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ICH Materials 139
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Small Epics as an Important Element of Oral Epic Creativitiy of the Kyrgyz PeopleThe rich folklore of the Kyrgyz people is an important historical and cultural phenomenon developing over many centuries and spiritually and artistically valuable. As an inexhaustible source of people’s wisdom, it reflects the history, life and social, political and spiritual ideals of the people. The oral folklore is the basis of our unique cultural heritage. Due to the harsh conditions of the nomadic life, endless clashes with enemies and invaders, and long distances of migration, the Kyrgyz people have not preserved their spiritual culture in the stone monuments of architecture, papyrus or clay writings but have preserved it in their memory for more than two thousand years of history. Memory proved to be good enough for keeping millions of lines of epic songs and works, which have been passed from generation to generation and reached the present day.Year2015NationSouth Korea
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Dondang SayangDondang Sayang is a Malay traditional music and song that is well-known in the State of Malacca and still practised by four communities such as the Malay, Baba Nyonya, Chitty and Portuguese. The performances are accompanied by violin, rebana, gong and accordion and sing by two singers of the opposite sex, who sing in quatrains. It has received UNESCO’s recognition as a Representative List of The Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on 29th November 2018.YearNationMalaysia
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Memory and ICH in KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstan, a landlocked country the territory of which is more than 94 percent mountainous, is among the most attractive lands located at the heart of Asia on the ancient Silk Road trade routes. The cultural heritage of the Kyrgyz people has been greatly influenced by their nomadic history. Kyrgyz people occupy a unique cultural environment and have a rich ICH. The vitality of this cultural heritage is safeguarded and transmitted from generation to generation as collective memory, orally or through practice and expression.Year2021NationKyrgyzstan
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Masterpieces of Oral Tradition and Expression Kyrgyz Epic HeritageThe oral tradition of the Kyrgyz people is the basis of a unique intangible cultural heritage that reflects Kyrgyz cultural identity. Oral heritage, developed over centuries, depicts the history and culture of the Kyrgyz people. Their creativity has been proven to survive exclusively in an oral form for many generations. This oral tradition represents a unique layer of traditional knowledge, making it a valuable source of cultural and traditional values and evidence of the development of the sociopolitical history of the Kyrgyz people. Kyrgyz oral heritage takes a wide variety of forms, including songs, fairy tales, proverbs, and riddles. These can all be different in terms of content and structure. Depending on the genre, oral tradition can reflect history, legends, fairy tales, or lore, which can be important in educating younger generations about the value of peace, attitudes toward nature and people, and love for the motherland. Many traditional oral works portray the main characters as defenders of their native land, arousing a sense of pride, and also depict the rich nature of the Kyrgyz land, nourishing love for their home. Some elements of oral tradition such as songs and folktales tell the stories or the specificities and peculiarities of the everyday life of Kyrgyz people. Folktales also reflect the esthetic views of the Kyrgyz people and teach us to recognize beauty, rhythm, and skillful use of language.\nYear2020NationKyrgyzstan
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Narration of PersiaIntroduction\nThrough the rich history of Persia, few cultural elements have remained intact, one of which is the art of narration. Ever since Aryans entered the plateau of Iran, they brought this way of performance art with themselves through which they would tell the stories of their ancestors and later the epics of their gods.\n\nThis play, which is a combination of narrating, solo-acting, singing, and an improvisation performance, is done in two ways: Open-Space (at squares, passages, farmlands, etc.) through which the stories were drawn on a scroll curtain that would be opened slowly in front of the audience, and Closed-Space (in coffee houses or mansions) in which the curtain was hung or mounted on a wall before the performance and covered by a contrast curtain to be removed from the main curtain when the narration starts.\n\nThe influence of this art was so great that it was used to motivate and encourage the army, and in the Safavid era, it was highly valued.