Materials
symbols
ICH Materials 100
Publications(Article)
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Mongolian Culture and HeritageThe culture of the Central Asian steppes expresses itself vividly in the lifestyle of traditional nomadic practices. Mongolian culture has been in practice in the nomadic life and the traditions surrounding the nomad’s home (ger). And it is present in religious celebrations, national festivals, art and crafts, music and dance, language and literature, which form the backbone of Mongolian intangible cultural heritage of Mongolia. Mongolia is filled with valuable cultural properties and intangible cultural heritage of humanity that have been kept or practiced for thousands of years.\n\nGer, Mongolian Traditional Dwelling\nThe traditional architecture of the Mongols differed strongly from that of the settled peoples of Asia and other continents. Centuries ago, there the ger, also known as a yurt, appeared. It still offers shelter to nomads in particular places in Central Asia. Its development and fundamental principles are determined by the specific features of the way of life of Mongol tribes, which made it necessary to evolve a light and collapsible structure to be used as a dwelling or for public functions.\n\nMongolian Language and Literature\nMongolian is the language of most of the Mongolian population and inner Mongolia. By origin, Mongolian is one of the Altaic family of languages, and the history of the Mongolian language is long and complicated. Significant literary work of early Mongolia includes The Secret History of the Mongols, which was published in 1228).\n\nMongolian Religion and Beliefs\nThe Mongols have practiced several religions, of which Shamanism and Buddhism were the most common. The faith in Mongolia is Buddhism, though the state and religion were separated during the socialist period, but with the transition to the parliamentary republic in the 1990s, there has been a general revival of faiths across the country\n\nMongolian Art and Crafts\nMongolian arts and crafts have been passed down across generations from the Paleolithic times to today, leaving behind deep impressions on all facets of life and conscious, aesthetic, and philosophical thinking. Highly developed Mongolian arts and crafts come from the second millennium BCE. The works included sculptured heads of wild animals with exaggerated features. Other items include knives, daggers, and other items of practical and religious use.\n\nMongolian Music and Dance\nMusic is an integral part of Mongolian culture. Among Mongolia’s unique contributions to the world’s musical culture are the long songs, overtone singing, and morin khuur (the horse-headed fiddle). The music of Mongolia is also rich with varieties related to the various ethnic groups of the country. Among the most popular forms of modern music in Mongolia are Western pop and rock genres and the mass songs written by contemporary authors in the form of folk songs.\n\nHorse Culture of Mongolia\nIt is famously known that horses play a large role in the Mongols’ daily and national lives. Common sayings are, “A Mongol without a horse is like a bird without wings,” and “Mongols are born on horseback” these are arguably true words. Even today, horse-based culture is still practiced by nomadic Mongolians.\n\nVisit https://www.toursmongolia.com/tours for additional information about Mongolian culture.\n\nPhoto 1 : Prairie meadow grass inner Mongolia traditional clothing © Batzaya Choijiljav\nPhoto 2~7 : © Batzaya ChoijiljavYear2020NationMongolia
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TattooingThe arc of cultural heritage is far broader than many realize. For many, the term calls to mind the physical remains of the past, often in the image of ancient buildings and ruins, or the history of a collective. If prompted to define what heritage encompasses in a personal sense, one might think of their own family’s lineage and ancestry. But in either sense, many of us understand heritage to be something outside of the self rather than something that we are a living part of. We are vehicles for living cultural heritage, not just ethnically, socially, or culturally, but physically. Tangible heritage might be best understood as very much alive, close to home, and applicable to each of us when we consider the body as a context for it.\n\nFrom the way we style our hair and the makeup we paint on our faces to the clothes we choose to wear and the adornments we dress up in, we all adopt insignias of culture and express our identities on the physical plain in modes that have been shaped by heritage. Tattooing is one of these mediums. Inking the skin as to permanently brand ourselves with a visual marker communicates something about who we are or what has touched our lives, to others as much as to ourselves. In this practice, the unseen intangible heritage and identity we know and feel is transformed into something tangible and corporeal.\n\nWe are hardly the first people to manipulate the body in such a way. Tattooing has a long history, a tradition adopted from ancient cultures from the Alps to Mongolia, from Greenland to China, from Egypt to Mexico, from Russia to the South Pacific. Whether marking the skin of a newly initiated member of a group, a tribe leader, a spiritual worshipper, a loyal warrior, or an outcast criminal, tattoos carried their potential to express diverse meanings into more recent history and the modern day. We’re all familiar with the sailor’s anchor, the Indian bride’s henna, the biker’s skull and crossbones, the adoption of the tribal tattoo or Chinese character in Western popular culture. But what stands out is not so much the range of meanings and contexts that tattoos might indicate, but rather the instinct to mark one’s skin in a permanent way, a tale as old as time.