Intangible Cultural Heritage Domains

Intangible Cultural Heritage

172 Intangible cultural dinand de Jong UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible e r o © F hot

Cultural Heritage proposes five broad ‘domains’ in which intangible P cultural heritage is manifested:

I Oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage; tsev

I Performing arts; o © A.Bur hot P

LL The Kankurang, I Social practices, rituals and festive events; Manding Initiatory Rite, Senegal and Gambia I Knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; L The Olonkho, Yakut Heroic Epos, Russian Federation I Traditional craftsmanship. J The Carnival of Binche, Belgium heritage domains

Instances of intangible cultural heritage are not might make minute distinctions between , limited to a single manifestation and many variations of expression while another group itage

include elements from multiple domains. Take, considers them all diverse parts of a single form. ultural Her for example, a shamanistic rite. This might adagascar e of M tment of C

involve traditional music and dance, prayers and While the Convention sets out a framework for ultur epar

songs, clothing and sacred items as well as ritual identifying forms of intangible cultural heritage, y of C o © D inistr hot P and ceremonial practices and an acute the list of domains it provides is intended to be M awareness and knowledge of the natural world. inclusive rather than exclusive; it is not Similarly, festivals are complex expressions of necessarily meant to be ‘complete’. States may aiapi

intangible cultural heritage that include singing, use a different system of domains. There is W dancing, theatre, feasting, oral tradition and already a wide degree of variation, with some storytelling, displays of craftsmanship, sports and countries dividing up the manifestations of other entertainments. The boundaries between intangible cultural heritage differently, while onselho Das Aldeias

domains are extremely fluid and often vary from others use broadly similar domains to those of o © C hot community to community. It is difficult, if not the Convention with alternative names. They P impossible, to impose rigid categories externally. may add further domains or new sub-categories LL The Woodcrafting Knowledge of the While one community might view their chanted to existing domains. This may involve Zaﬁmaniry, Madagascar verse as a form of ritual, another would interpret incorporating ‘sub-domains’ already in use in L Oral and Graphic

d it as song. Similarly, what one community defines countries where intangible cultural heritage is

elar Expressions of the Wajapi, as ‘theatre’ might be interpreted as ‘dance’ in a recognized, including ‘traditional play and Brazil different cultural context. There are also games’, ‘culinary traditions’, ‘animal husbandry’, o © M. Rev hot

P differences in scale and scope: one community ‘pilgrimage’ or ‘places of memory’. 4 . INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

O Oral traditions and expressions Because they are passed on by word of mouth, The oral traditions and expressions domain oral traditions and expressions often vary encompasses an enormous variety of spoken significantly in their telling. Stories are a CA – ICH / UNESC forms including proverbs, riddles, tales, nursery combination – differing from genre to genre,

ollo / NC rhymes, legends, myths, epic songs and poems, from context to context and from performer to astr

o S. R charms, prayers, chants, songs, dramatic performer – of reproduction, improvisation and performances and more. Oral traditions and creation. This combination makes them a vibrant o © Renat expressions are used to pass on knowledge, and colourful form of expression, but also fragile, hot P cultural and social values and collective memory. as their viability depends on an uninterrupted L The Hudhud Chants of the Ifugao, Philippines They play a crucial part in keeping cultures alive. chain passing traditions from one generation of performers to the next. Some types of oral expression are common and can be used by entire communities while others Although language underpins the intangible are limited to particular social groups, only men heritage of many communities, the protection and or women, perhaps, or only the elderly. In many preservation of individual languages is beyond the societies, performing oral traditions is a highly scope of the 2003 Convention, though they are specialized occupation and the community included in Article 2 as a means of transmitting holds professional performers in the highest intangible cultural heritage. Different languages regard as guardians of collective memory. Such shape how stories, poems and songs are told, as performers can be found in communities all well as affecting their content. The death of a over the world. While poets and storytellers in language inevitably leads to the permanent loss of non-Western societies such as the griots and oral traditions and expressions. However, it is these dyelli from Africa are well known, there is also a oral expressions themselves and their performance rich oral tradition in Europe and North America. in public that best help to safeguard a language In Germany and the USA, for example, there are rather than dictionaries, grammars and databases. K The Palestinian Hikaye hundreds of professional storytellers. Languages live in songs and stories, riddles and DOMAINS . 5

