MassKara is a relatively modern festival, created to revitalize the local communities of Bacolod City that had been experiencing economic recession affected by the sugar crisis in 1970s. In the city of Bacolod, artist Ely Santiago introduced the "MassKara Festival," a captivating event where the entire community dons "smiling masks" and partakes in a joyous march. This initiative aims to rejuvenate the spirit of the depressed community and bring back smiles to people's faces. The festival’s name, 'MassKara', derives its meaning from the combination of 'Mass', representing the public, and 'Kara', a Spanish word for 'face' that also translates to 'mask' in Tagalog. The highlight of the festival is a parade in which people take to the streets of Bacolod, festively dancing in groups wearing a smiling mask. The parade sees the voluntary participation of citizens, and as such active participation fuels the festival’s growth, it has come to occupy a position as a major festival in Asia.\n\nMasks worn during the festival are not light. Including the headdress, each mask weighs from one to five kilograms, depending on the size and embellishments of the mask, which has to be attractive from any angle. \n

MassKara is a relatively modern festival, created to revitalize the local communities of Bacolod City that had been experiencing economic recession affected by the sugar crisis in 1970s. In the city of Bacolod, artist Ely Santiago introduced the "MassKara Festival," a captivating event where the entire community dons "smiling masks" and partakes in a joyous march. This initiative aims to rejuvenate the spirit of the depressed community and bring back smiles to people's faces. The festival’s name, 'MassKara', derives its meaning from the combination of 'Mass', representing the public, and 'Kara', a Spanish word for 'face' that also translates to 'mask' in Tagalog. The highlight of the festival is a parade in which people take to the streets of Bacolod, festively dancing in groups wearing a smiling mask. The parade sees the voluntary participation of citizens, and as such active participation fuels the festival’s growth, it has come to occupy a position as a major festival in Asia.\n\nMasks worn during the festival are not light. Including the headdress, each mask weighs from one to five kilograms, depending on the size and embellishments of the mask, which has to be attractive from any angle. \n

The traditional mud-based dyeing technique of Ifugao Province is a core process of Ikat, a style of weaving that uses a resist dyeing process and involves tie-dyeing yarns. Applying mud before dyeing improves the penetration of the dye into the textile, resulting in more vivid colors. In this process, mud acts as a traditional and eco-friendly mordant. The Ifugao mud-dyeing techniques is now at risk of vanishing due to the development of commercial dyeing. \n\nThis video introduces the various steps of the process from mud collecting to dye production and textile dyeing.

The Black Nazarene is a life-sized statue of Jesus Christ carrying the cross. A festival takes place on 9 January every year in Manila during which a religious parade is held to transport the statue from Bagumbayan Church to Quiapo Church. This parade, also known as Traslacion, is joined by millions of people. Some devotees report miraculous experiences such as diseases being cured or their health restored after offering prayers. Those who experience such miracles tend to participate in the event every year to express their devout faith. \n\nThis video vividly captures the parade, which has become a social phenomenon beyond its religious meaning.

2020 World Forum for Intangible Cultural Heritage - Human, Nature, and Intangible Cultural Heritage\n\nSession1: Re-defining the Relationship Between Humanity and Nature\n\nKeynote Presentation :'Re-defining the Relationship Between Humanity and Nature' by Ernesto Ottone Ramirez, Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO\n1. 'Intangible Cultural Heritages in the Anthropocene' by Buhm Soon Park, Director, Center for Anthropocene Studies at KAIST\n2. 'Sustainable Agriculture in Nature, Micronesian Agroforestry' by Francis Reg, Head of the Yap States Historic Preservation Office (HPO)\n3. 'Intangible Cultural Heritage as Protection, Avalanche Risk Management' by Michael Bruendl, Head Research Group Avalanche Dynamics and Risk Management, WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF\n4. 'Pacific Islands of the Anthropocene' by Elizabeth DeLoughrey, Professor of University of California, Los Angeles\n\nSession2: Humanity's Response to the Crisis and Intangible Cultural Heritage\n\nSpecial Lecture : 'Future of Humanity, Ecological Turn, and the Role of ICH' by Jae Chun Choe, Chair Professor of Ewha Womans University, Former Chair of UN Convention of Biological Diversity\n1. 'Mitigating “Nature Deficit”: lndigeneous Language and Oral Literature' by Chidi Oguamanam Professor of Law at University of Ottawa\n2. 'India's Disaster Reduction and Management through ICH' by Rahul Goswami, UNESCO ICH Facilitator\n3. 'Sea Ethics as Intangible Cultural Heritage' by Kumi Kato, Professor of Faculty of Tourism, Wakayama University, Japan\n4. 'Building Ecosystem and Community Resilience in Asia and the Pacific Region' by Sinikinesh Beyene Jimma, Regional Coordinator, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)\n\nSession3: Intangible Cultural Heritage in Our Daily Lives, Towards a New Age\n\nSpecial Lecture : 'Role of Communities in Promoting Environmental Sustainability and ICH' by Micheael Mason Director, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage\n1. 'The Role of NGOs in Safeguarding ICH and Environmental Sustainability' by Greg Mitchell, President and Chairman of the Board of the Pacific Blue Foundation, Professor Emeritus of UCSD\n2. 'Nature, Intangible Cultural Heritage and Law' by Anita Vaivade, Assistant Professor of Latvian Academy of Culture\n3. 'Role of the State in ICH Safeguarding in the COVID-19 Pandemic' by Eric Babar Zerrudo, Assistant Professor of University of Santo Tomas\n4. 'Joining our Voices in ICH Youth Network' by ICH Youth Network (Korea National University of Cultural Heritage)\n

