women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the afterbirth period. They also share their knowledge about childcare and traditional remedies for mothers and their children and that is why they have been always respected by the Kyrgyz.\n\nIn 2021, the Alliance was actively taking part in preparing the multinational nomination file "Midwifery: knowledge, skills and practices", which was submitted from 8 countries (Colombia, Cyprus, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, Luxembourg, Nigeria, Slovakia, and Togo) for the possible inscription to the UNESCO Representative List of ICH of Humanity in 2023.\n\nThe Kyrgyz Alliance of Midwives collaborates with various stakeholders such as the Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic, the National Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO, the Ministry of Culture, etc. as well as various development partners such as WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, GIZ, AgaKhan Foundation to improve the quality of health services, strengthen the capacity of the Alliance and promote traditional medicinal knowledge.\n
Kyrgyzstan