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Practices of Then by Tày, Nùng and Thái ethnic groups in Viet Nam
Then a ritual practice indispensable in Tày, Nùng and Thái ethnic groups' spiritual life, reflects concepts about human beings, natural world and the universe (the Earth realm, the 3-layer Heaven realm). Then ceremonies describe a journey in which Then Master (Male/Female) controls ghost soldiers travelling from the Earth realm to the Heaven realm, the residing place of the gods, to offer worshipping items and show their praying requests for peace, bad luck relief, illness treatment, good crops, new house inauguration, initiation/title-conferring ritual (cấp sắc), blessings and happy new year. Then Masters start the journey by singing and plucking the tính lute (two or three-string lute). Depending on worshipping purposes, Then Masters will arrange worshipping trays to pray different native Gods, among whom Ngoc Hoang is the highest God. Then Masters often use a summoning tablet, a seal, a demon-expelling sword, a yin and yang rod, a bell, a fan and items such as pork, chicken, wine, rice, fruits and votive papers to perform Then ceremonies in the believer’s house, outdoor or at Then altar of the Master’s house. While practising, Then Master wears ceremonial dress, sings the language of his ethnic group and plays the tính lute, shakes the chùm xóc nhạc (rattle-bells), waves a fan. In some ceremonies, a female dancing group will accompany. Then rituals performances express Tày, Nùng and Thái’s cultural identities, from customs to musical instruments, dance and music. Then is always transmitted orally while its rituals are being conducted, reflecting the succession between generations.

#weddings #village festivals #community events #rituals #human beings #natural world #universe #transmitted orally #dance #instruments #music #customs

Viet Nam 2019

Practices of Then by Tày, Nùng and Thái ethnic groups in Viet Nam
Then a ritual practice indispensable in Tày, Nùng and Thái ethnic groups' spiritual life, reflects concepts about human beings, natural world and the universe (the Earth realm, the 3-layer Heaven realm). Then ceremonies describe a journey in which Then Master (Male/Female) controls ghost soldiers travelling from the Earth realm to the Heaven realm, the residing place of the gods, to offer worshipping items and show their praying requests for peace, bad luck relief, illness treatment, good crops, new house inauguration, initiation/title-conferring ritual (cấp sắc), blessings and happy new year. Then Masters start the journey by singing and plucking the tính lute (two or three-string lute). Depending on worshipping purposes, Then Masters will arrange worshipping trays to pray different native Gods, among whom Ngoc Hoang is the highest God. Then Masters often use a summoning tablet, a seal, a demon-expelling sword, a yin and yang rod, a bell, a fan and items such as pork, chicken, wine, rice, fruits and votive papers to perform Then ceremonies in the believer’s house, outdoor or at Then altar of the Master’s house. While practising, Then Master wears ceremonial dress, sings the language of his ethnic group and plays the tính lute, shakes the chùm xóc nhạc (rattle-bells), waves a fan. In some ceremonies, a female dancing group will accompany. Then rituals performances express Tày, Nùng and Thái’s cultural identities, from customs to musical instruments, dance and music. Then is always transmitted orally while its rituals are being conducted, reflecting the succession between generations.

#weddings #village festivals #community events #rituals #human beings #natural world #universe #transmitted orally #dance #instruments #music #customs

Viet Nam 2019

Kushtdepdi rite of singing and dancing
Kushtdepdi rite of singing and dancing is a performing art combining the genres of creative poetizing focused on good feelings and wishes, its singing with vocal improvisation and dancing with movements of hands, gestures and footsteps in accordance with the tune of the song. The element serves as a tool and a medium for conveying good wishes for happiness, mutual respect, solidarity, social cohesion to the wide public and youth. The element is considered as an inseparable part of child birth ceremonies, wedding ceremonies and national celebrations. Its introductory part starts with singing poetic words of best wishes for well-being, happiness and sermon for the youth to keep close ties with elders that is performed by a seated group of respected women dressed in traditional costumes. Its next stage continues with inviting performers to start the rite and then the performance is led by singing of a couple of poetry singers (traditionally a woman and a man) with dances to the accompaniment of songs in a semi-closed or closed circles. Dancing movements start with three steps on right foot and then simultaneously tramping and clapping which are intended to drive maleficence and misfortune away from the future life. The element is performed at the end of events concluding in a positive note as a prayer to the nature for fertility, procreation, solidarity and peace.

