Held from January 13 to 18 on the land of the Tran dynasty, to affirm and honor the merits of building and defending the country of the Tran dynasty - a prosperous dynasty with three illustrious feats of defeating the Nguyen - Mong invaders. . The ceremony is held solemnly, majesty and respectfully such as: the opening ceremony of the temple door, the procession of sacred water from the Red River confluence to Tran temple, the grave sacrifice, the worshiping ceremony for ancestors. In particular, they also held a ceremony to celebrate the wedding (treaty) between the two villages of Van Dai (Chi Hoa commune) and Tam Duong village (Tien Duc commune) as well as a water procession and a unique fish contest to remember the old times. Tran ancestors lived mainly by fishing.

Held from January 13 to 18 on the land of the Tran dynasty, to affirm and honor the merits of building and defending the country of the Tran dynasty - a prosperous dynasty with three illustrious feats of defeating the Nguyen - Mong invaders. . The ceremony is held solemnly, majesty and respectfully such as: the opening ceremony of the temple door, the procession of sacred water from the Red River confluence to Tran temple, the grave sacrifice, the worshiping ceremony for ancestors. In particular, they also held a ceremony to celebrate the wedding (treaty) between the two villages of Van Dai (Chi Hoa commune) and Tam Duong village (Tien Duc commune) as well as a water procession and a unique fish contest to remember the old times. Tran ancestors lived mainly by fishing.

Building a canoe for the palolo rise, an event that occurs twice in a year, is rarely described and documented in moving and still images. With accompanying text capturing knowledge shared by a Master Craftsman, Lesā Motusaga of Sa‘anapu village in Samoa, Galumalemana Steve Percival provides insights into the Intangible Cultural Heritage associated with the building of a paopao, dugout canoe, for a rich fishing tradition.

On 12 and 13 November 2020, ICHCAP and the ICH NGO Forum virtually held the 2020 ICH NGO Conference entitled “ICH and Resilience in Crisis.” The fifteen participants, including eleven selected presenters from ten countries around the world, discussed various cases and activities of each country applied under the Corona-era, and proposed solidarity for the resilience of ICH for a ‘New Normal.’\n\nSession 1: In the Vortex: COVID-19 Era, Roles of NGOs to Safeguard ICH\n\nSpecial Lecture 1: 'Resilience System Analysis' by Roberto Martinez Yllescas, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Mexico\n1. 'Uncovering the veil of immaterial cultural heritage towards and autonomous management of well-being as well as cultural and territorial preservation' by Carolina Bermúdez, Fundación Etnollano\n2. 'Holistic Development Model of Community-Based Intangible Cultural Heritage of Yuen Long District in Hong Kong of China' by Kai-kwong Choi, Life Encouraging Fund \n3. 'Indigenous Knowledge System as a vector in combating COVID-19' by Allington Ndlovu, Amagugu International Heritage Centre\n4. 'Enlivening Dyeing Tradition and ICH: The initiative of ARHI in North East of India' by Dibya Jyoti Borah, President, ARHI\n\nSession 2: Homo Ludens vs. Home Ludens: Changed Features COVID-19 Brought\n\n1. 'The Popular Reaction to COVID-19 from the Intangible Cultural Heritage among Member Cities of the ICCN' by Julio Nacher, ICCN Secretariat, Algemesi, Spain\n2. 'Innovation for Arts and Cultural Education Amid a Pandemic' by Jeff M. Poulin, Creative Generation\n3. 'Promoting Heritage Education through Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Kalasha Valleys of Pakistan' by Ghiasuddin Pir & Meeza Ubaid, THAAP\n4. 'Shifting to Online Activities: Digital Divide among the NGOs and ICH Communities in Korea' by Hanhee Hahm CICS\n\nSession 3: Consilience: Prototype vs. Archetype for Educational Source\n\nSpecial Lecture 2: 'Geographical imbalance: the challenge of getting a more balanced representation of accredited non-governmental organizations under the 2003 Convention' by Matti Hakamäki, Finnish Folk Music Institute\n1. 'Crafting a Post Covid-19 World: Building Greater Resilience in the Crafts Sector through Strengthening Ties with its Community’s Cultural System' by Joseph Lo, World Crafts Council International\n2. 'Arts and Influence: Untangling Corporate Engagement in the Cultural Sector' by Nicholas Pozek, Asian Legal Programs, Columbia University\n3. 'ICH in the South-Western Alps: Empowering Communities through Youth Education on Nature and Cultural Practices' by Alessio Re & Giulia Avanza, Santagata Foundation for the Economy of Culture\n\n