\n\nThe Elements of Scene Reading\nThe main parts of this way of performance are:\n\nPreface or Pre-event (A lament to gather people)\nHymn (A song in which they ask God for help)\nMonaghab Khani (Merit Reading—Praise the family of the Prophet Mohammad)\nSpeech in the sanctity of the curtain\nOpening the contract curtain or the scroll curtain\nSermon Reading or the beginning of the speech\nStorytelling (Dealing with side stories)\nDescription of the main event\nEscaping (This will be improvised, based on how people are feeling, and the recent events)\nMonody and Requiem\nGiving the promise to tell a more joyful story on the next event\nPray for the audience\nTo fold the curtain\nThe Curtain\n\nThis curtain is a piece of fabric on which scenes of mythological stories, historical narratives, and even stories of the great prophet’s lives are drawn. There’s a believe that says seventy-two stories are drawn on the curtain but in reality, it does not include exactly that many. This belief is created in terms of the multiple stories and the large number of the images. It is on connection with this belief that a famous conversation happens in between the narrator and the audience; The narrator may ask, “how many stories and faces are drawn on the curtain?” and the audience replies “366 faces and 72 stories.”\n\nThe characters are drawn on a background of natural colors, the components together and the composition of the images are arranged in such a way that it conveys concepts through the role of the narrator and the story itself. The illustration of the good characters and the bad characters are painted differently; you may see the bad characters with elongated faces and the good characters with kind, round faces.\n\nBesides all these, the positioning of the characters is determined by their rank. If it’s the narration of a war, the soldiers are drawn smaller, without the usage of perspective or anti-perspective. The commander, the prince or, the king is drawn slightly bigger to show the distinction, which also includes their horses and ammunition. This illustration of the characters must be included and drawn stereotypically, and to give emotion to the characters, their body language is also drawn in such spectacularly, showing the feeling of pain or death. The characters are mostly painted with Qajar-style clothes. Even the emotion that lies within their eyes is uniquely painted; like if they show power or their weakness, if it’s comforting or terrifying, it is drawn in a realistically.\n\nIranian dramatic story-telling: Morshed Ahadi Photograph: Sa’id Azadi © 2005 by the Department of Traditional Arts at the Research Center of ICHHTO\nThe Scene Reader\nIt is not just the role of the curtain that will fascinate the audience but how the narrator tells the stories and leads the eyes on the curtain to drown the audience in the depth of the narrations on the background of the scene.\n\nHe is the person who tells the stories drawn on the scene. A singer and actor—someone with high physical ability and excellent creativity in improvisation who, with the usage of the stories, can play the role of all the characters.\n\nNow that’s the time when the magic happens—the narrator walks between the curtain and the audience, acting out each character, singing the poems and epic songs and telling the painted stories. As his voice tonnage changes and plays out the narrations with his hands and using his stick, and the moves he makes with his body, takes the audience deep into the scene, where the events are happening. All of a sudden, the audience feel no border between them and the scene, finding themselves in depth of the story, playing the role of one of the characters.\n\nPhoto 1 : Narration of Persia--2005 Department of Traditional Arts ICHHTO Research Center, Morshed Ahadi points to the part of the screen he is reciting its story\nPhoto 2 : Iranian dramatic story-telling: Morshed Ahadi Photograph: Sa’id Azadi © 2005 by the Department of Traditional Arts at the Research Center of ICHHTOYear2021NationIran
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Hanji: A Korean Heritage Connecting Tradition and ModernismThere is a rich tradition of hand papermaking in East Asia that is still alive today. In Korea, hanji (traditional paper) making remains a distinguished cultural activity. According to many studies, such as the one conducted by Minah Song and Jesse Munn,1. different methods and materials in making hanji are tested to gauge permanence and durability. This is done because traditional Korean paper serves many functions, from it being a primary element in architecture and interior design to the versatility of hanji in art-making and recreation. More importantly, conservation of traditional hand papermaking in Korea is given attention because hanji is culturally symbolic of Korea being a nation of literacy, a nation that believes in the power of reading and writing. Aimee Lee, a leading hanji researcher, has carefully documented many ways in which hanji may be perceived: as a traditional process in a highly digital world, as a practice appropriated in North America, as an art made by hand, and as a performance of conservation. All of these lenses bring to the fore how intentional the process is and how meticulous one has to be to make a paper according to traditional knowledge.