Turkmenistan 2017

Noken multifunctional knotted or woven bag, handcraft of the people of Papua
Noken is a knotted net bag or woven bag made from wood fibre or leaves, sometimes coloured and decorated. Noken is a traditional handcraft of all communities of Papua and West Papua Provinces, Indonesia. The day-to-day function of large size noken is for carrying plantation produce, catch from the sea or lake, wood, babies, small animals, shopping, etc., and for hanging at home to store things. Small size noken is for carrying personal effects such as betel nut, food, books, etc. Noken may be used to cover the head or body. For nearly all (275/311) respondents, noken is an accessory to their traditional dress, and according to most (290/311) is used in traditional ceremonies or celebrations, such as marriage proposals, marriage ceremonies, initiation of children, appointment of community leaders, welcoming guests and for keeping sacred heirlooms.. Among mountain communities, noken had been given along with other presentations to make peace between disputing parties. Drs. H. Rahimin Katjong, Deputy Governor of West Papua, recalled wearing a small noken containing betel nut etc at the time of his appointment as a traditional community leader at Fak Fak, West Papua. Nearly all (276/311) respondents explained that noken is used by all age groups, and most (282/311) observed that noken is used by both sexes. As soon as babies learn to walk, their mothers give them a small noken containing food such as sweet potatoes, thus instilling the habit of carrying one’s own needs, which may also be used to help others, inside a noken which is always close at hand. Three quarters of respondents (235/311) said that noken is generally made by women-- ”the Mamas of Papua”--usually adults according to most respondents (250/311). Women thus play a special role in safeguarding noken culture. At Epouto village in Paniai District, we found male orchid-noken craftsmen. Asmat community men also make noken. Most craftspersons make noken in their spare time from agriculture, fishing, and household duties, though some make noken full time. Noken making goes on yearround, but will increase in times leading up to traditional festivals. The method of making noken varies between communities. A basic outline is as follows. Branches or stems or bark of certain small trees or shrubs are cut, sometimes heated over a fire, and soaked in water for some days. After soaking, only wood fibre remains. The Dani/Hugula in Wamena peel bark from sticks of certain trees and then beat the sticks till only fibres remain. The wood fibre is dried, and then spun with the palm of the hand on the thigh of the craftsperson to make a strong thread or string, which is sometimes coloured using natural dyes. This string is knotted by hand to make net bags with various patterns and sizes. The same technique is used to make vests, hats, belts, etc.. In Paniai District we find noken interwoven with special decoration made from fibres from yellow, brown and black. orchid stems. Besides knotting, there are communities which make noken by weaving tree bark, wood fibre, pandan leaf, young sago leaf, or grass from swamps. Some select grasses with contrasting colours (Inanwatan, Metemani, Kais and Kokoda (Imeko) communities). Maybrat community craftspersons colour the fibres with natural colours. The fibres, leaves or grass are woven in various attractive patterns with symbolic meanings. To make noken requires great manual skill, care, artistic sense and inner satisfaction. Craftspersons often make noken while singing traditional songs of Papua. To become proficient in making noken takes up to several months of informal training. A skilled noken craftsperson will be much appreciated within her (or his) community. The diversity of making, wearing and use of noken continues to develop and be recreated as the response of the people of Papua to nature and their environment.