rhymes and so the protection of languages and the The Olonkho, the Heroic Epos of the Yakut people transmission of oral traditions and expressions are of the Russian Federation, reflects Yakut beliefs very closely linked. and customs, shamanistic practices, oral history and values. The ‘Olonkhosut’ or narrator must Like other forms of intangible cultural heritage, oral excel in acting, singing, eloquence and poetic

traditions are threatened by rapid urban isation, improvisation. Like most oral traditions, there are O large-scale migration, industrialisation and multiple versions of Olonkho, the longest of which environmental change. Books, newspapers and totals over 15,000 lines of verse. o © UNESC hot P magazines, radio, television and the Internet can have an especially damaging effect on oral The Palestinian Hikaye is told by women to other traditions and expressions. Modern mass media women and children, and offers an often critical may significantly alter or over replace traditional view of society from women’s perspectives. Almost forms of oral expression. Epic poems that once took every Palestinian woman over the age of 70 is a several days to recite in full may be reduced to just Hikaye teller, and the tradition is mainly carried on a few hours and traditional courtship songs that by elder women. However, it is not unusual for girls

were sung before marriage may be replaced by and young boys to tell tales to one another for aﬁ Saﬁeh o © R

CDs or digital music files. practice or pleasure. hot P

The most important part of safeguarding oral The Hudhud Chants of the Ifugao in the O traditions and expressions is maintaining their every Philippines are performed during the sowing day role in society. It is also essential that season, rice harvest and funeral wakes. A complete CA -ICH / UNESC opportunities for knowledge to be passed from telling, which lasts for several days, is often ollo / NC

person-to-person survive; chances for elders to conducted by an elderly woman, who acts as the astr

interact with young people and pass on stories in community’s historian and preacher. o S. R homes and schools, for example. Oral tradition o © Renat hot

often forms an important part of festive and cultural To safeguard the Art of Akyns, six studios have P celebrations and these events may need to be been established in different regions of

promoted and new contexts, such as storytelling Kyrgyzstan where recognized epic-tellers, the O

festivals, encouraged to allow traditional creativity Akyns, pass on their knowledge and skills to groups or UNESC to find new means of expression. In the spirit of the of young apprentices preparing themselves to

2003 Convention, safeguarding measures should become modern Akyns in a few years. The teachers ommission f focus on oral traditions and expressions as may use audio-visual equipment, recordings and processes, where communities are free to explore texts, but the person-to-person form of learning gyz National C their cultural heritage, rather than as products. remains intact. o © Kyr hot P Communities, researchers and institutions may also use information technology to help safeguard the full range and richness of oral traditions, including textual variations and different styles of performance. Unique expressive features, such as intonation and a much larger number of varying styles, can now be recorded as audio or video, as can interactions between performers and audiences and non-verbal story elements including gestures and mimicry. Mass media and communi- undenbat cation technologies can be used to preserve and Y I Urtiin Duu even strengthen oral traditions and expressions by Traditional Folk Long broadcasting recorded performances both to their o © Sonom-Ish o © MOC Song, Mongolia and hot hot P communities of origin and to a wider audience. China P 6 . INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE DOMAINS

L The Mask Dance of the Performing arts Dance, though very complex, may be described Drums from Drametse, The performing arts range from vocal and simply as ordered bodily movements, usually Bhutan instrumental music, dance and theatre to performed to music. Apart form its physical pantomime, sung verse and beyond. They aspect, the rhythmic movements, steps and include numerous cultural expressions that gestures of dance often express a sentiment or reflect human creativity and that are also found, mood or illustrate a specific event or daily act, to some extent, in many other intangible such as religious dances and those representing cultural heritage domains. hunting, warfare or sexual activity.

