ALL
pine
ICH Elements 3
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Dabus
Originally Dabus wasn’t a dance but a form of self-defence. Dabus’s concept is warriorism. Hence, the Dabus dance demands aptness, speed, heroism and happiness in dancing it. Dabus is one of the traditional dances in Perak that manages to withstand since more than 200 years ago. This art form combines the elements of music, songs, dance as well as bravery, and normally performed in festivities events. There are three dance movements in the Bagan Datoh Dabus that are Hayun Tajak, Helang Sewah and Susun Sireh. Helang Sewah and Hayun Tajak are performed by male dancers while Susun Tari by female dancers. These dance movements are accompanied by the beating of the dabus hand-held drum and religious songs. The uniqueness of these dances is that using a pair of sharp instrument named ‘anak dabus’ literally translated as ‘dabus child’. In this performance with ritual essence the dancers pierce the instruments into their arms until bleeding. Then a religious person functions to lessen the pain due to the piercing by performing incantation, washing and tapping on the injury with remedied water. The performance is usually presided over by a ‘Khalifah’. Dabus is defensive and heroic in nature and iInitially only presented by male dancers. This is in relation to the ancient social order that discouraged girls from going out at night that invites disapproval from the community. Since the sixties women began participating in the dance. Dabus was recognised as a National Heritage in 2012.
Malaysia -
Chapan
The Kyrgyz people’s clothes are characterized by many peculiar features typical of the nomads’ clothes. The climate of a high-mountainous country with its sharp fluctuations in the temperature, which is quite severe in some places, leaves a big imprint on the character of the Kyrgyz clothes. This causes the need for various types of warm clothing, which are sometimes even used in the summer season. The perfect example of such clothes is chapan – a long coat similar to a dressing gown, can be both with and without a standing collar, unbuttoned, like most of the Kyrgyz people’s clothes. Chapan is worn by both men and women. Chapan is sewn on a wadding or a camel wool with a cotton lining and is most often quilted. Women's chapans are sewn from the best fabric, which is significantly lighter. They are also often decorated with silver jewellery. There are several variants of this clothing, depending on the region: naigut chapan - a wide tunic-shaped robe, sleeves with a gusset, sewn at a straight angle; kaptama chapan - loose fit, sewn-in sleeves with a rounded armhole; and a straight, narrow chapan with side slits. The hem and sleeves are usually sheathed with a colourful lining. In the south, it is customary to gird the chapan with a large scarf folded diagonally (charchy).
Kyrgyzstan -
Mokjogakjang (Wood Sculpture)
National Intangible Cultural Heritage, Republic of Korea Mokjogakjang refers to the skill of wood sculpture or to an artisan with such a skill. Among the woods commonly used for this skill is paulownia, pine, fir, gingko, zelkova and pagoda wood. It is presumed that wood sculpture started on the Korean Peninsula, mostly on temples and Buddha images, with the introduction of Buddhism during the Three Kingdoms Period (circa 57 BC – 668 AD). Many of these wood sculpture works were destroyed during the frequent foreign invasions suffered by Korea. As for the process of wood sculpture production, first a sketch is made on well-dried wood and the remaining parts are cut off. When a rough form is made, the inside is gouged out to prevent cracks or to make a space for inserting ancillary objects according to the custom. Lacquer is applied to the completed object.
South Korea
ICH Materials 7
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Dabus
Originally Dabus wasn’t a dance but a form of self-defence. Dabus’s concept is warriorism. Hence, the Dabus dance demands aptness, speed, heroism and happiness in dancing it. Dabus is one of the traditional dances in Perak that manages to withstand since more than 200 years ago. This art form combines the elements of music, songs, dance as well as bravery, and normally performed in festivities events. There are three dance movements in the Bagan Datoh Dabus that are Hayun Tajak, Helang Sewah and Susun Sireh. Helang Sewah and Hayun Tajak are performed by male dancers while Susun Tari by female dancers. These dance movements are accompanied by the beating of the dabus hand-held drum and religious songs. The uniqueness of these dances is that using a pair of sharp instrument named ‘anak dabus’ literally translated as ‘dabus child’. In this performance with ritual essence the dancers pierce the instruments into their arms until bleeding. Then a religious person functions to lessen the pain due to the piercing by performing incantation, washing and tapping on the injury with remedied water. The performance is usually presided over by a ‘Khalifah’. Dabus is defensive and heroic in nature and iInitially only presented by male dancers. This is in relation to the ancient social order that discouraged girls from going out at night that invites disapproval from the community. Since the sixties women began participating in the dance. Dabus was recognised as a National Heritage in 2012.
Malaysia -
Dabus
Originally Dabus wasn’t a dance but a form of self-defence. Dabus’s concept is warriorism. Hence, the Dabus dance demands aptness, speed, heroism and happiness in dancing it. Dabus is one of the traditional dances in Perak that manages to withstand since more than 200 years ago. This art form combines the elements of music, songs, dance as well as bravery, and normally performed in festivities events. There are three dance movements in the Bagan Datoh Dabus that are Hayun Tajak, Helang Sewah and Susun Sireh. Helang Sewah and Hayun Tajak are performed by male dancers while Susun Tari by female dancers. These dance movements are accompanied by the beating of the dabus hand-held drum and religious songs. The uniqueness of these dances is that using a pair of sharp instrument named ‘anak dabus’ literally translated as ‘dabus child’. In this performance with ritual essence the dancers pierce the instruments into their arms until bleeding. Then a religious person functions to lessen the pain due to the piercing by performing incantation, washing and tapping on the injury with remedied water. The performance is usually presided over by a ‘Khalifah’. Dabus is defensive and heroic in nature and iInitially only presented by male dancers. This is in relation to the ancient social order that discouraged girls from going out at night that invites disapproval from the community. Since the sixties women began participating in the dance. Dabus was recognised as a National Heritage in 2012.