\n\nFrom 5 to 7 May 2018, the most traditional city of Korea, Jeonju, saw the return of the Hanji Culture Festival. The festival was a reminder of hanji importance, but it also showed the evolution of hanji, specifically on how hanji can be integrated into modern life. On the first day of the festival, p’ansori singer Nani Kim and calligraphist Lucia Choi opened the event with performances. The twenty-fourth National Hanji Craft Competition Awards Ceremony followed. The works of the competition winners as well as those of invited artists were on display for the entire run of the festival. The festival certainly was not short on performances: a hanji puppetry called “Ariari Puppet Play” was showcased. If not the most, one of the most anticipated segments of the festival was the 2018 Jeonju Hanji Fashion Competition and Show. It was a very special part of experiencing how important hanji is because it educated people on the transformative capability of hanji: that Korean traditional paper can actually be transformed into textile.\n\nLike other traditional handicrafts, hanji takes an important place in Korean heritage, allowing the possibility of witnessing timeless values that hold the nation together. It is for this that appreciation and conservation of hanji should be in place especially now that traditions are situated in global societies run by high technology.\n\nNotes\n1. Song, Minah and Munn, Jesse. 2004. “Permanence, Durability and Unique Properties of Hanji.” The Book and Paper Group Annual v23. American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. Last accessed on 31 May 2018. http://www.ifides.com/images/LOCHanjiTest.pdf\n\nPhoto : Korean hanji CCA jaredYear2018NationSouth Korea
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Inspire Tasmania: A Matter of Cultural Sustainable DevelopmentThe Migrant Resource Centre Inc. (MRC) in Southern Tasmania has launched Inspire, an innovative and vibrant program connecting Tasmanian performing artists to a broader community. The project’s website introduces a range of artists—migrants and refugees alike—bringing multicultural creative practices to the fore. They are talented individuals and groups of musicians, dancers, and public speakers who have been selected for their exceptional cultural skills and their ability to deliver professional performances in a range of settings. Tasmanian Chinese Community, for example, can present 56 different Chinese ethnic performances incorporated with traditional Chinese instruments. The Neeraalaya School of Dance is Tasmania’s premier Bharatanatyam dance troupe while Shuang Zhang is a conservatorium trained Chinese opera singer and dancer.\n\nInspire is funded by the Tasmanian government, Department of State Growth, while its website receives funding from the Tasmanian government, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Communities, Sport and Recreation. On its website, the performing artists are shown with a brief introduction about their own stories and expertise.1. The public can access the site and request performer(s) accordingly.\n\nThe performing artists get every opportunity to showcase their talents; in return, already-existing communities can experience their distinct performance for free. They say it is generating “common benefit and mutual prosperity.” MRC is not just giving the performing artists an online platform but more importantly it is helping them receive appropriate professional training to further refine their competence. Also, bi-cultural workers and volunteers have supported Inspire participants throughout the program. It is expected that this project can contribute to settle cultural sustainable development in Tasmania.\n\nPhoto : Karen Choir Hobart - The Karen people are a culturally and linguistically diverse ethnic groupYear2017NationAustralia
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Appreciating the Traditional Music of the Maldives through Bodu BeruBodu beru (literally “big drum”) is the most popular and one of the oldest surviving forms of music and dance in the Maldives. The tradition is thought to have been brought to the Maldives by African slaves in the nineteenth century. Some people also believe that it evolved as an alternative to eleventh-century court music.\n\nBodu beru is usually performed by a group of fifteen to twenty people—composed of at least a lead singer and three drummers. Goat skin is commonly used as the drum’s membrane and the wood of coconut palm as the drum’s barrel; stingray skin is also used as a substitute for goat skin. The beat is hammered out with bare hands in a slow tempo, building up into a crescendo. This intensity continues before reaching an abrupt end. The song accompanying this drumming is called baburu lava or negro song. In the olden days, the lyrics were a meaningless combination of local and African words usually sung after a hard day’s work.\n\nNowadays, songs sung with bodu beru accompaniment are written in Dhivehi, the local Maldivian language. During musical shows, performers render a dance called baburu neshun or negro dance while wearing a sarong and white short-sleeved shirt. Bodu beru is popular at weddings, Eid occasions, and events held in relation to the circumcision of young boys. Also, with many tourist resorts realizing the commercial benefit of a relatively inexpensive cultural activity for their tourists, many bodu beru groups have been formed to perform in resorts. A current and more commercial revival has been led through an annual reality show/competition known as Boduberu Challenge. Some videos of the program are available here.\n\nPhoto : Bodu beru performance by young practitioners CCBY2.0 Shafiu HussainYear2017NationMaldives