Music is perhaps the most universal of the Traditional theatre performances usually performing arts and is found in every society, combine acting, singing, dance and music, most often as an integral part of other performing dialogue, narration or recitation but may also art forms and other domains of intangible cultural include puppetry or pantomime. These arts, heritage including rituals, festive events or oral however, are more than simply ‘performances’ traditions. It can be found in the most diverse for an audience; they may also play crucial roles contexts: sacred or profane, classical or popular, in culture and society such as songs sung while closely connected to work or entertainment. carrying out agricultural work or music that is There may also be a political or economic part of a ritual. In a more intimate setting, dimension to music: it can recount a community’s lullabies are often sung to help a baby sleep. history, sing the praises of a powerful person and play a key role in economic transactions. The The instruments, objects, artefacts and spaces occasions on which music is performed are just as associated with cultural expressions and varied: marriages, funerals, rituals and initiations, practices are all included in the Convention’s I Flautist at Charouine, festivities, all kinds of entertainment as well as definition of intangible cultural heritage. In the Algeria many other social functions. performing arts this includes musical DOMAINS . 7

instruments, masks, costumes and other body The Samba de Roda of Recôncavo of Bahia decorations used in dance, and the scenery and (Brazil) developed from the dances and props of theatre. Performing arts are often cultural traditions of slaves of African origin but performed in specific places; when these also incorporates elements of Portuguese spaces are closely linked to the performance, culture, particularly the language and poetic they are considered cultural spaces by the forms. This local genre has influenced the O

Convention. development of the urban samba, which z / UNESC o became a symbol of Brazilian national identity Many forms of performing arts are under threat in the twentieth century. uiz Sant o © L hot

today. As cultural practices become P standardized, many traditional practices are Kutiyattam, Sanskrit Theatre is one of India’s abandoned. Even in cases where they become most ancient traditions, a synthesis of Sanskrit more popular, only certain expressions may classicism and local Kerala traditions. In its benefit while others suffer. stylized and codified theatrical language, gestures and eye expressions are prominent,

Music is perhaps one of the best examples of expressing the thoughts and feelings of the O

.com this, with the recent explosion in the popularity characters. Traditionally enacted in the sacred

of ‘World Music’. Though it performs an space of temples, Kutiyattam performances airali / UNESC

oshi-shimizu important role in cultural exchange and always include an oil lamp on stage to .y w o © Natanak w encourages creativity that enriches the symbolise a divine presence. hot international art scene, the phenomenon can P also cause problems. Many diverse forms of Slovácko Verbuňk, Recruit Dances (Czech oshi Shimizu/w Y

o © music may be homogenized with the goal of Republic) are traditionally danced by men of hot P delivering a consistent product. In these all ages. Rather than being bound to a precise e er

situations, there is little place for certain musical choreography, the dances are instead marked ult

practices that are vital to the process of by spontaneity and individual expression, and olk C performance and tradition in certain by acrobatic contests. Their structural e of F communities. complexity and variety of movements make nstitut Slovácko Verbuňk a cultural expression of great

Music, dance and theatre are often key features artistic value, expressing the cultural identity The National I o © hot

of cultural promotion intended to attract and diversity of the region. P tourists and regularly feature in the itineraries of tour operators. Although this may bring more visitors and increased revenue to a country or community and offer a window onto its culture, it may also result in the emergence of new ways of presenting the performing arts, which have been altered for the tourist market. While tourism can contribute to reviving traditional performing arts and give a ‘market value’ to intangible cultural heritage, it can also have a distorting effect, as the performances are often reduced to show adapted highlights in order to meet tourist demands. Often, traditional art forms are turned into commodities in the name

of entertainment, with the loss of important O forms of community expression. AH / UNESC o © CNRP hot P 8 . INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE DOMAINS

ts In other cases, wider social or environmental homogenised, changes to traditional

ine Ar factors may have a serious impact on performing instruments to make them more familiar or

e and F art traditions. Deforestation, for example, can easier to play for students, such as the addition

ultur deprive a community of wood to make of frets to stringed instruments, fundamentally y of C traditional instruments used to perform music. alter the instruments themselves. inistr o © M hot

P Many music traditions have been adapted to fit Safeguarding measures for traditional L The Royal Ballet of western forms of notation so they may be performing arts should focus mainly on Cambodia recorded, or for the purpose of education, but transmission of knowledge and techniques, of this process can be destructive. Many forms of playing and making instruments and music use scales with tones and intervals that strengthening the bond between master and do not correspond to standard western forms apprentice. The subtleties of a song, the and tonal subtleties may be lost in the process movements of a dance and theatrical of transcription. As well as music being interpretations should all be reinforced.

