Benefitting country(ies): Kyrgyzstan
Overview:
Implemented by the Aigine Cultural Research Centre (CRC), the proposed project aimed at compiling a unified national inventory of sacred sites and rare ritual practices in Kyrgyzstan, as well as developing effective related safeguarding measures in the form of a national manual on safeguarding sacred sites and rare ritual practices. Such practices form an integral part of people’s traditional belief systems in the country, shaping their attitudes to each other and nature. Nonetheless, in the past decade or two they have been threatened by rapid urbanisation, technological advancements, the marginalisation of indigenous belief systems, and the generation gap between elders and youth. To tackle this situation, the key objectives of the project were to identify elements of living heritage related to sacred sites in the country and ensure their continued viability, improve public awareness about the importance of living heritage, increase stakeholders’ capacities to safeguard it, and ensure its successful transmission. Based on the findings from extensive research fieldwork carried out by the Aigine CRC from 2004 to 2014, the inventory was intended to strengthen the visibility of sacred sites, pilgrimage practices and the network of traditional practitioners and guardians, and be integrated into formal and informal education, serving as a tangible tool for teaching younger generations about intangible cultural heritage.
News and activities:
25/07/2018 - 31/12/2020 – Strengthening national capacities in the field of intangible cultural heritage safeguarding in Senegal25/03/2019 - 08/06/2020 – My Heritage, My Region: strategy for capacity-building in social management of the intangible cultural heritage in two departments of the Colombian Orinoco region