\n\nIt is striking to me that no matter where in the world these practices developed, so many diverse groups of indigenous ancestors were inclined to physically demarcate themselves and others, developing a technique of self-expression that would live on. I wonder why.\n\nMaybe they all recognized how powerful the skin can be as a medium for message-bearing. Upon this visible and undetachable bodily canvas, the way one is seen by others is manipulated from the first glance. As we dance through this ancient-turned-modern ritual today, whether the symbols we choose speak for themselves or inspire questions about who we are or where we’ve been, we consider ourselves branded for life.\n\nBut ‘for life’ and forever are not the same thing. In the past and at present, tattoos represent an attempt at permanence that is almost endearing in its falsehood. Though the ink on the skin itself may be unremovable, the skin and body itself is not eternal. The corpses discovered across Europe, Asia, the Americas and Oceania that attest to the long history of tattooing remind us that ‘undoable’ physical manipulations we make will last only as long as the body does. Whatever we regard as permanent is never really such, and after a time the tangible becomes intangible, whether we are referring to body or brick. Palpable proof becomes a fairy tale, man becomes myth. The physical is not perpetual, and tangible heritage does not last forever just because it takes material form.\n\nIt’s within this ongoing cycle of permanence and impermanence that cultural heritage is situated. Though we feel compelled to preserve the flesh of the past on personal and broader scales, matter is more delicate than we often accept, and the risk of disintegration is always looming. Tattooing is a poignant example of one of the most effective ways to retain the substance of the past as centuries go by: to keep it alive in practice, even if not in the exact form it once took, with the stories of where it came from accessible for inspiration.\n\nMore of Issabella’s work is available at museandwander.co.uk\n\nPhoto : Traditional Tattooing ToolsYear2020NationPacific Ocean,China,Egypt,Mexico,Russian Federation
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Intangible Cultural Heritage Information in Critical Times: Questions on Production and DisseminationThis essay is the second in a series that chiefly argues for the importance of seeing intangible heritage protection as a form of human rights protection and thus a necessity in critical times such as COVID-19 pandemic. But is “heritage in critical times” a new concept? How do we qualify “critical times”? How has the discursive portrayal of bodies of knowledge and practices, as well as natural and built environments, in need of protection reinforced the concept of critical times?\n\nThis idea of “heritage in critical times” initially surfaced in the discourse around intangible heritage: when a cultural symbol is threatened by a physical harm. In Terrorism, Conflicts and the Responsibility to Protect Cultural Heritage (2016), Federico Lenzerini notes that the intent to eliminate communities is the common denominator characterizing all main cases of destruction of cultural heritage throughout history such as the demolition of part of the Pyramid of Menkaure in Egypt by Sultan Al-Aziz Othman at the end of the twelfth century, the systematic destruction of mosques and other religious or historical constructions during the Balkan wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and the destruction of the two ancient giant Buddha statues in the Afghan valley of Bamiyan by the Taliban in 2001. What’s deeply significant in the discussion of Lenzerini is its commitment to the concept of cultural heritage as a “common good” belonging to all of humanity, noting the preambles to the 1954 Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and the 1972 World Heritage Convention, affirming that “deterioration or disappearance of any item of the cultural or natural heritage constitutes a harmful impoverishment of the heritage of all the nations of the world.” This collective belongingness to heritage from tangible cultural heritage definitely persists when intangible cultural heritage (ICH) came to the fore, except ICH introduced threats to heritage in an abstract sense such as globalization and abandonment of traditional ways of life. Nevertheless, this kind of attitude toward heritage succinctly legitimizes the responsibility to protect all cultural heritage elements, tangible (including natural) and intangible, as an innate obligation, a part of coming into humanity. This also implies that the idea of “critical times” has made it possible to see and imagine some objects and practices as representative of our humanity and call it heritage. In other words, “critical times” arguably directed the generation of heritage knowledge as well as public measures to protect and rescue those cultural symbols we now call heritage of the humanity.