Performances may also be researched, recorded, documented, inventoried and archived. There ‘Master Classes’, which allow students to work are countless sound recordings in archives all closely with master performers, may be around the world with many dating back over a organised, as has already occurred in Tajikstan century. These older recordings are threatened and Uzbekistan with Shashmaqom music, in by deterioration and may be permanently lost Guinea for the Sosso Bala and in Bhutan for unless digitized. The process of digitisation Drametese Ngacham, a sacred mask dance. allows documents to be properly identified and inventoried. In Afghanistan, the Mugam use the National Archives to ensure that recordings provide a Cultural media, institutions and industries can source of inspiration, training and knowledge also play a crucial role in ensuring the viability of to future generations of musicians. traditional forms of performing arts by developing audiences and raising awareness Transmission activities may also be amongst the general public. Audiences can be strengthened by teaching intangible cultural informed about the various aspects of a form of heritage in schools, such as in Cuba where the expression, allowing it to gain a new and Tumba Francesa is taught to children. broader popularity, while also promoting connoisseurship which, in turn, encourages In Ethiopia an ambitious research and training interest in local variations of an art form and is project is underway to collect traditional music, may result in active participation in the dance and instruments across the country, and

annick Joor performance itself. Y to support the creation of a university o © hot

P curriculum in the field of ethnomusicology. Safeguarding may also involve improvements in training and infrastructure to properly prepare staff and institutions for preserving the full range of performing arts. In Georgia, students are O trained in anthropological fieldwork methods as well as how to record polyphonies, allowing them to create the foundations of a national ubana de la UNESC inventory by creating a database. O omisión Nacional C o © C o © UNESC hot hot P P DOMAINS . 9

Social practices, rituals and festive events Social practices shape everyday life and are Social practices, rituals and festive events are familiar to all members of the community, even habitual activities that structure the lives of if not everybody participates in them. Distinctive communities and groups and that are shared by social practices that are specially relevant to a and relevant to many of their members. They are community and help reinforce a sense of significant because they reaffirm the identity of identity and continuity with the past are given those who practise them as a group or a society priority in the 2003 Convention. For example, in and, whether performed in public or private, are many communities greeting ceremonies are closely linked to important events. Social, ritual informal while in others they are more elaborate and festive practices may help to mark the and ritualistic, acting as a marker of identity for passing of the seasons, events in the agricultural the society. Similarly, practices of giving and calendar or the stages of a person’s life. They are closely linked to a community’s worldview and perception of its own history and memory. They vary from small gatherings to large-scale social The Royal Ancestral Ritual, practised at the celebrations and commemorations. Each of Jongmyo Shrine in Seoul (Republic of Korea), these sub-domains is vast but there is also a encompasses song, dance and music, all parts

great deal of overlap between them. of a century-old ceremony worshipping the dministration

ancestors and expressing filial piety. ties A oper Rituals and festive events often take place at r special times and places and remind a Twice a year, at the time of seasonal migration ultural P community of aspects of its worldview and in the pastoral lands of the inner Niger Delta in o © C hot history. In some cases, access to rituals may be Mali, the river crossing of the cattle marks the P restricted to certain members of the beginning of the Peul community’s Yaaral and community; initiation rites and burial Degal festivities. They include competitions for ceremonies are two such examples. Some the most beautifully decorated herd, songs and festive events, however, are a key part of public recitations of pastoral poems. o / DNCP

life and are open to all members of society; o k y carnivals and events to mark the New Year, The Carnival of Binche in Belgium, the Oruro

beginning of Spring and end of the harvest are Carnival in Bolivia or the Makishi Masquerade odibo Baga inclusive occasions common all over the world. in Zambia involve colourful pageantry, singing o ©M hot and dancing, and various types of costumes or P masks. In some cases these festive events are a K The Royal Ancestral Ritual means of temporarily overcoming social in the Jongmyo Shrine and its Music, Republic of Korea differences by assuming different identities and of commenting on social or political conditions through mockery or amusement. O umoine / UNESC

