Mak Yong is a traditional form of dance-drama that combines ritualistic spiritworship concerning Mak Hiang (Mother-Spirit, or the Paddy-Spirit). It has elements of acting, dancing, singing, songs, stories and dialogues. It is widely performed in Terengganu, Patani, Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis as well as at the Islands of Riau in Indonesia and Pattani of Southern Thailand.\nMak Yong is believed to be originated from the Malay Palace in Pattani about 400 years ago before making its way to the East Coast of Peninsular Nakatsua. In the 1920’s, Mak Yong was performed under the patronage of Kelantan Sultanate and therefore has assimilated the luxury of palace-style decorated costumes.\nUnfortunately, Mak Yong was banned by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party in 1991 under the allegation of animist and Hindu-Buddhist roots. The status of Mak Yong was recognized internationally after UNESCO declared Mak Yong as an"Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" in 2005.\nThe performance often opens with the song “Mengadap Rebab,” followed with dancing and singing accompanied by traditional musical composition. There are twelve main stories in a Mak Yong performance: Dewa Muda, Dewa Pencil, Dewa Sakti, Dewa Panah, Raja Indera Dewa, Endeng Tejeli (Anak Raja Gondang, Batak Raja Gondang, Raja Bongsu Sakti), Raja Tangkai Hati, Gading Bertimang, Raja Muda Lakleng, Raja Muda Lembek, Raja Besar dalam Negeri Ho Gading and Bentara Muda. In general, the stories are derived from local folktales about kings, deities and comic characters. Mak Yong has also been associated with traditional medicinal purposes in which shamans attempt to cure possessed patients through singing and dancing in ritualistic trance.\nEach story needs a duration of three hours to be fully performed. Most Mak Yong characters are played by female actors and is performed on a center stage surrounded by the audience. Audience sit around the three sides of the stage, while the fourth side is reserved for the musicians.

Mak Yong is a traditional form of dance-drama that combines ritualistic spiritworship concerning Mak Hiang (Mother-Spirit, or the Paddy-Spirit). It has elements of acting, dancing, singing, songs, stories and dialogues. It is widely performed in Terengganu, Patani, Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis as well as at the Islands of Riau in Indonesia and Pattani of Southern Thailand.\nMak Yong is believed to be originated from the Malay Palace in Pattani about 400 years ago before making its way to the East Coast of Peninsular Nakatsua. In the 1920’s, Mak Yong was performed under the patronage of Kelantan Sultanate and therefore has assimilated the luxury of palace-style decorated costumes.\nUnfortunately, Mak Yong was banned by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party in 1991 under the allegation of animist and Hindu-Buddhist roots. The status of Mak Yong was recognized internationally after UNESCO declared Mak Yong as an"Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" in 2005.\nThe performance often opens with the song “Mengadap Rebab,” followed with dancing and singing accompanied by traditional musical composition. There are twelve main stories in a Mak Yong performance: Dewa Muda, Dewa Pencil, Dewa Sakti, Dewa Panah, Raja Indera Dewa, Endeng Tejeli (Anak Raja Gondang, Batak Raja Gondang, Raja Bongsu Sakti), Raja Tangkai Hati, Gading Bertimang, Raja Muda Lakleng, Raja Muda Lembek, Raja Besar dalam Negeri Ho Gading and Bentara Muda. In general, the stories are derived from local folktales about kings, deities and comic characters. Mak Yong has also been associated with traditional medicinal purposes in which shamans attempt to cure possessed patients through singing and dancing in ritualistic trance.\nEach story needs a duration of three hours to be fully performed. Most Mak Yong characters are played by female actors and is performed on a center stage surrounded by the audience. Audience sit around the three sides of the stage, while the fourth side is reserved for the musicians.

The cymbal (la gwin:) is a circular, slightly concave bress instrument usually used in pairs which are struck together to produce a crashing, ringing sound. The larger cymbals accompany the big drum (pa' ma), the middling size is played with the horizontal drum (sa khun) and the smaller size in pot- drum or dobat troupes. The cymbals are played in grand drum ensembles, anyein ensembles, instrumental ensembles and to provide music for nat festivals.During the Bagan period, the cymbal was called khwe' khwin: according to various lithic inscriptions. The two cymbals are clashed against each other to produce the full sound, or its edges are hit against each other to produce a soft sound. When the sound of clashing cymbals are not interfered with the sound produced is called open. When the sound is dampened, it is "closed". The muffling is done by putting the cymbals to the chest and thereby killing the sound.