\n\nThe above description of a link between “critical times” and heritage signals that even before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, safeguarding and conservation practices were already situated within complex circuits of cultural interactions, interventions, and initiatives. And when social activities began to be restricted, cities placed on different forms of lockdowns, festivals cancelled as among the calamities brought by the pandemic, heritage protection has just become more complicated and challenging. Due to the fact that social distancing has become the most pervasive preventive measure against coronavirus, it has become almost instinctual to us to heavily rely on the internet to gain some modicum of normalcy, to be in touch with each other. In my observation, cultural practitioners in the ICH field also adopt the same formula in continuing their work, resorting to online infrastructures to conduct relevant activities. For example, UNESCO is developing a plan of action for Central America to ensure universal access to documentary heritage, which includes the use of community media to assuage the limited capacity of many people to internet access. I can only imagine the strong intent of organizations to continue the safeguarding and transmission of ICH thru every possible means, though this time, with a stronger consideration of digitizing community traditions, translating practices into electronic records, cultural rituals into screen. However, the reflexive use of internet or online technologies in ICH safeguarding and transmission in the pandemic may calibrate problems such as heritage fossilization. What are our views on the internet or digital technologies in areas of heritage archiving, documentation, and information dissemination in critical times? I argue that the continuous safeguarding and transmission of ICH must include a consideration of how ICH information is produced at the community or individual level, not only the possible means that such information can be disseminated in critical times. How then can we support communities, groups, and individuals in order for them to remain at the center of ICH information production? What new modes of documentary procedures can we implement that regard the fluency of the ICH of communities, relevant ethical frameworks as well as possible health risks?\n\nAlbeit the use of digital technologies can alleviate the feeling of impoverishment of information, there certainly is no single solution to a massive problem and sharing of experiences, as well as persistent networking, can make a difference in better understanding different contexts, specifically community needs and available instruments for heritage work to continue. The consumption of ICH information as a digital output may well be very possible in a context of restricted social mobility, but the production of such ICH information (for example, this online exhibition of ICH in South Asia and the Pacific) nonetheless requires actual social interaction. I maintain that ICH communities and tradition bearers should remain at the center of any effort to produce and disseminate ICH information.Year2020NationAfghanistan
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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
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The Angono’s Higantes Festival for San ClementeHigantes Festival is celebrated every 22 and 23 November in the city of Angono, Province of Rizal in the Philippines to honor San Clemente, the patron saint of fishermen. The festival features a parade of hundreds of higantes, papier-mâché giants. Higantes are puppets rendered as man or woman in various costumes; their face gives a commanding look, their hands on the waist. The festival’s origin can be traced back to the period of Spanish colonial rule when, as Angono was a ruled hacienda, celebrations were prohibited, except for one festival per year. The Angonos (people of Angono) used the festival as an opportunity to mock hacienda owners by making papier-mâché caricatures—an art they learned from Spanish friars.\n\nIn the present time, the Angonos build higantes to represent each barangay (smallest administrative division in the Philippines; village) for the festival’s parade. Accordingly a higante with a duck-shaped heard, for example, represents a barangay famous for fried duck and balut (boiled duck embryo eaten from its shell). The number of higantes has increased to hundreds over time, with more and more artists making higantes in various sizes and shapes. Seminars or workshops on higante-making thru government support have also contributed to keeping the festival alive.\n\nIt takes about a month to make no less than three-meter-tall higante. A higante’s head, the hardest part taking a week to create, is made up of newspaper strips while its body is made up of bamboo or rattan strips to carry it easily for hours. The handle’s height is adjusted to see its legs when it is raised by 30 cm from the ground.\n\nIn a tradition called basaan, people sprinkle water on the parade or each other for blessing. People believe that water symbolizes San Clemente, the patron saint of fishermen, which is why they shout for water on themselves. The parade also includes a band and a group of young girls called parehadores. Suited in colorful costumes, parehadores hold a sagwan (wooden boat paddle), wearing wooden slippers; such items are symbols of San Clemente devotees. The girls march together with the band, shouting “Viva San Clemente!” The band plays music, following the girls. With multiple parade teams competing with each other, Higantes Festival has become one of the most famous festivals enjoyed by people of all ages in the Philippines.\n\nphoto: unesco logo ⓒ unescoYear2017NationPhilippines
