ALL
penang
ICH Elements 7
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Saman dance
The Saman dance is cultural heritage of the Gayo people traceable to the 13th century, developed later by Syeh Saman incorporating religious messages. Saman is performed by boys and young men, always in odd numbers, sitting on their heels or kneeling in tight rows. The players wear black costumes embroidered with colourful Gayo motifs, symbolizing nature and noble values. The trainer or leader, called penangkat sits in the middle of the line and leads singing of verses containing messages about tradition, development, religion, advice, sarcasm, humor and even romance. Players clap their hands, slap their chests, thighs and the ground, click their fingers, sway and twist their bodies and heads forward and backward, left and right, synchronizing with the rhythm, sometimes slow, sometimes fast and energetic, in unison or with alternate dancers making opposite moves. Saman movements symbolize nature, the environment, and daily lives of Gayo people. Villages invite each other for Saman competitions to build friendly relationships. Saman is performed to celebrate national and religious holidays, and is a game among village children, who learn it informally. The frequency of Saman performances and transmission are decreasing, despite community and government efforts. Therefore safeguarding is urgently needed. A Saman performance consists of 7 parts, called: Rengum, Salam, Dering, Uluni Lagu, Lagu, Anak ni Lagu, and Lagu Penutup (closing song). According to other sources, there are 9 parts: Keketar (introduction), Rengum, Salam, Gerakan Tari, Anak ni Lagu, Saur, Syair, Guncang and Penutup, or only 4 parts.
Indonesia 2011 -
Pasembor Salad
Pasembor or Pasembur is also known as Malaysian Indian Salad. This dish is a mixture of cucumber slices, onion, potato, bean curd, bean sprout, dried shrimp, crab fried in spices and fried squid, served with sweet and spicy peanut gravy. The gravy is akin to the gravy of the gado-gado (mixed vegetable salad) dish or satay (grilled meat in a skewer). This dish is normally taken in the afternoon as a vegetarian diet if not mixed with seafood. Traditionally, the Tamil Muslim pasembor seller turns his motorcycle as a kiosk for the preparation and selling of this dish. Nowadays, the seller moves about using a small lorry.
Malaysia -
Nora, dance drama in southern Thailand
Nora is a lively and acrobatic form of dance drama and improvisational singing in local Southern Thai dialect. It is accompanied by strongly rhythmic music and elaborate costumes which embody a distinctive life force in Southern Thailand. Nora derives from community rituals in Southern Thailand that assemble families who perform Nora to honor their former Nora masters and expel harmful spirits. As central part vital community ritual performance, Nora helps the community to re-connect to its ancestors, to keep strong and to re-constitute itself by initiating new Nora dancers, healing illnesses, reconciling communal disorders and blessing all participants. Performances normally include a long oral invocation, followed by a performance centering on a lead character who dances with vigorous and elaborate movements of legs, arms and fingers. The lead Nora performer sings and dances scenes that are usually based on Buddhist Jataka tales – stories about the former lives of Lord Buddha – or those tied to legendary heroes, Phra Suthon and Manohra. The music ensemble plays highly rhythmic and fast-paced southern music, with the Thai southern oboe providing the melody and strong rhythms produced by drums, gongs, cymbals and wooden clappers. The main Nora performers – whether male or female – wear colorful and decorative costumes, with crowns or ‘Serd’ ornamented headdress, beads, bird-like wings tied around the waist, ornate scarves, and ‘Hang Hong’ or swan tails on the back providing the performers a bird-like appearance. Performers also wear long metallic fingernails that curl out from the fingers.
Thailand 2021 -
Ghazal Parti
Ghazal Parti is a combined performance of music, songs, dance and comedy that obtained its influences from the Middle East. Its songs have elements of Arabian rhythm with lyrics in Arabic and Malay. The word ‘Parti’ means the ‘merriment of the ghazal performance’. This arts form expanded in the states of Penang Island, Kedah and Perak in Peninsular Malaysia. Ghazal Parti is often performed at wedding events in the village and at official ones in the city. In wedding events the performance starts from early evening to midnight and sometimes stretches to dawn. A performance in a wedding event is inside a reception hall that faces the newly-wed couple’s house so that the couple’s family members and guests can watch the show. There are eight to 12 musicians depending on the availability of musical instruments that are an accordion, two violins, an oud, a flute, bass guitar, drum, hand-held drum, bongo, tambourine, and maracas. The singers possess academic background in Arabic; some studied at private or public religious schools. The songs are Arabian in Arabic rhythms originating from Egypt. In the beginning the dancers were men in ladies’ clothing wearing scarf, batik sarong and baju kurung with thin make-up, as ladies were not allowed to become dancers. In the 1950s there appeared dancers among the transgender. Another component in Ghazal Parti is comedy that functions to fill in the break time of the musicians and singers. In a performance they rest twice to thrice and it is at this juncture the space is utilized by the comedians bringing themes of current issues.
Malaysia
ICH Stakeholders 3
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GEORGE TOWN WORLD HERITAGE INCORPORATED (GTWHI)
As one of the most complete surviving historic city centers with a multicultural living heritage on the Straits of Malacca, George Town was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in 2008, together with Melaka. To manage, monitor, and promote the George Town World Heritage Site, George Town World Heritage Incorporated (gtwhi.com.my) was established in 2010 by the state government of Penang.\nGTWHI works closely with the council and community to overcome day-to-day challenges with regard to promoting sustainable tourism, revitalizing traditional trades, remodeling local market ecology, redefining the use of space, and driving residents back to the city center. We also accumulate baseline data through systematic and scientific research to develop mid- and long-term heritage conservation programs and policies. Our approaches are highly organic and community based, and we take serious commitments to sustain the coexistence of diversity, which is divided according to geographical area, linguistic groups, religious identity, and social status.