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Consumption Trends of Traditional Cultural ContentsRecently, the word yu san seul, which commonly refers to a Chinese dish, has become more common in Korea after popular comedian Jae-seok Yu debuted as a trot singer under the stage name Yoo San-seul. Trot music, which was the exclusive property of older generations, is now appealing to the audience of all ages. The recent trot craze has been heated through Hangout with Yoo (a reality TV show produced by Yoo San-seul) and various trot audition programs. Traditional cultural contents, once viewed as boring and old-fashioned, are now not just bringing memories to the elderly but also catching on among younger people who are interested in newness through diverse media outlets.\n\nLikewise, ssireum, Korea’s folk wrestling and traditional culture, is gaining huge popularity among young generations. Ssireum was an extremely popular sport in the 1980s and 1990s, but it slowly lost much of its former glory and became a mere folk game that barely kept itself in existence as a holiday sport. In 2018, in recognition of its value, ssireum was jointly inscribed by North and South Korea on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. However, it still failed to draw public attention, as there were old stereotypes about traditional sports and modern audiences already turned their backs on the traditional wrestling. Then, the variety program Joy of Ssireum has rekindled people’s interest in the sport. The ssireum arena is filled with spectators of all ages who are carrying placards of their favorite contestants. It seems like the ssireum fandom is no less than idols. In other words, ssireum is seeing its resurgence as an enjoyable and entertaining form of traditional sport. It is also expected to contribute to the inheritance and development of various other traditional sports.\n\nThanks to easily accessible media channels, our traditions are effectively transformed into original cultural contents that attract almost as much attention as in the past. Public attention is essential for the transmission and development of traditional culture. Now that ‘retro’ pop culture is in, this could be a good turning point for traditional cultural contents.\n\nPhoto : Ssireum, Korea's folk wrestling Ⓒ ShutterStockYear2020NationSouth Korea
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Ganggangsullae Public Event, a Play under the MoonlightThe Ganggangsullae public event was held on the morning of May 22 at Unrimsanbang Square in Jindo-gun. Ganggangsullae, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and Korea’s National ICH, presents performances to the general public every year, sponsored by the National Intangible Heritage Center and the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation. Ganggangsullae bearers and the members of the preservation committee performed at the event.\n\nGanggangsullae is a song, a dance, and a game. The basic composition of the song is that the lead singer sings the chant, followed by a group of people singing ‘ganggangsullae’. It was important to sing with good lyrics. Sometimes the singers quoted lyrics from pansori and folk songs, but also wrote lyrics about what he/she saw and experienced in his/her daily life. A good lead singer was so important that he/she was called from various villages during the Ganggangsullae season.\n\nThe basic dance with singing is to go round and round in a circle. Start by holding hands with the people on either side and skipping counterclockwise in a circle. Sometimes a person enters a circle and dances, forming several small circles, straight lines, and curves.\n\nThe exciting dance soon leads to play. The formation is moved between the round ganggangsullae, which is called sullaenori. Ganggangsullae and sullaenori together are called ganggangsullae.1. The game encourages the spectators to make a louder sound, and the yard is filled with people’s excitement through the round circles made by joining hands.\n\nTherefore, Ganggangsullae can be called a festival in name and reality. A big festival was held on the full moon in January, Baekjung in July and Chuseok in August, centering on the Southwest Sea coast, and a crowd of young people from the village led the game of Ganggangsullae. It was mainly led by women, but men and women performed together.\n\nPeople gathered in the yard of the wealthy noble men, the sandy beach, and the riverside sand. The villages were officially united to play, and there were people who climbed the mountain and crossed over to visit other villages. Ganggangsullae was a festival that excited young people to the point where they went on an expedition by hiking at night.\n\nPlay induces improvisation. In the past, there was no set order, nor formation, and people played however they wanted to play. Every little thing that they saw and experienced in their daily life became the lyrics of a song, and it became a song by adding melodies. The lyrics to sing along were different for each region. In this village, it was called ‘Ganggangsullae’, while in other villages it was called ‘Ugwangganggangsullae’, ‘ganggangdosullae’, ‘sullaeyaha’, and ‘gwanggwangsullae’.\n\nHolding hands can only be accomplished with someone else. The same goes for dancing and playing to the beat. In Ganggangsullae, a person can experience becoming a member of a community. Because we played together between people, generations, and villages, the things that were there and those that didn’t exist flowed and mixed with ease. It can be inferred that ‘Ganggangsullae’, which everyone sings together, has the power to give diversity and a sense of belonging.\n\nPicture 1: Ganggangsullae © Daejeon Metropolitan City, Korea Open Government License Type 1, Source\nPicture 2: Ganggangsullae of Haeundae Daeboreum © Busan Metropolitan City, Korea Open Government License Type 1. SourceYear2022NationSouth Korea