This ancient theatre form created by Malaysia’s Malay communities combines acting, vocal and instrumental music, gestures and elaborate costumes. Specific to the villages of Kelantan in northwest Malaysia, where the tradition originated, Mak Yong is performed mainly as entertainment or for ritual purposes related to healing practices.

ICH Video Production in the Asia-Pacific Region : Central Asia\n\nRapid urbanization and westernization are changing the environments in which intangible cultural heritage is rooted. The importance of documentation that traces the effect of social changes on intangible cultural heritage is being emphasized as a safeguarding measure. Quality video documentation is an important resource that enables the conservation and transmission of existing intangible cultural heritage and raises its visibility.\n\nVideo documentation is the best medium to record intangible cultural heritage in the most lifelike manner, using the latest technologies. It is also an effective tool for communicating with the public. However, conditions for video production in the Asia-Pacific remain poor, requiring extensive support for quality video documentation.\n\nICHCAP has been working to build the safeguarding capabilities of Member States and raise the visibility of intangible cultural heritage in the Asia-Pacific by supporting the true-to-life documentation of intangible cultural heritage as this heritage is practiced and cooperating with experts, communities, and NGOs in related fields.\n\nSince 2010, ICHCAP has hosted annual Central Asian sub-regional network meetings with Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Mongolia to support the ICH safeguarding activities of Central Asia. Through their collaboration, ICHCAP has supported projects involving collecting ICH information, producing ICH websites, and constructing ICH video archives.\n\nAt the Sixth Central Asia Sub-regional Network Meeting in Jeonju in 2015, ICHCAP, four Central Asian countries, and Mongolia adopted a second three-year cooperation project plan on producing ICH videos to enhance the visibility of ICH in Central Asia.\n\nICHCAP developed guidelines and training programs for the project and invited video and ICH experts from the participating countries, and held a workshop in November 2015. After the workshop, focal points for the project were designated in each country, and each focal point organization formed an expert meeting and a video production team to produce ICH videos.\n\nInterim reports were submitted to ICHCAP in February 2016, and the first preview screening was held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, during the Seventh Central Asia Sub-regional Network Meeting in May 2016. Since then, each country has carried out the project according to the project plan. ICHCAP met with each country between October 2016 to February 2017 to check on the project progress.\n\nAfter the final preview screening during the Eighth Central Asia Sub-regional Network Meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in 2017, final editing process took place in each country, and fifty ICH videos were completed by October 2017.\n\nAll photos introduced on this page along with fifty ICH videos are from the exhibition 'Living Heritage: Wisdom of Life' held in the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and the Republic of Korea. Designed for introducing various ICH in the five countries, this exhibition shows photos on representative twenty elements in each country collected during the process of on-site survey and documentation for ICH Video Production Project in Central Asia by experts participated in the ICH video production project.\n\nICHCAP will continue its ICH documentation projects in the Asia-Pacific region for the next ten years by expanding the scope from Central Asia and Mongolia to Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, and the Pacific.\n\n\nPartners\nMongolian National Commission for UNESCO • National Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO • National Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan for UNESCO and ISESCO • National Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan for UNESCO • National Commission of the Republic of Tajikistan for UNESCO • Foundation for the Protection of Natural and Cultural Heritage Mongolia • National Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage under the National Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan for UNESCO and ISESCO • School of Fine Art and Technical Design named after Abylkhan Kasteyev • State Institute of Arts and Culture of Uzbekistan • Tajik film • Tajikistan Research Institute of Culture Information • Korea Educational Broadcasting System • Asia Culture Center\n\nSupporters\nUNESCO Almaty and Tashkent Cluster Offices • Cultural Heritage Administration • Panasonic Korea • Turkish Airlines

The traditional musical instruments of Myanmar were prominent throughout the nation’s history. The instruments were developed as early as the Pyu Era, Bagan Era and many were dominant features of music during the Innwa Era and Konbaung Era.\n\nWhile some of these instruments have been preserved and are used today, others have been lost to history.\nIn an attempt to preserve the traditional musical instruments of Myanmar, the Ministry of Culture displayed traditional instruments and distributed the books about the instruments during an exhibition in 1955. This research shows thirty-three kinds of instruments. Moreover, in a 2003 celebration of traditional instruments, the Ministry of Culture exhibited over two hundred traditional instruments at the national museum.\nWhile the instruments on display were representative of many regions and states, many instruments were not included.\nBecause of this lack of full representativeness, additional research through field studies is required. This project proposal addresses this need.\n\nTo create a preliminary basis towards developing a national ICH inventory of craftsmanship and performing arts of traditional musical instruments in Myanmar. To safeguard ICH related to the craftsmanship and performing arts of traditional musical instruments and to promote cultural diversity among multi- ethnic groups in Myanmar. To raise awareness of the Myanmar public on the importance of ICH. To expand networking and information sharing between Myanmar and Korea.