Malaysia -
Arts-ED
Arts-ED is a non-profit organisation based in Penang, Malaysia. It provides innovative communitybasednarts and culture education in rural and urban communities. Our programmes focus on thentheme of arts, culture, and heritage, utilising creative educational approaches that encouragenlearning around real issues.\nSince its inception in 1999, it has worked with over 15,000 young people in Penang. Thenorganisation is known for its creative and innovative approaches to education, developed over 19nyears of experience and through exchange and learning with organisations within Malaysia as wellnas regionally.
Malaysia
ICH Materials 43
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Awang Batil
Introduction\n\nIn Malaysia, there is a living traditional art where a storyteller develops the oral\ntradition, otherwise known as oral literature.\nOral tradition is the original source of Malay literature and translated into\nwritten literature. One of the practitioners of this oral tradition is known as\n'Awang Batil'. Apart from specialised storytellers such as Awang Batil, there are\nother transmissions of oral literature throughout the country, especially in\nvillages through folk stories or stories of elders that are collected, rewritten and\nmade into collections for children to read.\n\nAwang Batil\n\nAwang Batil is a storyteller who provided entertainment and education to the\npeople, especially to the villagers and local community. Awang Batil entertains\nand educates the community through many classic stories that he inherited.\nThrough those stories, the community is entertained and educated.\nOnce upon a time, Awang Batil functioned as a story book, novel, radio,\ntelevision, movie or video as it is now. He would travel from house to house,\nvillage to village, state to state including the state of Kedah, Penang and some\nareas in the Southern Region of Thailand, especially the Setol Region.
Malaysia -
Sepak Raga
'Sepak Raga' is a traditional game played in the Malay states and neighbouring coutries. 'Sepak' is Malay for "kick" and 'Raga' is the ‘rattan ball’ used in the game. Traditionally, sepak raga was played by forming circle to kick, shoulder or head a rattan ball to the opposing players much like the current Volleyball drills.\nThe Objective was for the players to keep the ball in the air for as long as possible. The game can played as a team, group, or even solo.\nLater in 1945, the net was introduced and the game it is played today came into being. The first official competition with the net and new rules was held at a Swim Club of Penang on May 16, 1945. It was the called Sepak Raga Jaring or Snwith reference to the addition of the net. Sepak raga jarring spread quickly throughout the rest of the Malay Peninsula and South East Asia. In 1965, The South East Asia Peninsular Games Committee eventually agreed that the sport would be known as "Sepak Takraw". Takraw is the ‘woven ball’ in Thai.\nFor Sepak Takraw, two opposing teams of three players each play the game, each team is permitted to hit the ball three times before it must cross the net, rather like in Volleyball. The difference is that it can be hit three times by some player.\nKicking is the most crucial factor in deciding the outcome of the game, a fluid overhead acrobatic kick to smash the ball.
Malaysia
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ICH Courier Vol.33 Village Guardian Rituals and Communities
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 33 is 'Village Guardian Rituals and Communities.'
South Korea 2017 -
ICH Courier Vol.43 Mask Dance
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 43 is 'MASK DANCE.'
South Korea 2020
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Session 2: What Is The Role Of The Community In ICH Safeguarding?Based on the accumulated experience over the course of fifteen years since the adoption of the 2003 Convention, Southeast Asia is well known for its diverse and abundant intangible heritage. Many states in this region have already initiated ICH safeguarding plans with active participation of communities.\nHowever, a number of Member States are still having difficulties employing community‐based safeguarding plan and programs. In implementing the 2003 Convention, much attention should be paid to build capacity to support and safeguard a wider range of ICH Stakeholders, including communities, group, and individuals.\nTherefore, this session will provide an opportunity to share experiences and discuss on the roles the community should exercise in safeguarding ICH. In this session, we will discuss the following questions: (1) Do ICH communities, groups, individuals, and practitioners fully recognise the spirit and significance of the 2003 Convention? (2) Are they subsequently assigned to embody appropriate roles?Year2017NationCambodia,Lao People's Democratic Republic,Myanmar ,Malaysia
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INDONESIAN HERITAGE CITY NETWORK, A GOOD EXAMPLE FOR NETWORKING ACTIVITIES AMONG LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO SAFEGUARD ICHThe 2003 UNESCO Convention aims to engage governments in ICH safeguarding, with the widest possible collaboration of stakeholders such as communities, groups, NGOs, and where applicable, individuals1. In this context, the government ideally includes Central, Provincial or State, and Local (District of Municipal) governments. It is an important point that among these strata of governments, it is surely local governments that have the maximum direct interaction with and influence upon, the said communities, groups, and individuals through who are hoped to be encouraged to safeguard ICH in their respective places. The Convention also aims to identify and disseminate information regarding good safeguarding practices of ICH2. The Indonesian Heritage Network—Jaringan Kota Pusaka Indonesia (JKPI)—is a good example of networking among local governments for safeguarding ICH.Year2020NationSouth Korea