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Pala Gaan: A Popular Traditional Bangladeshi Performing Art FormPerformed by singers in rural areas of the greater Mymensigh region and greater Dhaka region, Pala Gaan is a theatrical experimentation using a combination of indigenous references and timely rhetoric. Typically the shows begin with Guru Bandana (an artistic expression of showing respect to God and then to the mentor from whom the Bayati learned the performance). It is followed by Ashon Bandana (an artistic expression that pays tribute to the audience).\n\nThe lead singer of Pala Gaan is called bayati, who narrates stories, tales, and legends through music incorporating dance and dialogues. After a short musical prelude, the bayati starts narrating the tale. A group of choristers helps the bayati in the entire performance. During the narration, the bayati enacts different characters such as king, queen, prince, rural maiden, ghost, and animal using limited props. Pillow and scarf are typically seen as the props used by the bayati. Dohar, a member of the choir, helps the bayati by giving cues during the act. In an open stage performance, the bayati singer takes the center of the stage while the choir sits aside.\n\nIn Pala Gaan, the narrative is thickened by improvisation to make it relatable, giving the audience a time to think through it. As a result, a tale may have multiple versions depending on the taste of who performs it. Though ancient texts are central to Pala Gaan narratives, serious issues such as love, position of women in a patriarchal society, discrimination, and oppression can also be addressed. And when a show is held for an urban audience, urban issues, even the ones taken from global politics, can also be artistically twisted. Charming narrations and realistic portrayals of characters are special features of Pala Gaan, enriching the use of dialects and folk rhythms.\n\nPhoto : Islamuddin Palakar from Mymensingh, presents a Pala Gaan © Mumit MYear2017NationBangladesh
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Toktogul Satylganov: People’s Artist of KyrgyzstanToktogul Satylganov was a great composer, poet, akyn (singer-improviser), and komuzist (someone who plays komuz, a traditional Kyrgyz musical instrument). Satylganov rendered a great contribution to the Kyrgyz culture. He sang about hardships of the common people, and he is best known for his songs about freedom and independence during the Tsarist Russia’s colonial era. He is one of the founders of Kyrgyz Soviet Literature.\n\nToktogul Satylganov was born in 1864 to a poor family in Toktogul district of the Djalal-Abad region. He never formally learned to write and read, but at the age of 13, he learned to play komuz by himself and started to compose songs about poverty and cruelty of feudalism. In 1898, he was jailed and sentenced to death because of false allegations of him participating in the Andijan rebellion. Eventually, his punishment was reduced to a seven-year imprisonment in Siberia by the mercy of the Tsars. His work at the Siberian labor camp intensified his understanding of social inequality and the inhumanity of feudalism. For that reason, Toktogul Satylganov was the first akyn to welcome the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the revolution by the peasants and working people and led by Vladimir Lenin against Tsar Nicholas II.\n\nAccordingly, Toktogul Satylganov is known for his outstanding works that made a great contribution to the Kyrgyz literature. During the Soviet period, his songs played an important role in shaping public opinion. His songs are informative, vividly depicting the life of ordinary people, the beauty of the motherland, and the Communist Party during the Soviet era. He was the first to depict Vladimir Lenin in What Kind of Woman Gave Birth to a Son Like Lenin? that came out in a time now regarded as the beginning of the Kyrgyz Soviet literary history. His songs predicted the end of tsarism, praising laborers’ rights that encouraged many people. Therefore, many Kyrgyz poets and composers were influenced by Toktogul Satylganov and his work has been translated into many languages.\n\nToktogul Satylganov played a significant role in traditional Kyrgyz art. The art of akyn, the predominant form of cultural expression of nomadic Kyrgyz people, was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. Tokotogul Satylganov has been and continues to be honored by a number of poets and in books, scholarly works, movies, and discourse around musical heritage. The Kyrgyz National Philharmonic Building in the center of Bishkek is named after him. In addition, a city, streets, districts, parks, schools, libraries, and even the biggest hydroelectric power station and reservoir are named after him as the great composer, poet, akyn (singer-improviser), komuzist who was the most influential figure in traditional Kyrgyz art and literature.\n\nPhoto : Toktogul SatylganovYear2018NationKyrgyzstan