IJIH

IJIH volumes Vol.9

Foreword

Author : Jingi Cheon

IJIH volumes Vol.9

Editorial

Author : Alissandra Cummins

IJIH volumes Vol.9

Sacred water: rediscovering the ancient hydraulic system of Angkor and traditional knowledge of water management and engineering systems

Author : Peou Hang

[Introduction]
The Angkor region was the capital of the Khmer Empire for more than 500 years. Angkor was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1992; it is a living site with 112 villages. Angkor not only has its temples but also intangible heritage that is being discovered every day by researchers. Angkor was recognised by Bernard-Phillip Groslier (of
the École Française d’Extrême-Orient – EFEO) in the 1950s and 1960s as the ‘Hydraulic City’ because the city is organised around an immense water management network (Groslier; 1979), but the functioning of this water network was not understood at that time. It was only after 2004-2005 that Khmer researchers discovered how it functions.

IJIH volumes Vol.9

Marshal Nezha ‘transformed’: Techno Nezha in Taiwan

Author : Leo Yuan

A Taiwanese folk god – Marshal Nezha - has been recreated as ‘Techno Nezha’ for various religious ceremonies in Taiwan and some other parts of the world and has become very popular with the public. Techno Nezha is especially well-liked by the younger generation and serves as a very good example of cultural continuation. He has provided us with a new concept for the way ICH can develop and survive.

IJIH volumes Vol.9

Excellence and authenticity: 'Living National (Human) Treasures' in Japan and Korea

Author : Noriko Aikawa-Faure

This article first reviews the Japanese system for the protection of the intangible cultural heritage (ICH), notably how the system of ‘Living National Treasures’ and the protection of ‘Folk Cultural Properties’ have been implemented in the country. It then goes on to describe the Korean system which seems similar but in fact is different in its objectives and approaches. The paper then refers to UNESCO’s efforts to promote a ‘Living Human Treasures’ system worldwide. Finally, it questions whether the official recognition of selected expressions of the intangible cultural heritage is a universally suitable measure to ensure the global safeguarding of ICH and notably of folk cultural expressions.

IJIH volumes Vol.9

The value of memory: Suakin’s cultural heritage - significant for whom?

Author : Shadia Taha

The distinguished medieval port of Suakin (Sudan) is frequently referred to in formal reports and literature as the ‘abandoned port of Suakin’. It is cited and commended for its tangible heritage. Suakin has been on Sudan’s World Heritage Tentative List since September 1994. Its proposed nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage List was based on its archaeological, historical and architectural values, whereas the rich intangible heritage, the uses of heritage and its significance to the contemporary community, and their strong attachment was not taken into account in the nomination for world heritage status. Using ethnographic research, this article explores the heritage which has been overlooked and omitted from official archaeology, history and heritage. The research illustrates how Suakin continues to form a central part of the Suakinese culture and remains a place of history, pride, ancestors, memory, myth, traditions, home, belonging and identity. Heritage management in Sudan needs to consider the inter-connected nature of the tangible and intangible values of Suakin’s cultural landscape.

IJIH volumes Vol.9

ICHPEDIA, a case study in community engagement in the safeguarding of ICH online

Author : Soon Cheol Park

This article presents a new paradigm of safeguarding methods through digital platforms and technology. Since 2010, a group of researchers in Korea have been developing a new experimental methodology of inventorying intangible cultural heritage (ICH) utilising a new concept of collective intelligence and advanced information technologies. The research team established Ichpedia, a web-based ICH encyclopedia and archive. The purpose of Ichpedia is four fold. First, it functions as the most efficient digital ICH inventorying system available using modern information technologies. It is possible to record and retain the dynamic features of ICH through the use of multi-media resources. Secondly, Ichpedia can facilitate interactivity between information providers and users so that ICH communities, groups and individuals can directly access the system as information providers or editors. Using the functions of the system, their voices can easily be disseminated to the public. Such cooperative work will encourage more awareness and identification of the fragility of ICH. Ichpedia will therefore be instrumental in improving the understanding of ICH communities and individuals and finding better safeguarding methods. Thirdly, Ichpedia can reduce the economic burden of establishing a highly efficient database system. It is easy and simple to use but offers high efficiency compared to other web-based ICH encyclopedias worldwide. Ichpedia has the advantage of being the least expensive option for the development and maintenance of such a system. Lastly, it is hoped that Ichpedia will pave the way for digital innovation in the area of ICH recording with the free and open distribution of the digital platform and technologies.