The Vimbuza healing ritual, widely practised in T . the rural parts of northern Malawi, was .P o ©J hot developed in the mid-nineteenth century as a P means of overcoming traumatic experiences but has become less prevalent over the last few

decades. Safeguarding efforts create incentives O for young people to learn about the Vimbuza dministration

healing dance and to foster dialogue between eland / UNESC r ties A

Vimbuza healers and government and non- vier F oper r Xa government bodies dealing with medical issues ultural P through broadcasting panel discussions, rancois- o © C o © F hot hot P training workshops and festivals. P

DOMAINS . 11

receiving gifts may range from casual events to The rich variety of social practices performed at formal arrangements with significant political, the Jemaa el-Fna Square in Marrakesh economic or social meanings. (Morocco) were threatened with gradual disappearance due to urban growth and Social practices, rituals and festive events involve development projects that produced heavy a dazzling variety of forms: worship rites; rites of traffic and air pollution. In an attempt to passage; birth, wedding and funeral rituals; resolve the conflict between urban planning oaths of allegiance; traditional legal systems; and economic development and cultural and traditional games and sports; kinship and ritual environmental concerns, authorities created kinship ceremonies; settlement patterns; pedestrian streets converging on the Square ight r culinary traditions; seasonal ceremonies; and reorganized motor traffic so as to decrease W

practices specific to men or women only; the number of cars and tourist coaches, for the O / Jane hunting, fishing and gathering practices and safeguarding of the social practices.

many more. They also include a wide variety of o © UNESC hot P expressions and physical elements: special To preserve the originality of and encourage gestures and words, recitations, songs or dances, participation in the Carnival de Barranquilla, a special clothing, processions, animal sacrifice, local foundation has created and supports a special food. new event, the Children’s Carnival, which has become a vital element of the carnival Social practices, rituals and festive events are performed in Colombia. Practitioners received strongly affected by the changes communities financial support for the production of

undergo in modern societies because they handcrafted objects including floats, olombia depend so much on the broad participation of extravagant costumes, head ornaments, music practitioners and others in the communities instruments, animal masks and other artefacts. themselves. Processes such as migration, A micro-credit program made it possible for e of the Republic C

individualisation, the general introduction of artisans to borrow small sums of money to ultur

formal education, the growing influence of produce items to sell for additional income, y of C major world religions and other effects of improving their life quality and stressing the inistr o © M hot

globalization have a particularly marked effect importance of their involvement in the carnival. P on these practices.

Migration, especially of young people, may draw masks and providing for the participants is often

those who practise forms of intangible cultural apfumo very expensive and may not be sustainable in heritage away from their communities and ai M times of economic downturn. endanger some cultural practices. At the same

time, however, social practices, rituals and festive O / Chimbidzik Ensuring the continuity of social practices, rituals events may serve as special occasions on which or festive events often requires the mobilization o © UNESC

people return home to celebrate with their hot of large numbers of individuals and the social, P family and community, reaffirming their identity L The Mbende Jerusarema political and legal institutions and mechanisms and link to the community’s traditions. Dance, Zimbabwe of a society. While respecting customary practices that might limit participation to certain Many communities find that tourists are groups, it may also be desirable to encourage increasingly participating in their festive events the broadest public participation possible. In and while there may be positive aspects to some cases, legal and formal measures need to tourist involvement, the festivals often suffer in be taken to guarantee the access rights of the O the same way as traditional performing arts. The community to its sacred places, crucial objects,

z / UNESC viability of social practices, rituals and especially or natural resources necessary for the o festive events may also depend quite heavily on performance of social practices, rituals and uiz Sant general socio-economic conditions. The J The Samba de Roda of festive events. o © L hot

P preparations, the production of costumes and Recôncavo of Bahia, Brazil 12 . INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE DOMAINS

Knowledge and practices concerning flora, traditional healing systems, rituals, beliefs, nature and the universe initiatory rites, cosmologies, shamanism, Knowledge and practices concerning nature possession rites, social organisations, festivals, and the universe include knowledge, know- languages and visual arts. how, skills, practices and representations developed by communities by interacting with Traditional knowledge and practices lie at the the natural environment. These ways of thinking heart of a community’s culture and identity but about the universe are expressed through are under serious threat from globalisation. Even language, oral traditions, feelings of attachment though some aspects of traditional knowledge, towards a place, memories, spirituality and such as medicinal uses of local plant species, worldview. They also strongly influence values may be of interest to scientists and corporations, and beliefs and underlie many social practices many traditional practices are nevertheless and cultural traditions. They, in turn, are shaped disappearing. Rapid urbanisation and the k Nha Nhac, Vietnamese by the natural environment and the extension of agricultural lands can have a Court Music community’s wider world. marked effect on a community’s natural kk Vanuatu Sand environment and their knowledge of it; clearing Drawings