ICHCAP, in collaboration with UNESCO Bangkok Office, held the Intangible Cultural Heritage Webinar Series from June to August 2020 with a total of four sessions. The 23 speakers from 18 countries met with the public to grapple with alternative practices and emergent modes of delivery in various areas such as heritage education in the universities, networking amongst educational institutions for ICH safeguarding, development of ICH curricula in times of crisis, as well as inter-regional cooperation for cross-cultural instruction and learning.\n\nWhile the entire world is struggling with the impacts of the COVID-19, the ICH sector also has been hit hard by numerous public health measures such as the cancellation of major festivals and events, temporary shutdown of museums, and places of cultural activities, as well as the indefinite halting of formal and informal heritage transmission activities. How can ICH safeguarding and transmission thrive in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic, and what role can higher education institutions play to ensure the viability of living heritage in our times? ICHCAP organized this webinar series to answer these urgent questions that we all face today.\n\nIn the first session of the ICH Webinar Series on 18 June 2020, we looked into the state of ICH safeguarding in the region, attending to how it has been conditioned by the pandemic and how various activities have been reshaped in order for them to maintain their purpose while also considering the protocols observed to curb coronavirus transmission.\n\nPresentation1 UNESCO Online Survey Results on Living Heritage Experience and the COVID-19 Pandemic by Juliette Hopkins, Living Heritage Entity, UNESCO\nPresentation2 Reviving the Living Landscape System of Lai Chi Wo for Urban Sustainability by Anna Yau, Project Manager, The University of Hong Kong\nPresentation3 Living Heritage Experiences in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Singapore by Yeo Kirk Siang, Director, Heritage Research and Assessment, National Heritage Board of Singapore\nPresentation4 Disaster as Opportunity by Christopher Ballard, Professor, The Australian National University, Australia\nPresentation5 Te-er/Tengao: The Significance of the Compulsory ‘Rest’ Day of the Bontoks in Mt. Province in the Context of COVID-19 Pandemic by Eric Zerrudo, Professor, University of Santo Tomas University, Philippines

Pagdaloy, Flow of Life \n(2015 NCCA-ICHCAP Digitization Project of ICH-related Analogue Audiovisual Materials)\n\nThe National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines (NCCA) is the official government agency for culture in the Philippines. It is the overall policy making body, coordinating, and grants giving agency for the preservation, development and promotion of Philippine arts and culture.\n\nIn 2015, ICHCAP supported the NCCA in digitizing around five hundred hours of analogue content through the Digitization Project of ICH-related Analogue Audiovisual Materials. Some of materials representative of traditions of Philippine ethnic groups were chosen and reproduced as Pagdaloy, flow of life in eight DVDs and two CDs, so they can be enjoyed by more people.\n\nThe videos contained in the collection come from Travel Time, a weekly travelogue that aired from 1986 to 2015 in the Philippines. The TV travel show provided detailed information about minority groups in the country. The NCCA, the project operator, was not only engaged in the digitization of analogue materials but also provided support throughout the production process, contributing to giving more people the opportunity to access valuable ICH materials.\n\nICHCAP Collection IV includes stories of eight Philippine ethnic groups in the Philippines. The story collection comes in a book format, with the DVDs depicting each of the stories. The two CDs feature music used for rituals, feasts, and farming. The collection also features music played by Uwang Ahadas and his family ensemble; Ahadas was named a National Living Treasure of the Philippines. The last page of the collection features a map indicating the areas the ethnic groups inhabit, to help audiences better understand the ethnic groups.\n\nICHCAP hopes that this collection will enable not just researchers in the relevant fields but also the general public to learn more about and become familiar with Philippine ICH.

ICH Courier is the quarterly magazine on ICH in the Asia-Pacific region issued by ICHCAP since 2009. Every issue has its own theme under the title of the Windows to ICH, and the theme of the Vol 38 is 'Funeral Ceremonies and New Beginnings.'

ICHCAP, together with the Digital Heritage Lab, Graduate School of Culture Technology, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, organized an international seminar entitle “Protecting the Past for the Future: Digital Documentation as One of the Imperative Tools for Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage,” 20 July 2019.\n\nThe seminar consisted of three sessions: the first covered the archiving and visualization of intangible cultural heritage; the second focused on digital documentation methods for tangible cultural heritage; and the third discussed the challenges faced by Korea in establishing cultural heritage-related digital data.