Thảm trần tình was sung by character Thị Phương in a Chèo play called “Trương Viên”, which is about Thị Phương’s difficult circumstance when she had to take her mother-in-law back to her hometown while her husband was in the battle. Therefore, this melody has the features of grievance and mournfulness. Those emotions were expressed through the skillful and inspiring nhị instrumental music of artist Minh Nhương.

Marriage to the Nùng ethnic minority is not merely that of a couple but has a greater meaning that is the ritual of community cohesion, keeping the ethnic group’s cultural identity. A wedding ceremony takes place in accordance with certain traditions and customs, such as bride and groom welcoming, ancestor worshiping, groom receiving; asking for a bride welcoming, etc. In the celebration to ask for the bride, the heads of the groom’s family will play music or sing to ask for the bride, and the bride’s family also plays music or sings in response. The instrumental music in Nùng weddings is mainly performed by men. Musical instruments may include the nhị (two-string fiddle), wind instruments, and cymbals.

Hát Xoan (Xoan singing) or cửa đình singing (singing at the village communal house) starts in spring during singing and dancing performances to worship the god in the village communal house. According to legend Hát Xoan appeared in the time of Kings Hùng, in the ancestral land of Hùng Vương—Phú Thọ, a province in the midland area of Vietnam. Gathering of Xoan singers who worship in spring called Xoan guild or families of Xoan. In a Xoan guild, there are between six and eighteen members. Men, called kép (instrumentalist), have to know how to beat a drum and sing the lead. Women are called đào (female singer). Female singers must not only be beautiful but also be able sing and dance well. The leader, called ông trùm, is an expert in art and master in all Xoan singing customs . He is also responsible for organizing and training instrumentalists and singers. Nowadays, in Phú Thọ province, there are four original Xoan guilds, in Kim Đới, Phù Đức, Thét, and An Thái villages. The Xoan guilds start their two-month spring itinerary 6 Jan (lunar calendar).\n\nXoan singing for worship is structured into three singing stages: Stage one is a ritual opening that includes songs such as Giáo trống, Giáo pháo, Thơ nhang, and Đóng đám. The Xoan guild of An Thái village opens with the song Chào vua while Xoan guild of Kim Đới village opens with Mời vua. Stage two is the performance of fourteen songs (known as quả cách) such as Kiều Giang cách, Nhàn ngâm cách, Tràng mai cách, Ngư tiều canh mục cách, Đối dẫy cách, Hồi liên cách, Tứ mùa cách, Quả cách is an ancient term. Quả means a long song while cách is a method of singing a specific song. Cách is the way ancient Confusion scholars expressed their feelings and conceptions of society and nature. The content of these fourteen songs is about wishing the four classes of people— scholars, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants—prosperity and fame. Stage three is a love-exchange song, including songs such as Bợm gái, Bỏ bộ, Xin hoa đố chữ, Gài hoa, Hát đúm, and Giã cá. The content reflects the desire of a couple’s love. Therefore, the items in this stage are usually performed by Xoan singers with local male villagers. The cultural exchange between Xoan guild and local male villagers make the singing session more attractive. However, Xoan singing was under the threat of being lost over time. On 24 November 2011, Xoan singing of Phú Thọ province was recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage In Need of Urgent Safeguarding of Humanity. In this CD, we selected and arranged some Xoan singing songs recorded and kept at Vietnamese Institute for Musicology in 1959.