Malaysia
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The Giant Lantern Festival of the PhilippinesOwing to its Catholic traditions, the Philippines is perhaps one of the few countries in the world that celebrates Christmas the earliest and the longest. The country marks the Christmas holidays starting from 1 September. Shopping malls and shops will start displaying Christmas decorations; families will start to put up Christmas trees in their houses; and Christmas songs will be heard almost everywhere.\n\nSan Fernando, a city located in the province of Pampanga, is known as the Philippine Christmas capital. The city is famous for its colorful and handcrafted lanterns that had been part of the province’s Christmas traditions since the 1900s. The Christmas lantern is called parul sampernandu in Kapampangan, the local language of the Pampanga province or parol in Filipino. The origin of the word parol came from the Spanish farol, which means lantern or light. The lanterns symbolize the Star of Bethlehem, thus most lantern designs from San Fernando incorporate a star caricature. In the Catholic tradition, the Three Kings are believed to have followed the Star of Bethlehem that led them to find the Child Jesus in a manger.\n\nEvery December, the Giant Lantern Festival (Ligligan Parul in Kapampangan) is held in San Fernando. The lanterns are transformed like gigantic glowing stars with rotors that synchronize thousands of dancing lights and the sound of Christmas melodies. Usually the giant lanterns are about six meters tall and hung up in the air. Decorated with thousands of light bulbs, capiz shells, and fiberglass, the giant lanterns are stuck to polyvinyl plastic. It is a festival for the eyes; people flock at night to witness the grand salvo of lights and sound.\n\nThe Giant Lantern Festival is also a competition where various barangays in Pampanga compete to win for the most beautiful giant lantern in the province. The locals take pride in their province’s competition as it is where they showcase their creativity and knowledge in crafting the intricate designs of giant lanterns. Tracing back to the country’s colonial history, the lantern-making tradition in San Fernando Province is influenced by the Spanish. The Spanish encouraged the local people to have lantern processions in honor of Our Lady of La Naval or the blessed Virgin Mary. In the past, the people would have a nine-day novena called lubenas, which was usually held before Christmas. The religious tradition has evolved to become the Giant Lantern Festival where people flock to witness the spectacular yuletide festival.\n\nPhoto : 2012 "Ligligan Parul" Giant Lantern Festival CCBYSA3.0 Ramon FVelasquez / WikiMediaYear2018NationPhilippines
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Pambabatok: A Tattooing Technique of the Butbut Tribe in the PhilippinesWhang-od Oggay, a 102-year-old woman from a mountain tribe in the Philippines, is a living instrument in the continuity of pambabatok, an endangered ancient tattooing technique that chiefly constitutes hand-tapping to create figures on the skin. Believed to be the oldest tattoo artist and the last linkage of her tribe to pambabatok, Whang-od became famous in the internationally when she was featured by Dr. Lars Krutak, an American anthropologist who was the host of Discovery Channel’s Tattoo Hunter in 2009. Pambabatok is argued to be at least a thousand year old intangible cultural heritage (ICH) element.\n\nWhang-od is called a mambabatok, derived from the root word batok that means “to hit”. For her hand-tapping tools, she uses a lemon thorn needle or siit that is attached to the end of a small bamboo stick and another shorter stick for tapping the thorn into the skin. The ink she uses is a mixture of water and soot. Pambabatok, compared to other conventional tattooing techniques, is relatively painful. It is done by applying rhythmic and repetitive pricks on the skin using her traditional hand tools. During my personal visit in Buscalan in 2015 to see Whang-od, I noticed that she will begin tattooing the tourists in the first light of dawn and she will only finish at dusk. There would be days when almost fifty people lined up to get tattooed by her. Sometimes she could not eat because of the blood and flesh that she had been tapping all day.\n\nThe traditional designs of her tattoos come from the symbols of nature and geometric figures significant to the Butbut tribe, an indigenous community living in the village of Buscalan, nestled in the lush terraces of the Cordillera Mountains of Kalinga, a province in the northern part of the Philippines. In the olden days, the tribe was known for their headhunting culture. Warriors battled for land and honor to protect their tribe and village. They would cut off their enemies’ heads and as a reward they would be inked with magnificent tattoos that exude valiance when they return triumphantly to their village. The females also received tattoos as a rite of passage and symbol of beauty. Their tattoos transform girls into women; the women thereafter become eligible for marriage and bearing children. The more tattoos women had, the more attractive they were to the men in the village. Some elders believed that the tattoos could also cure infertility and various illnesses. The culture of headhunting and combat slowly disappeared due to modernization and religious influences. Consequently, protecting the vitality of their ritualistic and performance-based practices never occurred to be a social agenda.\n\nWhen a journalist named Grace, niece of Whang-od, realized that the tattooing heritage will be completely lost when her aunt dies, the transmission of pambabatok. Recently, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) awarder her with the 2018 Dangal ng Haraya Award for Intangible Cultural Heritage to honor her contribution in raising awareness about the Butbut tribe and safeguarding an ICH element of the Philippines.\n\nPhoto : Whang-od Oggay © Royce Lyssah MalabongaYear2018NationPhilippines