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is transnational in nature. It is necessary to spread the perception that ICH transcends geographical spaces and national borders, creating dynamic relations, connectedness, and continuity, which is why it is a timeless bearer of cultural diversity, the foundation of the heritage of humanity. However, as the modern structure of nation-state determines the boundaries of culture with national borders, forming the concept of “culture within the country”, subsequently led to the perception that the ownership of culture belongs to the state.\n\nThe concept of exclusive ownership of culture is often controversial in the UNESCO listing process, particularly in instances where cultural heritage and cultural domains have been shared for a long time by two or more nation-states. Such conflicts lead to excessive competition for nomination, overshadowing UNESCO’s fundamental purpose of contributing to peace and security in the world by promoting collaboration among nations, as well as the very spirit of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage that promotes international cooperation and assistance in the safeguarding of ICH as a matter of general interest to humanity.\n\nConsequently, UNESCO encourages multinational inscriptions of shared intangible cultural heritage to promote regional cooperation and international safeguarding activities, preventing conflicts among countries and coping with already existing ones. By emphasizing joint nominations of shared ICH, UNESCO revised its implementation guidelines three times to deal with conflicts between countries due to the cultural property rights. In addition, States Parties are encouraged to develop networks among relevant communities, experts, professional centres, and research institutes, particularly with regard to their ICH, to cooperate at the sub-regional and regional levels.\n\nAt the 13th Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held in the Republic of Mauritius in November 2018, Traditional Korean Wrestling was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity as the first joint designation by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Republic of Korea. This milestone in the life of the Convention demonstrates that ICH contributes to the peace-building, reconciliation, mutual understanding, and solidarity among peoples. Indeed, only when acknowledging that shared cultural values are empowering characteristics of ICH, the true perspective of the unifying agent of the cultural diversity can be achieved, and that it is the cornerstone of reaching peace among nations.\n\nCountries in the Asia Pacific region are deeply connected by a long history of interactions, exchanges, flows of people, goods, and ideas that have shaped shared values, practices, and traditions. Having a balanced view, advocating for cultural diversity, and recognizing the commonalities among individuals, communities, and countries as a strength are virtuous tenets in the present time.\n\nIn this regard, APHEN-ICH Secretariat, ICHCAP, and UNESCO Bangkok Office are inviting the APHEN-ICH member institutes and public to this seminar under the theme of Diversity and Distinctiveness: Looking into the Shared ICH in the Asia-Pacific, to re-assess that while fragile, intangible cultural heritage is an important factor in maintaining cultural diversity, connecting bounds, and enhancing international dialogue and peace.

This is the history of how native Yapese learned to use indigenous betel nuts (areca nuts). Native Yapese added pepper leaf and coral lime powder to betel nut and called it langad. Langad was not used by the native Yapese until it was introduced by a friendly ghost who was stranded on the main island of Yap several hundreds of years ago. The ghost, whose name was Llong, was left behind by his companion Luug. Llong then settled himself at the Ron’uw village in the northwestern part of the island. For some reason, Llong relocated himself to Gilyaboch village on the Gakaan peninsula on the western side of the island. There he lived and began making and setting fish traps along the water. Day after day, the natives saw him and wondered what he was doing in the water and who he was. The natives approached him and became friends with him. Llong taught them how to make fish traps and how to set them in the water to catch fish. When setting the traps, branchy corals were required to be placed on and around the traps to cover them. Collecting branchy corals almost every day for the traps, the natives asked Llong if those corals were edible, seeing that they were almost everywhere in the fishing ground. He replied that they were edible, but needed to be processed in advance. So they collected some of the branchy corals and brought them onto land. Thereafter, Llong taught and showed them how to make lime powder out of branchy corals. Llong explained that the powder shouldn’t be taken alone, but could only be taken with two more elements. Llong ordered the natives to bring betel nuts and pepper leaves. Native Yapese at that time used the trunks of betel nut trees only for building houses, but did not use the nuts. Llong gathered everything up and demonstrated how it use it. He added a little amount of powder in a split betel nut and wrapped a piece of pepper leaf around it, putting it in his mouth and chewing on it. After he chewed the mixture, he spat the bloody red liquid out of his mouth. It looked very interesting to the natives, so they tried it right away. Eventually, everyone had a chance to try the newly discovered products. They all felt high from using them and began singing, dancing, and enjoying the sensation until they all felt tired and wanted to take a nap. During their naps, Llong bestowed his blessings upon the langad ingredients so the natives would have the interest or the urge to use them again. When they woke up from the short nap, they were sober and all surprised to see the redness on their lips as well as the spit marks on the ground. They got worried and concerned that their chief in Lamear village might find out what they had done, so they kept it a secret from him. Later, they decided to pay the chief a visit and present him the langad. The chief tried it for the first time and was very impressed. He showed his great excitement, saying that he had never experienced such a euphoria. From then on, he proclaimed the tradition that the people should offer him the langad on a regular basis. This is the story of how native Yapese started using betel nuts. It began in Gilyaboch village, but quickly spread to their chief in Lamear village and to other allies on the island. This knowledge of chewing betel nut with coral lime powder spread throughout the island and became a tradition of the Yapese culture hundreds of years ago. Langad is now a part of daily lives in Yap. It is widely used for social gatherings, community meetings and events, funerals, and so much more.

This survey report was conducted as part of the effort to identify the status of ICH festivals across the Silk Road region and further identify the challenges that should be resolved with regard to each festive event. This report presents the findings of the survey concerning ICH festivals, which was carried out in 2020 on the governments and cultural institutions across Silk Road countries, including the Republic of Korea. The valid sample, consisting of 347 respondents from nine countries, were statistically analyzed and described herein.

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 23 is 'Traditional Navigation of Pacific Islanders.'