Myanmar begins to experience inventorying of its intangible cultural heritage

5 November 2014

After having benefitted from a workshop on the implementation at the national level of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, Myanmar ratified the Convention in May 2014 and now presses on with fundamental steps in the inventorying of its living heritage.

A national workshop on community-based inventorying of intangible cultural heritage has assembled various stakeholders including government officials and community practitioners in the Inle Lake region in Southern Shan State, from 27 October to 3 November 2014, with the primary aim to develop and implement a framework for the inventory of its intangible cultural heritage.

This workshop represented an important step towards the safeguarding of the living heritage of Myanmar. It focused on community participation in the identification and inventorying of intangible cultural heritage, data collection, organization and management, and hands-on experience in preparing field work. All this has been reinforced though two days of field practice within local communities in Taunggi, Kyauk Tine and Inle Lake areas and this exercise will continue in the coming months with pilot inventories in different communities.

The workshop is part of a two-year national project being implemented in Myanmar thanks to a generous contribution from Norway to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund and it has been facilitated by two members of the network of UNESCO-trained experts, Noriko Aikawa-Faure from Japan and Paritta Koanantakool from Thailand.

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