This domain includes numerous areas such as land may result in the disappearance of a sacred K The Indigenous Festivity traditional ecological wisdom, indigenous forest or the need to find an alternative source dedicated to the Dead, knowledge, knowledge about local fauna and of wood for building. Climate change, continued Mexico e entr vation C onser onument C o © Hue M hot P ouncil ultural C anuatu National C V o © hot P DOMAINS . 13

deforestation and the ongoing spread of deserts In addition to a rich pharmacopeia, the priest inevitably threaten many endangered species doctors of Kallawaya in Andrean Bolivia have and results in the decline of traditional developed a traditional medical system based on craftsmanship and herbal medicine as raw the knowledge of the indigenous peoples of the ultura de Bolivia materials and plant species disappear. Andean area. Kallawaya women incorporate io de C motifs from their community’s view of the er inist -M

Safeguarding a world view or system of beliefs is universe into the textiles they produce. ice V even more challenging than preserving a natural o © hot environment. Beyond the external challenges to Nha Nhac, Vietnamese Court Music, provides a P the social and natural environment, many means of communicating with and paying tribute underprivileged or marginalized communities to the gods and kings, as well as communicating e are themselves inclined to adopt a way of life or a knowledge about nature and the universe. entr purely economic development model which are vation C far from their own traditions and customs. In Senegal and Gambia, the legal protection onser of sacred forests as well as promoting protected onument C Protecting the natural environment is often areas management through training and

closely linked to safeguarding a community’s replanting threatened plant species has helped o © Hue M hot cosmology, as well as other examples of its safeguard the future of the Kankurang initiation P intangible cultural heritage. rite of the Manding community. , Senegal In Madagascar, an action plan to safeguard el the woodcrafting knowledge of the Zafimaniry

includes legal protections by establishing patents imoine cultur on a national and international level. This will help tion du patr

to protect graphic designs and motifs that are ec

closely linked to the identity of the Zafiminiry o © Dir hot community. Rare tree species used for crafting P materials are being replanted.

Vanuatu Sand Drawings, Oral and Graphic Expressions of the Wajapi (Brazil) and the Woodcrafting Knowledge of the Zafimaniry (Madagascar) are diverse forms of visual or decorative arts, each inspired by and expressing . Ségur/ZED the respective creation beliefs of their communities. o © J hot

New life will be given to the practice of sand P drawing in traditional communities by organizing new festivals and other community events to allow artists to demonstrate and pass on the art form. Legal and commercial regulations are also ouncil

being introduced to protect sand drawing’s status. ultural C It will be included as part of the standard curriculum taught to school children and a trust anuatu National C fund will be established to allow artists to generate V o ©

The Indonesian Kris, both weapon and spiritual Traditional Craftsmanship object, is believed to have magical powers. A Traditional craftsmanship is perhaps the most

ism of the bladesmith, or empu, makes the blade in layers of tangible manifestation of intangible cultural our T different iron ores and meteorite nickel. Empus are heritage. However, the 2003 Convention is mainly e and highly respected artisans who are also experts in concerned with the skills and knowledge ultur

y of C literature, history and occult sciences. Although involved in craftsmanship rather than the craft ndonesia inistr active and honoured empus who produce high- products themselves. Rather than focusing on

o © M quality kris in the traditional way can still be found preserving craft objects, safeguarding attempts hot P Republic of I on many islands, their number is dramatically should instead concentrate on encouraging decreasing, and it is more difficult for them to find artisans to continue to produce craft and to pass people to whom they can pass on their skills. their skills and knowledge onto others, particularly within their own communities. The most visible emblem of the Kihnu Cultural Space (Estonia) is the woollen handicrafts worn There are numerous expressions of traditional by the women of the community. Working in their craftsmanship: tools; clothing and jewellery; c Soosaar

a r homes using traditional looms and local wool, costumes and props for festivals and performing

o © M the women weave and knit mittens, stockings, arts; storage containers, objects used for storage, hot P skirts and blouses; many of the symbolic forms transport and shelter; decorative art and ritual

and colours adorning these striking garments are objects; musical instruments and household alusimbi W

education. Many of these objects are only hot P Barkcloth Making in Uganda involves some of intended to be used for a short time, such as humankind’s oldest knowledge, a prehistoric those created for festival rites, while others may technique that predates the invention of weaving. become heirloom that are passed from alusimbi

