ICH Safeguarding Efforts in the Asia-Pacific
  • A large number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region have rich intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in diverse cultural environments. However, the wave of industrialization and urbanization have threatened the existence of this living heritage. Moreover, most countries in the region have not developed proper institutional measures for ICH safeguarding due to the lack of financial and technical factors. To implement appropriate ICH safeguarding activities by reflecting regional needs, it is very urgent to understand the current situations on ICH safeguarding in the region. Accordingly, ICHCAP has been collecting basic information on ICH safeguarding in the collaboration with the countries in the five sub-regions since 2009. Prior to the project implementation, ICHCAP developed a questionnaire about the information to be collected with consultations from ICH experts. On the basis of the questionnaire, the countries prepare and submit a report including following items: · Safeguarding system and policy · ICH inventory · Relevant organizations · Representative List of the ICH of Humanity · Living Human Treasures system · Pending issues and urgent needs on ICH safeguarding Each country submits some audiovisual materials on its major ICH elements along with the report, and these materials are used for enhancing visibility of ICH in the Asia-Pacific region. Between 2009 and 2017, ICHCAP has conducted the project in thirty four countries as follows: Central Asia - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan East Asia - China, Japan, Korea (Republic of), Mongolia South Asia - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Turkey Southeast Asia - Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Viet Nam, Malaysia The Pacific - Cook Islands, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Papua New Guinea, Palau, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, Kiribat ICHCAP and the partner countries have achieved various outcomes—developing cooperative projects, building human resources pool, and expanding networks. Thanks to the great efforts by respected researchers in each country, the project, as a key programme in ICHCAP, has assisted in strengthening regional capacity and solidarity as well as international cooperation for safeguarding ICH in the region. ICHCAP will keep on its efforts over the next several years to cover all the Member States in the Asia-Pacific region. By sharing the project results, we hope to assist the Member States to initiate more effective and more appropriate ICH safeguarding activities.
  • Based on the ICHCAP Field Survey on Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Efforts in some Pacific countries (2009-2013), this summary provides a brief overview on the ICH situation in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands, the Marshall Islands, Tonga, Palau, Vanuatu and Federated States of Micronesia. 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 Pacific countries. Each country has a different background on the issue of intangible heritage. Although all countries participating in the survey are concerned with the threats facing their ICH, most of them haven’t defined ICH and haven’t established inventory national ICH list or inventory. However, each country expresses a high degree of motivation and encouragement for safeguarding ICH, sharing experiences, and participating in international cooperation efforts. Compared to some Asian countries, Pacific countries seem to be well aware of the emerging intellectual property issues related to ICH. This might be related to the internationally publicized infringement and violation of intellectual property rights by outsiders on the Pacific’s traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, and genetic resources . Moreover, these countries appear to collaborate closely with the World Intellectual Property Organization on various awareness-raising and capacity-building activities on protecting traditional culture in a broad sense. To date, out of the eight Pacific countries participating in the survey, five countries (Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Palau, and Vanuatu) are drafting laws on the protection of traditional knowledge and expressions of culture. Furthermore, in terms of technical terminology, the Pacific countries tend to use “traditional knowledge” and “expressions of culture” as equivalent terms to “intangible cultural heritage”. Pacific countries are also conducting cultural mapping projects, which is another common point that they share. Finally, the Pacific region has the highest rate of indigenous populations of any other region of the world and the highest rate of customary or traditional land ownership.

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