Intangible Cultural Heritage Of Humanity Research Articles

Rethinking Mande Studies with Shaka Bagayogo: Imagining Post-National Futures in West Africa

Rethinking Mande Studies with Shaka Bagayogo: Imagining Post-National Futures in West Africa Rosa De Jorio (bio) The journal Mande Studies brings together international, interdisciplinary, French, and English contributions on the Mande people, their histories, and cultures. However, since its inception, the journal has covered topics that transcend any presumed boundaries of “the Mande.” Its first volume, for example, focused on relations between Mande and Fula peoples. The volume foregrounded mobility not only as a way of life, but also as a feature of one’s identity, recognizing that ethnic distinctions were to some extent negotiable in the course of people’s travels and relocations (e.g., de Bruijn and Van Dijk 1999; Howard 1999). Subsequent volumes focused on a wealth of disparate topics, beyond themes falling squarely within the bounds of Mande Studies (e.g., oral literature, divination, etc.). These volumes included such diverse subjects as the Mali of Modibo Keita, insecurity in the Sahel, gender relationships and identities, and social movements. Throughout its twenty-three years of existence, Mande Studies has covered a multiplicity of topics that the concept of ethnicity or language family, even when reconfigured as changing, porous, and contextual, fails to clarify. My connection to Mande Studies dates from the start of my professional career when I published an article on marriage and marriage renegotiations in Mali (de Jorio 2002). I was contributing to a special issue on gender, coordinated by Barbara Hoffman, former president of MANSA and longtime contributor to Mande Studies (Hoffman 2002). Stephen Belcher and Ariane Deluz were editing the journal at the time and encouraging young scholars to contribute. Mande [End Page 193] Studies, its editors, and the contributors who gravitated around it formed a particularly welcoming community (see also Grosz-Ngaté, this volume). As current editor-in-chief of Mande Studies, I have collaborated closely with the past two presidents of MANSA, Joseph Hellweg and Sten Hagberg, who have supported my commitment to soliciting contributions from, and supporting scholars of, diverse academic traditions, across multiple continents, and at different stages of their professional careers. I therefore wish to contribute to the debate on the future of Mande Studies by exploring the meanings of “Mande” as more than just a language family or congeries of related ethnic groups. I explore the uses of Mande in relation to the creation of cultural heritage, primarily in Mali and with some occasional references to Guinea. The political reimagining and appropriation of cultural practices and memories of the past, taken together, constitute one of my ongoing research interests (e.g., de Jorio 2016). The “heritagization” of the Mande past has played a key role in the construction of postcolonial Mali and Guinea. The Malian state has consistently invested in the preservation and valorization of selected aspects of Mande identity as key to national unity. National initiatives such as the National Ballet, the National Instrumental Ensemble of Mali, Youth Week (later known as the Biennales), and others have brought performers together from across Mali to share their local performance practices with each other for the state-sponsored purpose of creating a Malian national identity (Bagayogo 1992, 32). Investment in cultural patrimony remains a state priority, although it increasingly occurs in collaboration with various entities such as NGOs and cultural organizations, in addition to the ubiquitous presence of international aid. More recently, the state has invested in valorizing the “Manden Charter,” considered one of the world’s first constitutions.1 The Charter, after being codified and written down, was recognized as a distinctive part of Mali’s national heritage, although neighboring Guinea had also applied, unsuccessfully, for such recognition. The Charter was inscribed on UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009. The emphasis on cultural heritage, as a key site for articulating national identity, has had considerable, lasting ramifications for Malian political culture, especially as a discursive field saturated with references to reimagined precolonial and colonial pasts. While Mande cultural heritage has been studied through a romanticized ethnological lens,2 more critical readings of the uses of the past also exist, but they have remained marginal to current debates. It is within this context that I analyze the work of the...

Musical sustainability vis-à-vis intangible cultural heritage: safeguarding and incentives in the Feast of the Virgin of Candelaria, Puno, Perú

ABSTRACT Both comparative assessment of the concept of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) and developments in musical sustainability, to ensure the viability of grassroots musical practices, have been important concerns among applied ethnomusicologists over the last decade. This paper identifies some of the challenges in the dialogue between these two approaches from an implementation perspective via the case study of the nomination process of the Feast of the Virgin of Candelaria of Puno, Perú to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The article analyses the incentives for state officers, music practitioners, and other stakeholders in ICH projects to assess their compatibility with musical sustainability frameworks. I argue that the main challenge in aligning these two approaches resides in the conflicting incentive structures both approaches feature. This paper advances current research on musical sustainability, ICH, and applied ethnomusicology by introducing conceptual developments for the analysis of institutional frameworks, partisan agendas, and decision-making processes.

Following the threads of social magma: Neurodiversity as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity (UNESCO)

“Neurodiversity” is a magmatic term, it defines at the same time, a concept and a set of communities. The neurodiversity communities are built primarily online and are agitated by various controversies. They share contradictory concepts, variegated literatures and expose gestures representative of their neurological differences. Despite their differences, the communities agree upon the necessity to protect neurodiversity from an external threat that is yet to be defined. We can use the UNESCO representative list of intangible cultural heritage as a co-writing frame in order to emulate controversies on Reddit neurodiversity threads and emulate discussions on the concept of neurological heritage, its limits and its risks. This action-research project offers a participative writing frame in order to identify cultural elements of the neurodiverse movements and disentangle the threads of social magma.