W Barkcloth is mainly worn at coronation and generation to generation. The skills involved in .K

o © J healing ceremonies, funerals and cultural creating craft objects are as varied as the items hot P gatherings, but is also used for curtains, mosquito themselves and range from delicate, detailed work screens, bedding and storage. With the such as producing paper votives to robust, rugged rance

, F introduction of cotton cloth by caravan traders, tasks like creating a sturdy basket or thick blanket. e

ultur production slowed and barkcloth’s cultural and

e de la C spiritual functions diminished, until its revival in Like other forms of intangible cultural heritage, èr

inist recent decades. globalization poses significant challenges to the , M e survival of traditional forms of craftsmanship. Mass ecomt In France, the ‘Maîtres d’Art’ system recognizes production, whether on the level of large dozens of exemplary craftspeople in fields as multinational corporations or local cottage o © JAlexis L hot

P diverse as musical instrument-making, textile arts industries, can often supply goods needed for and bookbinding. The aim of the system is to daily life at a lower cost, both in terms of currency support the transmission of their knowledge and and time, than hand production. Many skills to others. craftspeople struggle to adapt to this competition.

e Environmental and climatic pressures impact on entr

e C In the Lithuanian city of Prienai, a centre and traditional craftsmanship too, with deforestation ultur workshop have been set up to promote the area’s and land clearing reducing the availability of key olk C cross-crafting traditions. Here apprentices can natural resources. Even in cases where traditional learn cross-crafting from masters to meet the artisanship develops into a cottage industry, the o © Lithuania F

hot orders of local towns and private customers, both increased scale of production may result in P domestic and international. damage to the environment.

As social conditions or cultural tastes change, festivals and celebrations that once required elaborate craft production may become more austere, resulting in fewer opportunities for Local, traditional markets for craft products can L Barkcloth Making in artisans to express themselves. Young people in also be reinforced, while at the same time Uganda communities may find the sometimes lengthy creating new ones. In response to urbanization apprenticeship necessary to learn many and industrialization, many people around the traditional forms of craft too demanding and world enjoy handmade objects that are imbued instead seek work in factories or service industry with the accumulated knowledge and cultural where the work is less exacting and the pay often values of the craftspeople and which offer a softer better. Many craft traditions involve ‘trade secrets’ alternative to the numerous ‘high tech’ items that that should not be taught to outsiders but if dominate global consumer culture. family members or community members are not K The Indonesian Kris interested in learning it, the knowledge may In other cases, trees can be replanted to try and disappear because sharing it with strangers offset the damage done to traditional crafts violates tradition. reliant on wood for raw materials. In some ism of the our situations, legal measures may need to be taken T

The goal of safeguarding, as with other forms of to guarantee the access rights of communities to e and intangible cultural heritage, is to ensure that the gather resources, while also ensuring ultur y of C knowledge and skills associated with traditional environmental protection. ndonesia inistr

artisanry are passed on to future generations so o © M hot P that crafts can continue to be produced within Further legal measures, such as intellectual Republic of I their communities, providing livelihoods to their property protections and patent or copyright makers and reflecting creativity. registrations, can help a community to benefit from its traditional motifs and crafts. Sometimes, ism of the our Many craft traditions have age-old systems of legal measures intended for other purposes can T instruction and apprenticeship. One proven way encourage craft production; for example, a local e and of reinforcing and strengthening these systems is ban on wasteful plastic bags can stimulate a ultur y of C to offer financial incentives to students and market for handmade paper bags and containers ndonesia inistr teachers to make knowledge transfer more woven from grass, allowing traditional craft skills o © M hot P attractive to both. and knowledge to thrive. Republic of I With the support of the Government of Norway

Intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups,

and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus Chinese temple dr

promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity. K