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Role of the Tiger in Mongolian Oral TraditionAccording to the Mongolian astrological calendar, as well as in other Asian countries, this year is the Year of the Tiger. As well as a year, the third of the twelve animals of lunar astrology is also marked with the day of the tiger (the day of the conquest of the tiger), the month of the tiger (the first month of spring), and the tiger hours of the day (3.40 a.m. to 5.40 a.m.). Mongols teach that, “If you do not get up with tiger i.e., during the tiger hours, then the day will be late. If you do not study in young age, then growing up will be late.” The tiger is also one of the eight cardinal directions on the map of Mongolia, representing northeast. This corresponds with the octagonal shape of a yurt, on which homeowners place the appropriate symbols depending on the direction of each face.Year2022NationMongolia
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Korea, the Land of the TigerLike the Chinese dragon, the Indian elephant, and the Egyptian lion, the animal that symbolizes Korea is the tiger. As such, tigers constitute a ubiquitous motif throughout the traditional culture of Korea, the so-called “land of tigers.” The Korean Peninsula became known as such as it largely consists of mountainous regions that were once home to many tigers. The significance of tigers in Korea is evident in the fact they were used as mascots to represent Korea at sports tournaments, such as Hodori at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and Soohorang at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games; the tiger mascots helped to mark these momentous occasions that brought humankind together in friendship, sport, and culture. Creatures of well-developed and well-rounded physical proportions, tigers lurk slowly then pounce on their prey with striking swiftness. As symbols of outstanding wisdom, grandeur, and dignity, tigers were also known as lords, spirits, gods and heroes of the mountain.Year2022NationSouth Korea
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Kainnari and Kainnara Dance of the Shan People in MyanmarThe Shan people are called Nokgingala, which is also the name of their distinct language. Their heritage is shaped by their beliefs in myths and legends. The Kainnari and Kainnara legend, for example, is behind their traditional dance. According to legend, Kainnari, the female, and Kainnara, her male counterpart, are half-human and half-bird. There are different versions of the love story between Kainnari and Kainnara. According to one legend, the lovers were captured by a king. Another tells that they were separated by a flood for one night and wept for seven hundred nights. Despite the different versions, the Shan people adore the Kainnari and Kainnara story for the great love that they had for each other. Because the Shan also believe the characters are symbols of a good omen, and the characters are beautifully depicted in Shan festivals, ceremonies, and special events. During traditional festivals in Shan, Myanmar, it is common to see dancers dressed as the mythical creatures with gaudy wings.\n\nKainnari and Kainnara are also associated with Buddhist heritage. Shan people believe that when Buddha returned to the human world after preaching his knowledge to his mother in heaven, humans celebrated his arrival with an abundance of food and flowers and humans danced with various mythical creatures, including Kainnari and Kainnara. This is why the dance in honor of Kainnari and Kainnara is danced every October, the end of the Buddhist Lent season. During the monarchy period, as a paying homage for Saopha (King of Town), Shan people held festivals where they performed the Kainnari and Kainnara dance. The dance was also performed during rice harvest ceremonies, the Shan New Year, novice ordinations, and other special days.\n\nCostumes and accessories of Kainnari and Kainnara dance are believed to be sacred; no one is be allowed to use their clothes, wings, and musical instruments. Before the dance performance, the dancers have to pay respect to the Kainnari and Kainnara costumes, which include a headdress, mask, clothes, and wing accessories. The wings are attached to the dancers’ arms, necks, and wrists, so that they can move easily and open and close the wings. Females wear a headdress while the males wear a mask. In the past, women were not allowed to perform the dance in religious ceremonies. Nowadays, however, men and women dance together. Traditionally, men wore masks, but recently the rule has become more relaxed.\n\nThe Kainnari and Kainnara dance is accompanied by traditional instruments such as drums, gongs, and cymbals. The musical score is based on the Shan’s long drum sound. There are three purposes for performing the Kainnari and Kainnara dance: (1) to pay homage, (2) to tell narrate a story, and (3) to show a repertoire of dance variations. The dance for paying homage and storytelling are performed in festivals and on special days while the third version is performed in the towns\n\nTraditional Shan Kainnari and Kainnara dance has recently become popular. Shan associations and some cultural bearers have been teaching the traditional dance to young generations. People who learn the traditional dance must promise to teach the dance to other people. The transmission of the traditional Kainnari and Kainnara dance has been continuing from generation to generation because of young people’s interest in learning it.\n\nPhoto 1 : Traditional Shan Kannari and Kannara dance ⓒ SYO Group Taunggyi\nPhoto 2 : Traditional Shan dance ⓒ SYO Group Taunggyi\nPhoto 3 : Shan New Year Festival ⓒ SYO Group TaunggyiYear2018NationMyanmar