Mediterranean Diet, a Sustainable Cultural Asset

The Mediterranean diet is a dietary pattern and associated lifestyle that adopts mainly plant foods. The Mediterranean diet (MD) has been acknowledged by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity since 2013, a candidacy involving seven countries in the area, including Portugal, aiming to safeguard the MD in its multiple dimensions. The corresponding food system is recognized as healthy and sustainable by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and by the World Health Organization (WHO), inspiring dietary guidelines around the world. The current entry examines the sustainability and resilience of the Mediterranean dietary food pattern, using the Portuguese as a case study to examine the feasibility of prospective composite indicators in assessing the sustainability of diets and food systems. Information extracted from reports and official statistics was used to assess a set of proposed metrics. Although information to fulfil most metrics was found, some data gaps were identified, highlighting the need to improve existing metrics. The current work highlights the role of science and policy in transforming four key areas of human–nature interaction: use of natural resources, food systems, production and consumption, and cities’ sustainability. Since sustainable production and consumption (SGD 12) is key to the UN’s 2030 agenda, it is important to analyze to what extent the dissemination of the Mediterranean diet among the population can be a way to achieve this goal.

Covid 19 and the Durga Puja Decoration Artisans of West Bengal: Mapping the Crisis of an Unorganized Sector in South Asia

The sufferings of the unorganized sector have increased manifold in the current times, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in developing countries like India. The present study attempts to examine the precarious conditions of the decoration artisans of Krishnanagar (Nadia District) and Kumartuli (Kolkata City) areas of West Bengal, India during the COVID-19 pandemic. The overall analysis comparing the Pre-COVID-19 situations with the situation conditioned by the pandemic indicates a significant loss of annual turnovers during the times of the pandemic. The rise in the price of raw materials and shortage of labour supply caused by lockdowns and Covid-related restrictions have affected the livelihood mechanisms of the decoration artisans in both places. This has severely affected the market distribution chain of the artefacts of the decoration artisans encompassing the Indian and international markets. The study attempts to provide some policy recommendations for the survival of the decoration artisans which can assist the government and policymakers towards sustainable planning and provision of inclusive growth which is very important in the context of the addition of Durga Puja to the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, preserving both heritage and economy in the long run.

Review and Prospect of the Inclusion of Chinese Abacus in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

This study adopts the field survey method. The purpose of the research is to track the changes of abacus culture and education in the past 12 years, and focuses on the changes in the key three years before and after the inclusion of the Chinese abacus in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity through the resolution by the “United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization” (UNESCO) in 2013. Therefore, this study is divided into two stages of time axis: the first stage is from 2013 to 2016, namely the three years after Zhusuan was listed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, in which the protection and revitalization of Zhusuan were discussed through field investigation, a questionnaire prepared by the researcher, and in-depth interviews. The second stage is from 2016 to 2019, in which the work reports of representatives of various countries in these three years were interviewed through the network to collect data and discuss the inheritance and dissemination of Zhusuan culture. The research results show that, since 2019, the cultural education of “Zhusuan—knowledge and practices of mathematical calculation through the abacus” has expanded from the Chinese cultural circle to non-Chinese cultural circles, and the cross-cultural education of Zhusuan and cultural and educational industry cover five continents around the world. This not only reflects the role played by the “Belt and Road Initiative” in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, but it also makes the Chinese abacus part of a truly world-class Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. According to the research results, the researcher puts forward three suggestions: 1) from a protection project to education inheritance; 2) from folk customs to cultural regeneration; 3) from the folk economy to social practice.

Héjon erjesztett natúrborok vizsgálata

The ancient white wine making technology, the “qvevri”, is gaining more and more attention among consumers, not only because it is unique and special, but also because sustainability and closeness to nature are fundamental characteristics of this winemaking process. All of this is demonstrated by the fact that this ancient Georgian process using traditional clay vessels was added to the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013, and in 2020, The International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) included skin-fermented white wine in the category of special wines. This wave is also present in Hungary, since “natural” wine and “orange wine” have already appeared in a 2021 law as „Other restricted terms”. The essence of the winemaking process is skin-contact fermentation and microoxidation, for which a number of vessels can be used: amphoras or qvevris, ceramic eggs or spin barrels, as a function of which the chemical composition of the wines may vary, as well as the formation of the precursor compounds of the aroma components. In this study, natural wines produced in the Tokaj wine region, using amphoras and ceramic egg vessels were examined.

