The Kurava community migrated from Tamil Nadu and settled along the banks of the Nila River where they followed mat weaving traditions for many generations. Unfortunately, because of low financial returns and scarce raw materials, the community to lost interest in traditional weaving, leaving only one practitioner, Mr. U. Chami, who took the tradition forward for many years through the Killimangalam Weaving Cooperative Society. However, due to ill health at the age of 72, Chami left weaving behind. But before retiring, he taught traditional weaving skills to a non-native Kurava—Mrs. P. Prabhavathi. Today, Prabhavathi still holds Chami in high regard for his initiatives to train interested people, even those from outside the community. This willingness to train others laid foundation for the craft’s survival. For his efforts, Chami was recognized with the Master Craftsman Award by the Textile Ministry of India in 1992.

Thundukuna is a special mat woven from reeds indigenous to the marshlands of Maldives. The reed is locally known as hau. Mat weaving from hau dates back some two hundred years, and this long history is mostly associated with the southernmost atolls. Thundukuna is a genuine Maldivian product, as everything that goes into producing the mat is indigenous and locally procured from our natural habitat. In this respect, the most basic things like the threads holding the reeds in place are made from the sea hibiscus bark. The eye-catching, environmentally friendly, nonfading mats are made from the local flora’s bark and roots. Before the introduction of cheap factory-made nylon mats into Maldives in early 1970s, thundukuna enjoyed a special place in most Maldivian households. These mats adorned the coir rope stringed beds, swings, and boduashi. Gaddhoo kuna, a superior quality mat woven by Gaddhoo islanders, is a favorite of the rich.

\nThe Finnish Folk Music Institute Is a Centre for the Research and Presentation of Finnish Folk Music and Dance. Its premises are in the Folk Art Centre at Kaustinen, Central Ostrobothnia. The extensive archive and reference library are accessible for any user. The material consists of audio and video recordings, photos, literature and a newspaper clipping collection of over 100 000 pieces.\nThe Folk Music Institute is also a significant publisher: the album collection features archive collections as well as contemporary folk music, and the range of books consists of sheet music and scientific publication from the field of folk music and tradition.\nFinnish Folk Music Institute supports Finnish folk music and folk dance communities in safeguarding their intangible cultural heritage by: documenting living folk music and dance traditions; publishing recordings, books and notes on Finnish folk music, educating children in folk music and ICH; educating academic folk music students, advancing research of folk music and dance; participating in organizing the biggest folk music and dance festival in Finland; networking nationally and internationally with other folk music and heritage organizations; and promoting the interests of folk music and ICH in national cultural politic.

Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK) is founded with the mission to protect indigenous knowledge of Bangladesh. It mainly workd in the fields of biodiversity conservation and community development and engages in exploring and incorporating indigenous knowledge and practices into contemporary development programs. Throughout the years, BARCIK has promoted and contributed to integrating indigenous knowledge in development initiatives in its efforts to empowering local and indigenous communities.

Also known as Bangsawan Opera, it is a type ofntraditional Malay opera or theatre.

Bharata Natyam is a type of Indian Classical Dance which combines elements of Britta (pure dance) and Nritya (dance expression). It takes many years to master the movements of hand gestures, legs and eyes. This dance originated from Tamil Nadu in the Southern part of India. Traditionally, this dance is presented by a solo female dancer, but is more commonly performed by a group of dancers these days. A full presentation of the dance shall consist of six stages: Alarippu, Jatiswaram, Sabdam, Varnam, Padam and Lerevela. Bharata Natyam is one of the oldest dances known to the Hindu society and it was choreographed based on Hindu religious elements and stories from ancient Sanskrit writings of Natyashastra. Dancers imitates the movements of flame to express the mystical manifestions of fire element in human body—a combination of the feminine and masculine elements.

Traditional Craftsmanship of the Mongolian Ger and Associated Customs (Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, 2013)\nThe Mongolian ger is composed of wooden frames, canvas, and ropes. The wooden frames comprise the crown, roof poles, wall lattices, door, and two pillars; each wooden element is produced by separate, specialized carpenters. The traditional craftsmanship of the Mongol ger reflects the nomadic culture and national identity of Mongolia.

Traditional Art of Khuumei (Throat Singing) (Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, 2010)\nKhuumei is a wonder of culture created by nomads, a unique phenomenon of traditional Mongolian music, an ancient art form, and the highest form of art produced by the vocal organs. Khuumei is considered one of the most significant and unique musical cultures, passed down from generation to generation through home training for hundreds of thousands of years, among nomads. The wonder of “whistling khuumei” as it is called lies in producing two or more pitches simultaneously, one of which is a fundamental pitch from the chest and the other a higher pitch resonating to the hard palate.

Youth Meets ICH is video clips on ICH produced by six Asia-Pacific institutions with youth participation.