Indonesia 2012

Naadam, Mongolian traditional festival
The Mongolian Naadam is inseparably connected to the nomadic civilization of the Mongols who have practiced pastoralism on Central Asia’s vast steppe for centuries. Mongols’ traditional Naadam festival consisting of three manly games is considered as one of major cultural heritage elements which Mongols contributed to the nomadic civilizations. The three types of sports games – archery, horserace and wrestling – are directly linked with lifestyles and living conditions of Mongols and thus become the authentic cultural traditions among nomads. National Naadam is celebrated from July 11 to 13 throughout the country, in soums (counties), aimags (provinces), and the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Naadam represents distinct features of Mongolians’ nomadic culture and traditions, with expression of their unique cultural characteristics and images to become an identity of Mongolian people to the outside world. Thus, Mongolian Naadam has served a key factor to unite the Mongolian people and an important symbol of national solidarity. Mongolian people develop their physical strength, strong will power, patience, space and time related sensitivity and friendly hospitality from the three manly games which provides the cognitive and moral education basis. Main bearers of this cultural heritage are practitioners of the three games. i.e. those who significant part of the Mongolia population. Currently, over 100,000 people practice the traditional wrestling in various clubs and training courses, in addition to 3,000 students studying in several wrestling universities and colleges. Besides, the home schooling is considered one of most effecient forms, as it is the main traditional method to teach and learn the wrestling. Youths who practice wrestling would develop postive personalities such as being friendly, caring to the elderly and modest, besides strong will power, physical strength and courage. The main bearers of horserace appear racehorse trainers and jokey-children. Nowadays, about 400-500 horserace tournaments take place annually and altogether 200,000 horses (some recounted across tournaments) participate in them. About 100,000 racehorse trainers normally train these horses, while over 70,000 children ride and race. Besides, the audience of those tournaments would reach over 300,000 people. The Mongolian traditional home schooling provides extensive knowledge and skills, traditions and customs, culture and art elements of horserace. Compared to other two forms, relatively fewer people (about 10,000) practice and are interested in archery. Similarly, home schooling methods tend to dominate in learning and transmitting archery that family members and relatives become archers a lot. There are hundreds of thousand artisans and craftmen who make various tools and items used in the three manly games through employing meticulous skills and design to make them as collections of various art pieces. For instance, wrestling outfits – hat, boots and shorts, racehorse saddles and jokey’s outfits, and bows and arrows used in archery competitions have specific traditional technology and techniques each. These three sports games make a core blend of traditional arts and sports. Title-singing of horses and wrestlers indicate musical elements embracing songs and melodies. • Wrestling. After the wrestling site has been chosen based on the quality of the grass and the flatness of the site, the wrestling matches begin. Judges in groups of 8, 16, or 32 are divided into two groups which line up at the right and left side of the wrestling site and the wrestlers are divided into two groups at the left and right wings. To present the wrestler to the audience, judges will hold the participant's hat and sing praise songs while the wrestler performs an eagle dance before assuming the position to begin. Wrestling is not only a display of strength and bravery; it is also a competition of skill and technique. The object of the match is to make one’s competitor to fall on the ground with his elbows, knees or any other part of the body touching the ground, at which point he loses. Wrestlers who lose in each round will get eliminated from the tournament. The number of rounds differs from tournament to tournament. There are often 9 rounds at the national festival which takes place on July 11-12 annually and altogether 512 wrestlers wrestle. A half leaves after each round. From the fifth round, winning wrestlers can earn titles starting from hawk, falcon, elephant, garuda /mythical bird/, and lion, to the coveted champion. Wrestlers are divided into two groups or so-called ‘wings’ that the highest ranking wrestlers are listed at the top depending on their titles, such as first grand champions, then champions, lions, garudas, elephants, hawks, falcons etc. • Horserace. Horse-trainers choose potential race horses among horse flocks and train them meticulously, carefully adjusting their daily training and diet. Horse races are grouped in age-specific categories such as stallions, adults, 4-years old, 3-years old, 2-years old and 1-year old which race in different distance categories from 10 km to 30 km. Race horses have their mane and tails trimmed to improve their appearance while their trainers use specially crafted wooden sticks or a brush to remove the sweat from the horse after the race. These sweat-removing tools are often carved and decorated with traditional patterns and images of horses to symbolize their strength. Young riders wear special clothing including the deel and hat. Typically, children aged 6-10 years old jockey racehorses. When registration of the applicant horses is completed, the race administrator rides around the Naadam site three times, while children riding race horses sing ‘Giingoo’ to raise spirits of horses before racing. The winning horse is given the title of ‘Tumnii ekh’ (the mightiest of all), whereas the last horse in the race is given a nickname ‘Buren jargal’ “complete happiness”. The praise song is performed to congratulate winning horses and is called ‘singing titles’. • Archery. This competition is divided into two categories; Khana sur (big bow) and Khasaa sur (small bow). Men shoot from a distance of 75 meters to the target, and women from 65 meters. The target is called ‘zurkhai’, and is made of leather balls neatly lined along the flat ground in two rows. Each archer shoots 40 arrows and the one who shoots the most targets wins.

#festivals #men #game #nomadism #wrestling #archery #horserace

Mongolia 2010

Custom of offering Tshogchang in a reception for the guest
Tshogchang is a traditional drink served by local Bhutanese communities to receive guests in the eastern part of Bhutan. Whenever any guest visits a community, it is customary for the local communities to collect a jandom barrel of Ara (local brew) from each household and present before the visitors. Village people, usually women, come in a group along with a pitcher of wine, a few eggs, red chillies to pay respect to the guest. They will also offer rice, maize and other snacks and drink together with the guests. It is symbolic in that the people are offering a gesture of welcome to the guest. \n\nNote : The text above is an excerpt from Sonam Chopel (https://schopheltrashigangpa.wordpress.com/) and adapted with the information provided from the National Library and Archives of Bhutan.