Katta Ashula (a song performed with a plate) is specific to the Ferghana Valley of Uzbekistan. Usually, it is performed a cappella by two to five singers of the same vocal range who use a plate or tray to project their voices in different ways. In most cases, Katta Ashula is performed by singers with a high-pitched, wide-ranging voice, and these are some of the distinguishing features of the complex performance style. Katta Ashula developed from basic traditional events in history, from labour songs, and from different styles of ghazal verses. Usually, Katta Ashula is performed in big gatherings, festivities, and party celebrations.\n\nKatta Ashula songs were performed professionally and further developed by famous Khofizes such as Erkaqori Karimov, Turdiali Ergashev, Matbuva Sattorov, Jo'rakhon Sultonov, Mamurjon Uzoqov, Boltaboy Rajabov, Orif Alimakhsumov, Fattohkhon Mamadaliev, Jo' rakhon Yusupov, and Khamroqulqory To'raqulov. Today, Katta Ashula is masterfully performed by experienced singers with the highest skill, such as Khalima Nosirova, Munojot Yo'lchieva, Ismoil and Isroil Vakhobovs, and Mahmud Tojiboev.

Audio and Video Materials Collected from the Onsite Survey in the Ferghana Valley_2012 Uzbekistan-ICHCAP Joint Cooperation Project of Producing Digital Contents on ICH\n\nThe glorious intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of Ferghana Valley encompassing the state of Ferghana, Andijion, and Namangan in Uzbekistan includes oral traditional, performing arts, traditional rites and festive events, and traditional crafts. However, this heritage is largely unknown to the public in the nation and abroad, and it is fading out even more rapidly due to the young generation’s lack of interest.\n\nSince 2011, the four Central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan, have been implementing a three-year project, Facilitating ICH Inventory-Making by Using Online Tools for ICH Safeguarding in the Central Asian Region as a Central Asia–ICHCAP cooperative project. In the framework of the project, the countries have collected ICH information and tried to build an online system for managing the collected information.\n\nIn Uzbekistan, the Republican Scientific and Methodological Centre of Folk Art, under the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in collaboration with the National Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan for UNESCO, implemented the three-year project. They collected information on ICH elements in the Ferghana Valley (Andijan, Namangan, and Ferghana regions), Zarafshan Oasis and Southern Uzbekistan (Jizzakh, Samarkand, Kashkadarya, and Surkhandarya regions), and the Republic of Karakalpakstan (Navoi, Bukhara, and Khoresm regions) through onsite surveys from 2012 to 2014.\n\nIn 2012 when the first onsite survey was concluded, Uzbekistan and ICHCAP selected representative materials among collected videos, audios, and photos on ICH elements and ICH bearers, and compiled the materials as a ten-CD/DVD collection. Also, booklets in English, Uzbek, and Korean were made to spread related information to a wider audience.\n\nFerghana Valley is also home to Tajikistan, Uighers, and Turkistan. In the other words, different traditions co-exist in the same place. ‘Katta Ashula’, which integrates arts, songs, music, and epics, is one Uzbek cultural heritage representing the identities of the diverse people live in the valley\n\nThe collection could preserve the disappeared and disconnected ICH and encourage increased mutual understanding and communication by spreading the information widely from the experts to the people.

In 2015, ICHCAP with the National Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan for UNESCO and the Fine Arts Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan released the CD collection Melodies from Uzbekistan as part of its cooperation project to restore and digitize analogue resources on ICH.\n\nThis selection of audio resources are aged audio recordings stored at the Fine Arts Institute of the Academy of Sciences that have been restored and converted into a format suitable for storage and playback in media used today. The audio tracks in the collection consist of folk music recorded from field research conducted in Uzbekistan and border regions from the 1950s to the 1980s as well as studio recordings made from the 1930s to the 1970s. The eight CDs contain Uzbek songs related to work, animal rearing, rituals, and other important parts of day-to-day life in the region; instrumental music featuring various traditional Uzbek musical instruments, such as the dutor and g'ajir nay; and important Islamic oral traditions, such as maqoms and dostons.\n\nAlthough the traditional music of Central Asia may be unfamiliar to listeners from other parts of the world, the CDs come with information booklets in Uzbek, English, and Korean to provide an engaging experience for people from outside the region.\nThe selection represents the diverse and rich musical traditions of Uzbekistan and will be invaluable resources in the field of ICH education and promotion.

The word “jewelry” brings to mind something shiny or glamourous that makes people more beautiful. Jewelry can take the form of a pretty-looking hairband in a high-street shop, rings that a couple exchange as a symbol of their promise to each other, or an item that helps people stand out in smart clothes. \n\nBeyond aesthetic functions, jewelry can also have shamanistic meanings, such as the seashell masks of ancient times. This section introduces various meanings through ornaments from the Republic of Korea, Kazakhstan, India, and Fiji.

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.'