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 last session of the series on 12 August 2020, education experts from Uganda, Fiji, and Belgium were invited to discuss the development of ICH-related education modules and curricula; different contexts were discussed to show a multidimensional picture of how heritage education curriculum is drafted and implemented.\n\nPresentation1 Inter-regional Field Experiences on Curriculum Development for ICH Safeguarding: Experience from Uganda by Emily Drani, Executive Director, Cross Cultural Foundation of Uganda\nPresentation2 Strengthening Heritage Management Capacity in the Pacific Islands by Dr. Frances C. Koya Vaka’uta, Director, Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture and Pacific Studies, The University of the South Pacific\nPresentation3 From the Blue Book to a Blue Ocean Strategy in Higher Education by Dr. Marc Jacobs, Professor, University of Antwerp

Paglami-lamihan Soundscapes 1: Music by National Living Treasure Uwang Ahadas and the Ahadas Family Ensemble  Performed on the eve of the wedding when the pangantin, either the groom (pangantin lella) or bride (pangantin dende), is fetched from his or her house and brought to the groom or bride’s house where the ceremony will be held. The groom or bride will then leave his/her house and spend the night at a relative’s house. This will be performed again the next morning when it is time to fetch the groom or bride from the relative’s house. Played solo using two agung (lagnaan and laboan).  Performed by Uwang Ahadas on agung (lagnaan and laboan)

Paglami-lamihan Soundscapes 1: Music by National Living Treasure Uwang Ahadas and the Ahadas Family Ensemble  Traditionally played on the eve of the wedding to entertain guests as well as to accompany the pamansak and tumahik (war dance) performances.  Performed by Uwang Ahadas (kwintangan tumbaga), Nursima Ahadas (gandang), Sanira Ahadas (agung), anad Halim Ahadas (sulanting)

Yapese traditional dances are performed during village/municipal cultural activities or events. They are performed by men and women and are sometimes performed during a chief’s ceremonial events. These performances break down into bamboo dance, standing dance, and sitting dance.

CD2_HISTORICAL RECORDINGS FROM THE 1930S OF ARNOLD BAKE VOL. II: EVERYDAY SONGS\n\nThe recordings by Dutch ethnomusicologist Arnold Adrian Bake in India in the 1930s and later are one of the earliest examples of what may be called “ethnographic” recordings. Arnold Bake and his wife Corrie spent a long time in Bengal but travelled all over India, recording the music, sounds, and other forms of intangible culture of the people. These recordings cover an immense range of music and recitations that are part of people’s everyday lives, such as work songs, devotional pieces, and ritualistic performances, and include a high number of women’s songs and cultural expressions. Bake’s first field trip was in 1925 and his last was in 1955. During that time, he travelled not only to India but also to Nepal and Sri Lanka. Collections of Bake’s recordings are held in archives in the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States. Recordings from 1925 to 1929 were on cylinders, and those from 1938 to 1939 were recorded on a machine called Tefifon. The collection that has been digitized for this project consists of the recordings made in 1938 and 1939. \n\nThe Tefi recordings were transferred to spools and deposited in ARCE in 1982. During those two years, Bake travelled from Sindh, the Gujarat coast, to Kerala, and thus the recordings are from Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala. There are also recordings made in the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Thus, the selections presented on these albums are largely from the Southwest Coast of India. These recordings were chosen because they carry great historical value yet were not easily accessible until now. NB: The titles given by Arnold Bake have been retained. However, in the notes, places and names have been changed to reflect current designations – e.g. Canarese was changed to Kannada. Place names have also been modified to follow current spelling conventions.\n\nEveryday Songs - The everyday lives of people are what make up the core of intangible cultural heritage (ICH). This selection includes rituals, work songs, devotional and religious songs, as well as common songs that express joys and sorrows. In addition to songs, some tracks include cries and noises, reflecting the wide variety of sounds that Bake recorded.

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.

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.

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 2 is 'ICH AND LABOR'.

Based on the ICHCAP Field Survey on Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Efforts in some South-East Asian countries (2009-2012), this summary provides a brief overview on the ICH situation in Cambodia, Thailand, Viet Nam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos, and Myanmar . The summary focuses mainly on ICH safeguarding systems, safeguarding policies, and ICH inventories as well as on pending issues and the urgent safeguarding needs of these countries. Moreover, information on the main entities in charge of ICH safeguarding and opinions of each country on the issue of community involvement are provided. To give a quick overview these countries’ participation in ICH safeguarding at the international level, some additional information related to UNESCO is specified as well. Apart from the main topic, information on the situation of intellectual property related to ICH safeguarding in each country is included. This survey report offers a large sample of the diverse ICH situations in South-East Asian countries. Each country has a different background on the issue of intangible heritage. For instance, Indonesia is the only country participating in the field survey that has a programme in the Register of Best Practices. Viet Nam developed ICH-related definitions in its Law on Cultural Heritage; whereas the Philippines has a strong legislative background and solid network of public structures protecting cultural heritage. Cambodia recognises the link between cultural heritage and development of national economy and runs relevant activities on promoting traditional culture while maximizing its economic benefits to the country. For Laos, training local artists rather than researchers in ICH safeguarding, including IPR, is deemed to be essential, as the artists are the important resources that master their arts. Among the South-East Asian participants, Thailand and Myanmar are the newest to approach ICH safeguarding. Although all countries are concerned about the threats ICH faces, most countries participating in the survey haven’t defined ICH and haven’t established national ICH lists. Meanwhile, drawing up an inventory of traditional cultural expressions in different forms—register, cultural map, or database—is a common activity in these countries. Moreover, each country expresses a high degree of motivation and encouragement for safeguarding ICH, sharing experiences, and promoting international cooperation.\n\n- Accepted the ICH Convention in 2007; conducted survey in 2010.\n- As of March 2018, has 6 ICH elements on the RL, 2 elements on the USL, 1 element as GSP and 3 accredited NGOs.