IJIH volumes Vol.9

A network of traditional knowledge: the intangible heritage of water distribution in Bahrain

Author : Britta Rudolff & Muhammad alZekri

Traditional knowledge of the system of water distribution to farmlands sharing the same scarce fresh water resources has created relationships which are based on justice and equal rights among members of the farming communities of Bahrain. Over the centuries, the need to manage water irrigation led to the development of customary codes which regulated schedules of irrigation, the division of water resources and their equitable distribution. This framework was informed by both pre-Islamic customary oral traditions and Islamic ethics, and was transmitted from generation to generation. The inherited intangible heritage of irrigation law is complex and remained in use until the 1960s. In more recent times, individual farmers using water pumps and networks of pipelines of government treated sewage effluent (TSE) were not motivated to maintain traditional water management customs and have consequently stopped attending communal gatherings and disregarded the customary laws which regulated notions of fairness among them for centuries. The resulting uncontrolled usage of the underground aquifers by those digging their own wells has in many areas, led to over-exploitation of water resources and to the increased salinisation of the underground water reservoirs. At present, initiatives are being set up to raise awareness of the importance of the customary irrigation laws in ensuring the fair distribution and sustainability of a rare resource on the island. Fortunately, a number of Bahraini farmers continue to follow the traditional codes and have become valuable knowledge bearers who are encouraged to share their wisdom and skills with their colleagues. In this article, the authors document aspects of the sophisticated intangible heritage of customary water irrigation law in Bahrain, covering its features, key players, and the cross-generational transmission as part of an oral knowledge system, which in parts survived and in other parts ceased to exist. They further highlight how this ancient knowledge can become a basis for sustainable water resource management in Bahrain, as well as playing a role in disseminating notions of fairness, equity and consent, public deliberation and conflict resolution in a local context.

IJIH volumes Vol.9

Bruegel and Burke were here! Examining the criteria implicit in the UNESCO paradigm of safeguarding ICH: the first decade

Author : Marc Jacobs

Several masterpieces by the 16th century painter, Pieter Bruegel from the Low Countries, can function as eyeopeners to understand how ‘popular culture’ is mediated or how successful multi-media inventories can be for cultural repertoires. These paintings were also used in Peter Burke’s Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe. In order to fully understand the recent developments before and since the 2003 UNESCO Convention, it is necessary to situate these in a long term perspective, and Burke’s book remains a relevant classic. This exercise helps us to recognise a number of implicit or invisible criteria for the lists of the Convention - like the ‘no-electricity’ rule. For the UNESCO lists, both popular and court/elite forms of culture from outside Europe seem to qualify, but for Europe, only expressions of popular culture are listed; the ‘elite culture’ tacitly falls outside the scope, up to now. Waiting for a wikipedia-like formula with peer review to facilitate a really representative list, the New Delhi consensus expressed in the first paragraphs of the operational directives holds up to now: easy criteria, but a hair-splitting treatment of the forms and bottle necks and dams in the pipelines of processing the files, in order to slow down the inflation effect that would follow mass inscription. The constructivist nature of the definition of intangible cultural heritage in Article 2 of the 2003 Convention, and the possibility of using the lists - and registration system - to create eye-openers and precedents allows for innovation and change.

IJIH volumes Vol.9

eNanda Online: sharing Zulu cultural heritage on the Internet

Author : Sabine Marschall

‘eNanda Online’ is a newly established, interactive, completely bilingual (English and isiZulu) website project that aims to digitally record and share the oral history and living cultural heritage of a predominantly Zulu community outside Durban on the South African east coast. The site contains personalised accounts of rituals and customary practices, memories of ‘unsung heroes’ and videos with custodians of ‘living heritage’, along with tourist information. In the long run, the site’s interactive character is meant to facilitate community self-documentation. The paper illustrates how this project represents a new approach in the collection, promotion and safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, allied with the objectives and recommendations of important national and international policies and legislation. It then critically discusses some of the shortcomings and challenges associated with collecting and preserving living cultural heritage on the Internet. The paper concludes with some wider considerations about the project’s contribution and its potential future.