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MYTHICAL LEGEND OF FIFTEEN NAGA FAMILIES IN LUANG PRABANGLaos, having existed for thousands of years, is among the most ancient nations of the world. Chinese historical documents indicate that the original settlement of the Lao nation was in the region of the Ai-Lao Mountains along the River Mekong in what is now called Sichuan County. The region where Ai-Lao tribe lived was called Kao Long. This name was later changed to Kio Long Kieng, which means the river of nine Nagas—the territory of the nine snakes who were known as the authentic and original family of the Lao nation. Therefore, due to their origins, Ai-Lao people widely admired or worshipped the Naga in many important rites and tattooed Naga symbols on their arms and body. In Luang Prabang, the people refer to the Naga in the local dialect as ngeuak, which means ‘water snake’.Year2013NationSouth Korea
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Various Types of Malay Traditional Boats in the East Coast of Malay Peninsula and Symbolism in Boat CraftingThe culture in the East Coast of Malay Peninsula are rich in visual and performing arts inherited over time immemorial. The art is also found to have similarities in three different states, despite their geographical gap. The similarities are shared in dialects, languages, presentations, builds, and past legacy artifacts. The Malay craftsmanship is also dominated by the Malay community in the East Coast and it is also produced in the form of art and fashion. Artifacts such as boats, houses, and furniture are still visible until now and they have high artistic value. This paper is aimed at displaying the various type of Malay traditional boats and symbols produced by the Malay community on the craft of the boat. There are several name of the boats produced by local craftsmen based on their function and usability. For example, a small line boat is used in river and coastal areas, the payang boat used by deep-sea fishermen, and the jokong boat is used to transport heavy goods. The art can be seen in the carvings and paintings produced on traditional Malay boats craftsmen in the East Coast. This art does not only serve as an ornament and for its aesthetics, but also has its own symbolism. The decorative art produced shows that the three main aspects necessary in Malay art are function, aesthetics, and ethics. The belief in the existence of supernatural powers – which preserve and safeguard their safety at sea and their ability to get income from marine products – underpins the craft of this decoration art.Year2018NationSouth Korea
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Ukuuku Tokari Kei Viti: Jewels of FijiIndigenous Fijians feel a close connection with the sea, land, and nature. In Fiji, jewelry making began way back in the time of the ancestors, dating back to the eighteenth century or even earlier. Traditional indigenous knowledge, beliefs, and practices were seen in the unique creation of hand-crafted jewelry and adornments. These pieces were mainly worn to display social status, functioning as symbols of rank and leadership, or as markers of clan membership.\nThere were distinctions in the types of jewels and adornments worn by a chief (turaga), a warrior (bati), the wedding attire of a bride (yalewa vou) and groom (tagane vou), and those used in ceremonies and celebrations where men, women, and youths adorned themselves with necklaces of shell (taube qanivivili), bead (taube), or clay (coko qwele). Chiefs and warriors mainly wore breastplates (civavonovono), whale ivory (tabua), sperm whale tooth necklaces (waseisei, also known as wasekaseka), boar tusk necklaces and hand bands (bati ni vuaka), while white cowry shells (buli vula) are mainly worn by brides and grooms, and also worn during a traditional dance/performance (meke).Year2022NationFiji
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SACRED CULTURAL SPACES OF BANGLADESHBangladesh has been a place of religious harmony for centuries. The vast displays of cultural and religious properties on show here have been shaped over the last 5,000 years, following numerous political and social movements including those of the Pals (Buddhist), Sens (Hindu), Mughals (Muslim), and British (Christian), and have grown to become symbols of the country’s tangible and intangible heritage. Because of the presence of these varied political religious reigns, Bangladesh became home to famous tirthas or pilgrimage sites for different faith groups. Many notable monks, rishis (Hindu saints), bhikkhus (Buddhist saints), pirs, and darbeshes (Muslim preachers), and Christian priests were either born or passed away here.Year2016NationSouth Korea