ICICH is excited to announce that the ICOMOS International Charter and Guidance on Sites with Intangible Cultural Heritage was approved at its recent Annual General Assembly in November 2024 in Ouro Preto, Brazil, and officially adopted by ICOMOS. This milestone marks the culmination of several years of dedicated work by the committee.

The ICOMOS International Charter and Guidance on Sites with Intangible Cultural Heritage aligns with the 2003 UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, for which ICOMOS is an accredited NGO, emphasizing the importance of intangible cultural heritage as a key aspect of the collective culture and experience of humanity. The tangible and intangible are inextricably linked. Traditional, social and cultural practices, along with the knowledge passed down through generations, provide understanding and add meaning, value, and context to objects, sites and other physical spaces.

Intangible cultural heritage and its links to sites are acknowledged in ICOMOS Charters, principles and declarations since the Kimberley Declaration on the Intangible Heritage of Cultural Spaces (2003), and the subsequent Teemaneng Declaration, which was first oulined in Kimberley, South Africa (2007).

This new Charter and Guidance was developed by a working group of ICICH, which included ICOMOS members from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Egypt, Finland, France, India, Mauritius, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Thailand. The process involved workshops and meetings with individuals both within and beyond the ICOMOS network, in collaboration with many other organisations and universities.

Within the international conservation framework established by ICOMOS, the International Charter and Guidance on Sites with Intangible Cultural Heritage addresses the deep relationships between diferents aspects of heritage and the communities that sustain them. It provides principles and guidance for professional heritage practices, including the management and protection of sites, documentation and recording, sharing and transmission, presentation and interpretation, managing change and conflict, and profesional training in heritage – all in permanent collaboration with stakeholders and community custodians.

• English – French version
• English – Spanish version

The letter on Philosophical Thought in Cultural “Heritage” is the product of dialogue and reflection between academics and indigenous peoples Deca, Molino, Juchitán (Hñahñu), San Mateo de Mar (Ikoots), Chinantla (Mixteca Poblana), Pinotepa Nacional (Ñusavi), Nunkiní, Campeche (Maya), Acatepec, Malinaltepec (Mè’phàà) and Ayotitlán, Jalisco (Nahua), as part of the research project “Study of the philosophy of how native peoples inhabit their territory. Cultural landscape, vernacular, and biocultural knowledge”, CF-2019/51229, funded by CONAHCYT, and developed by the following institutions: Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Cooperación Comunitaria, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia and the Universidad de Guanajuato.

Charter on Philosophical Thought in Cultural “Heritage”

La carta sobre el Pensamiento Filosófico en el “Patrimonio” Cultural es producto del diálogo y la reflexión entre académicas, académicos y pueblos originarios Cardonal y Tasquillo (Hñähñu), San Mateo de Mar (Ikoots), Chinantla (Mixteca Poblana), Pinotepa Nacional (Ñusavi), Nunkiní, Campeche (Maya), Acatepec, Malinaltepec (Mè’phàà) y Ayotitlán, Jalisco (Nahua), como parte del proyecto de investigación “Estudio de la filosofía de los pueblos originarios para habitar el territorio. Paisaje cultural, saberes vernaculares y bioculturales”, con clave CF-2019/51229, financiado por el CONAHCYT, el cual fue desarrollado por las siguientes instituciones: Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Cooperación Comunitaria, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia y la Universidad de Guanajuato.

Carta_Pensamiento_en_el_Patrimonio

ICICH is excited to support The ArchaeoLore Group Webinar series for 2024/2025.

September 2024 – May 2025, Tuesdays at 5 p.m. CET / 4 p.m. Portugal
Organizers: Alexandra Vieira and Katarina Botić

The aim of this series is to bring together researchers dedicated to the study of the following topics: archaeology, landscape, place names, and social memory (folklore, oral narratives, oral tradition). 

The ArchaeoLore Group believes that the valuable insights of archaeologists, anthropologists, linguists, folklorists, geographers, historians, and others, would greatly improve the holistic study of the past. The perspective and research interests of our lecturers closely align with the goals of the ArchaeoLore Group:

• the study of human-environment relationships, cultural manifestations and beliefs, humanized landscape interpretation and social memory, as well as the protection of intangible cultural heritage through transdisciplinary analysis that will contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the human experience, past and present
• to interpret cultural heritage through the study of archaeology, oral traditions, social memory, and place names, uncovering the connections between tangible and intangible heritage, revealing the ways in which cultural practices, beliefs, and stories are embedded in landscapes and passed down through generations
• to study the ways in which oral traditions, folklore and place names are linked to specific landscapes and archaeological sites

The ArchaeoLore Group webinars are an opportunity to share knowledge and provide a moment of productive interdisciplinary exchange, demonstrating the added value of collaborative research, providing the opportunity to engage in stimulating discussions and develop professional relationships with other researchers in the field.

• Click here to Register for free
• Click here to learn more
• Download a PDF with a description of all 9 webinars

Calendar of Webinars

24.09.2024. Katja Hrobat Virloget – Between archaeology and anthropology. Collective memory, liminal spaces, boundaries, and mythical landscape

22.10.2024. Alexandra Vieira – Sacred Landscapes: The Christianization of the Landscape in the North of Portugal

19.11.2024. Tõnno Jonuks – Biographies of sacred natural sites in Estonia – just a local history or potential research method?