IJIH volumes Vol.9

Altai Kazakh falconry as ‘heritage tourism’: the Golden Eagle Festivals of Western Mongolia

Author : Takuya Soma (相馬拓也) & Battulga Sukhee (Сүхээ Баттулга)

Falconry (or hawking), a centuries-old method of hunting, survives in the Altaic Kazakh pastoralist community in Bayan Ulgii (Баян Өлгий/Bayan Ölgii) Aimag (Province) , in Western Mongolia. The hunters specialise in hunting foxes with female golden eagles. Over the last decade, the spread of heritage tourism has brought about positive and negative changes in the tradition. It has also changed the attitude of local eagle hunters towards people and especially towards tourists. Since 2000, the establishment of the Golden Eagle Festival (Бүргэдийн наадам/ бүркіт той) has changed falconry from a way of hunting into something that provides demonstrations and entertainment for tourists. This research reports on the ambivalent situation of the Altaic Kazakh eagle hunters with (1) a survey of the attitudes of local eagle hunters in the Altai, Sagsai, Tolbo and Ulaanhus Sum (Counties), (2) interviews with the authorities concerned, and (3) ethnographic documentation based on participant observation. The research describes the role of the Golden Eagle Festival which has become the force for major changes in the tradition of hunting with eagles. New eagle owners are coming on the scene while at the same time traditional hunting activities are almost disappearing. It seems that some eagle hunters now hold eagles without having any knowledge about taming and hunting. The local falconry culture is more complex than ever before and the hunters have various views of the situation. Finally, to focus on this cultural transition from ‘living tradition’ to ‘post-contextual culture’, this study sets out to identify criteria and create a master plan for the cultural sustainability of Altaic Kazakh falconry in order to conserve it as ‘on-going’ intangible cultural heritage.

IJIH volumes Vol.9

E-Folklore and cyber-communication among Emirati youth

Author : El-Sayed el-Aswad

The objective of this article is to explain the emergence of a new mediated heritage-social sphere and the articulation of a contemporary Emirati identity that transforms traditional oral heritage into an innovative form of electronic folk heritage. The literature addressing changes in folk heritage caused by the flourishing of new media, as well as off- and on-line social networking in the UAE, is scant. This research seeks to fill that gap by showing how Emirati nationals have succeeded in assimilating outside influences without deserting their heritage, and how global and local forms of communication have generated unique cultural patterns that help Emirati people maintain their identity, authenticity and social connectivity in a globally changing world. The study shows that the Internet provides information zones, enhancing people’s knowledge, and interaction zones, strengthening people’s social relationships. To understand these two domains, this inquiry addresses online heritage and cybercommunication as used by both the UAE government (formal network) and ordinary people (informal network). For the purpose of theorising e-folklore, this research proposes a paradigm dealing with the content and form of heritage by bridging traditional/oral and technical/textual forms of communication. For Emirati young people, focusing on content allows for unusual engagement with the past through technologies that have the potential to shape and influence their future heritage. Emirati folk heritage has undergone a sort of ‘cyber-communication’ or ‘internetisation’, which means a process through which core elements of folk heritage are mediated by the Internet, reaching diverse audiences and allowing for broad public participation.

IJIH volumes Vol.9

Samulnori: Contemporary Korean Drumming and the Rebirth of Itinerant Performance Culture

Author : Hilary Vanessa Finchum-Sung

IJIH volumes Vol.9

Music as Intangible Cultural Heritage. Policy, Ideology and Practice in the Preservation of East Asian Traditions

Author : Patrick Boylan

IJIH volumes Vol.9

Sustaining Living Culture / Environmental Preservation and Cultural Heritage in China / Intangible Natural Heritage: New Perspectives on Natural Objects

Author : Amareswar Galla, PhD

IJIH volumes Vol.9

Brief biographies of the Authors

Author : Volume9

IJIH volumes Vol.9

Instructions to contributors

Author : Volume9

IJIH

Volume 9

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Main Papers

Book Reviews