Bhutan

Rituals and customs tent
Art Council of Mongolia, Culture Naadam Project

Mongolia

Children’s Rite of Cutting the Rope “Tusau Kesu”
Highly traditional nomadic rites, such as the tusau kesu, have been preserved among the Kazakhs, but the people’s understanding of the rites has been transformed. For Kazakh forbearers, rituals like tusau kesu (cutting the rope) or ashamayga mingyzu (landing on a horse) were rituals for beginning a journey, the journey through life and the exploration of the space around them. Many Kazakh families believe that the tusau kesu rite helps accelerate the child’s physical development so that the child can walk confidently, but if the child walks weakly, the rite can be repeated. The rite also symbolizes the discovery of a life path. The rite transfers spiritual and physical qualities to the child from a respected person elected by the parents. A grandmother, for example, shows the techniques of fetter weaving to her granddaughter.

#baby #birth #life cycle #women #rituals #custom #colourful band #legs #family

Kazakhstan 2017

Cultural Space of Boysun, Uzbekistan
Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, 2008\nCultural space of Boysun was proclaimed a Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2001 and inscribed onto the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008.This film contains information about the Boysun district’s nature and the cultural processes related to craftsmanship, folk performance, traditional medicine, and others.Strong aspiration to preserve traditional lifestyles of the local people was observed during filming process in 2016 and 2017. An example of this is the increasing number of followers of the folk-ethnographic ensemble called Boysun.

#culture #environment #specific social space #cultural space #region #nomadic traditions #turkic #eastern iranian #blacksmiths #traditional crafts #customs #rituals

Uzbekistan 2017

Visiting the Boysun District, a Representative Cultural Space

Nestled in the southeastern mountains of Uzbekistan, Boysun developed into a cultural hub over centuries, since the age of the ancient Silk Road. Given its long history and outside influence through the famed trade route, the region’s cultural heritage evolved to become as diverse as the flora and fauna that inhabit the region. As a way of celebrating the diverse cultural heritage that dates back to the pre-Islamic days, the Boysun Bahori Festival was first developed as an annual spring festival in the early 2000s, with some interruptions on certain years.\n\nUNESCO officially listed Boysun culture as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage, and in the following year, the first festival was held. April was chosen as the optimal time for the festival as Boysun is unusually pleasant at that time, with flowering fields and green mountains creating a perfect backdrop for a festive environment.\n\nThe locals set up a yurt camp that includes workshops and stages for ensembles to perform. In addition, they set up makeshift arenas for traditional sports like wrestling, horse-related sports, and other activities, such as tightrope walking and acrobatics.\n\nIn April 2019, with the support of the Uzbek Ministry of Culture to explain well-known cultural spaces that I wanted to visit for a long time, I went to Boysun to interview some of the locals. During these interviews, some interesting insights about cultural heritage in the Boysun area were uncovered. According to the local community, much of the younger generation, both male and female, have tendencies to pursue careers or education in larger cities. However, in spite of decreasing number of young generation, community people expressed their satisfaction with living in the heritage city. They appear proud of the many rituals and traditional games that have remained a part of daily life.\n\nSuch customary knowledge is in traditional carpet weaving, craftsmanship, games, and rituals, which are still a part of Boysun communities. Some youth activities include stick-tossing games that are similar to jachigi, a Korean children’s game and commonly played throughout the world. In Boysun, I interestingly noticed that some practices have been influenced more by Zoroastrianism than Islam.\n\nDuring my visit, many of community members were absent in the village to visit Termez to participate and observe the International Bakhshi Art Festival, which was held for first time in Uzbekistan. Nonetheless through my visit to this unique cultural place, I felt deep aspiration of the people for safeguarding their own culture and heritage inherited through generations.\n\nPhoto 1 : Boysun entrance ⓒ ICHCAP\nPhoto 2 : Local people in Boysun District ⓒ ICHCAP\nPhoto 3 : Interviewing locals in Boysun ⓒ ICHCAP\nPhoto 4 : Prayer hall in the trunk of a tree that is hundreds of years old ⓒ ICHCAP\nPhoto 5 : Overview of Boysun District (seen from the entrance hill) ⓒ ICHCAP

Year2019

NationUzbekistan

Navruz: UZBEKISTAN’S ANNUAL SPRING FESTIVAL

One of the brightest folk festivities, is the Navruz spring holiday festival. Navruz, celebrated on 21 March symbolizes the universal date of birth, for when the departure of winter and arrival of spring was interpreted as the rebirth of nature. Its origin is connected to ancient astronomical observations which are based on solar and stellar motion as well as the motion of the moon. Ideas of peace, solidarity, prosperity, and mercifulness are reflected in each festive Navruz ritual.

Year2010

NationSouth Korea

custom