03.12.2024. Loredana Lancini – The big Giant is watching you: studying natural phenomena and landscape through oral tradition and mythology 14.01.2025. Tomáš Klír – Archaeology and contact onomastics: Case studies from Central Europe

11.02.2025. István Kollai – Europeanization of national historical consciousness through castle renovation projects

18.03.2025. Marilena Papachristophorou – Lost palimpsests: searching for the memory of the past in East Aegean, Greece

22.04.2025. Patrick D. Nunn – Remembering Sea-Level Rise and Island Creation in Australian and Celtic Cultures

13.05.2025. Joana Valdez-Tullett – Rock Art, Landscape and the Prevalence of Collective Memory

The deadline for submitting abstracts for the international symposium, The Further Evolution of Authenticity through the Lens of Heritage Ecosystems has been extended until September 3 (Tuesday), 2024.

The symposium will be held in Takasaki, Japan, on January 10 and 11, 2025, and aims to explore the challenges we face by focusing on the concept of a heritage ecosystem. A heritage ecosystem is understood to encompass the cyclical and organic relationships among various elements that constitute the rich cultural and natural environment of the region and that are connected to the heritage. Because challenges to heritage are ever-changing, the concept of a heritage ecosystem offers a powerful framework for better coping with the challenges that confront us today and those to come.

Read the full call for papers on the website. 

The successful webinar, “Brajavali – a special literary language,” organized by ICOMOS India North East Zone on 10 November 2023 in collaboration with ICICH was publicized in The Assam Tribune. You can read more about the webinar in the article (below).  

Download a pdf of the newspaper — see page 8 for the article. 

A Poetic Documentary about Tibetan Ritual Mask Dance, Cham, by Aase-Hilde Brekke. 

1 June, 2022 15:00 – 17:00
Pilestredet, Oslo

Brekke will talk about how these particular dances are performed in honour of the Indian Guru and master Padmasambhava, also referred to as The second Buddha. The dances shows both wrathful and peaceful dances, originally a copy of the celestial beings. The dances are believed to bring purifications and blessings for the surroundings, and train the dancers and the spectators to meet the different Bardo-stages in death.

The monastery Tashi Jong in Tibet is well known for their elaborate dances, and they perform the dances four times a year. Due to the exile situation for the Tibetan refugees, they have lost a lot of costumes, masks and the religious texts as well.

As part of the programme, Brekke will also present ICOMOS’ work, and Eivind Falk will talk about ICOMOS’ and UNESCO’s work on Intangible Heritage.

Arranged by:  The research group Philosophy, Art and Culture, OsloMet, Oslo, Norway.

Click here to learn more

The Mask dance of the drums from Drametse was inscribed in 2008 (3.COM) on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (originally proclaimed in 2005) 

The programme offers small and large grants to document material knowledge systems that are under threat and in danger of disappearing. This includes knowledge systems associated with the making, use, repair and re-purposing of material objects, spaces, architecture, performances and environments. In order to qualify for these grants, these knowledge systems must still be actively pursued, or at least practiced within living memory of the knowledge holders. EMKP does not support work to revitalise a lost or forgotten tradition.

Small Grants can last up to one year with a maximum award of £15,000. Small Grants are intended for projects that are focused on a specific/individual material practice and which are limited in scope. They are also suitable for initial pilot work to establish the nature and extent of material knowledge systems where these might not be previously known, or for early career applicants who are building new projects.

Large Grants can last up to two years with a maximum award of £70,000. Large Grants are suitable for mature projects where intensive and more diverse documentation is proposed, a larger team is needed, multiple strands of work are happening simultaneously and/or more time is needed to complete the documentation (e.g. because of seasonal cycles of working)

Documentation methods can include, but are not limited to, film, audio recordings, photographs, written notes, maps, 3D images, and drawings. Successful applicants must agree to submit digital copies of these records to the British Museum’s EMKP digital repository, which is open access.

Applicants from across the world can apply for grants irrespective of nationality, although they must be affiliated to an institution that can provide independent oversight and reports to EMKP. There is no restriction on where the proposed work can be carried out; however, strong preference is given to projects in regions and countries where there is limited financial support available for research.

Learn how to apply on the programme’s website.

On 20 September, 2020, ICOMOS India (North East Zone) in association with ICICH hosted the webinar on “Bihu: An Agrarian Festival of Assam.” Highlights of the webinar included the following presentations:

• Glorious Intangible Heritages of Bihu festival, Pradip Neog
• Vyah-gowa Ojapali, Dilip Changkaoty

The event was covered in an article published by the Assam Tribune.

Videos

View examples of the intangible heritage related to the festival:

• Bihu dance
• Bihu Husori – example 1
• Bihu Husori – example 2
• Jeng Bihu
• Playing Gogona in Bihu
• Vyah-gowa Ojapali

Celebration of the Kati Bihu festival of Assam at the Auniati Sattrat, Majuli, 17 October 2020. Photographs by Samiran Goswai

Thursday 5th November 2020, 14:00-16:00 Helsinki time on ZOOM

Organized by the Finnish Heritage Agency

What does sustainable development mean in practice? How can it be better taken into account while working with living traditions? What can I and my organization do more for a better world?

Learn more about the relation of sustainable development and living heritage. You will also learn how to use the wheel chart in your own work.

The workshop is in English, it is free and open for all. It is intended for anyone working in the field of culture, for NGOs, museums, researchers, educators, government organisations, entrepreneurs…

Learn more and print out your own Wheel Chart from our website.

Register by the 29th Oct the latest to receive the link to participate: https://ssl.eventilla.com/wheelchart

La Finnish Heritage Agency organise un atelier en ligne le 5 novembre 2020 après-midi, sur inscription, autour de la “Wheel Chart of Sustainability and Intangible Cultural Heritage“, support de sensibilisation et de formation aux liens entre patrimoine culturel immatériel & développement durable.

Traduit en français par le ministère de la Culture (DGP – DPRPS), l’outil peut être téléchargé en ligne : https://www.aineetonkulttuuriperinto.fi/en/article/kestavan-kehityksen-kompassi-ja-aineeton-kulttuuriperinto