The Neo-traditionalism of the Manden Charter

The Manden Charter, according to tradition, was adopted in 1236 at Kurukan Fuga (Mali), after the victory of Sunjata Keita, legendary Mali ruler, over Sumaoro Kante, general of susu troops. It is a corpus of rules that was created to organize the Mali Empire. In 2009, UNESCO inscribed the Charter on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The Charter, like the Hunters’ Oath (1222), belongs to the oral tradition and was documented only in 1998. Therer are many oral variants of text. So there is controversy about its authenticity. Basing on the results of my previous research, it is safe to say that the Charter conveys the main social norms of Manden society and its social structure, however, it contains also some modern ideas. In Guinea, near Niagassola village, there is a place similar to Kurukan Fuga, where until recently the main Manden families gathered to make important decisions. Informants said that Sundiata himself was there also. The Charter may be even more significant today than it used to be, which is why it has become the center of attention both among the Manden peoples and abroad. Like every oral tradition the Charter makes changes in history, and this alternation of history is inevitable, because history is important not just for the past, but for present and future of the peoples. Today the Charter is an important element in Manden’s self-identification.

МУЗЫКАЛЬНЫЙ ИНСТРУМЕНТ ДАНБАУ У КИТАЙСКОЙ НАРОДНОСТИ ЦЗИН: ОСПАРИВАЕМОЕ ТРАНСГРАНИЧНОЕ НАСЛЕДИЕ И ИЗОБРЕТЕНИЕ ТРАДИЦИИ

The article is devoted to the controversial situation around the Vietnamese monochord đàn bầu (duxianqin), which is common in the PRC among the Jing people. The proclamation of đàn bầu as an intangible cultural heritage in the PRC and its’ representation as an element of China’s multiethnic culture are causing tension in Vietnam. In 2019 Vi-etnam submitted a dossier to UNESCO to include the đàn bầu in the List of Masterpieces of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and this step was made because of concerns that China might “appropriate” Vietnamese cultural heritage.

What’s in a dance? Dalkhai: from a religious community ritual, to a pro-scenium performance

An educational international project, initiated by a Romanian organisation, comprising folk dances from around the world, has challenged me to go deeper into understanding one of the most popular dance forms of Western Odisha, Dalkhai. Traditionally a religion-based folk dance connected to the agrarian culture of local Adivasi communities, it has been gradually developed into a cultural pattern of Odisha, Eastern India. Considering folklore as intangible cultural heritage of humanity, according to UNESCO definition, I explore the expression of this ritual-dance, in connection to the Adivasi culture, as Dalkhai is considered the goddess of fertility, initially worshipped by the tribal people/Adivasi like Mirdha, Kondha, Kuda, Gond, Binjhal, etc., but also in its recent metamorphosis into a proscenium representation. The Dalkhai dance is becoming visible and recognised at state, national and even international form of dance, while in the Adivasis communities it is noted that the ritual becomes less and less performed. Consulting the UNESCO definitions and documents on Intangible Cultural Heritage is useful for understanding how to approach a choric ritual, involving a tradition, music and dance, enhancing the importance of safeguarding cultural diversity while confronting cultural globalization. Its approach, in accordance with ‘universal cultural rights’, emancipatory politics concerning world culture and multiculturalism, opposes the disappearances and destruction of local traditions, indigenous practices. Heritage concerns the whole community, conferring an identity feeling, and supporting the transmission to the next generations, sustainable development, often involving economic stakes, becoming essential for developing the territories (Chevalier, 2000).

Who Participates in Popular Feasts and Festivals? An Empirical Approach from Cultural Economics Applied to the Carnival of Barranquilla (Colombia)

The empirical analysis of individual participation in local and popular feasts and festivals is a field little explored by cultural economists. This article proposes a methodological scheme to analyse the profile of the participants in local and popular feasts and carnivals, allowing the establishment of a taxonomy that captures the heterogeneity of the participants replicable to other festivities and carnivals around the world. Similarly, participation equations that allow the analysis of the influence of context variables on individual decisions to participate in these types of events are estimated. For this, the Carnival of Barranquilla, the largest and most representative popular celebration in Colombia and declared by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, is used as a case study. The data were obtained from the Citizen Perception Survey of the Barranquilla Cómo Vamos programme, which evaluates the quality of life and the fulfilment of development plans in that city, and an empirical strategy is employed consisting of the estimation of a probit discrete choice model, which allows modelling the individual decisions of a time-intensive good, such as a carnival, with a strong influence of traditional variables, such as cultural capital and the availability of leisure time, and other context variables: location of people in the territory, stratification and poverty. The different profiles found offer information on the different strategies that can be implemented from public policy to stimulate greater participation by the population in popular festivities and festivals.

From Unicorns to Lipizzan Horses. Romanian Folklore Studies on the Way to the Implementation of the UNESCO 2003 Convention

Abstract As a country officially engaged in the intangible cultural heritage (hereafter ICH) inventorying and other safeguarding mechanisms of the UNESCO 2003 Convention, Romania provides an example of how folklorists strive to transcend the traditional rules of their discipline and to adapt their methodology and overview to supporting the implementation of the Convention. Starting from the recent Romanian contribution to the multinational file for inscribing the “Lipizzan horse breeding traditions” on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, this paper highlights the counterbalancing influences encountered during this process. Given the distance between this ICH element and the topoi that stand in the mainstream of Romanian folklore studies, the author will provide arguments for considering horse husbandry as a worthy example of living heritage in Romania, ensuring visibility to this tradition in a context dominated by the definition of folklore as an artistic or expressive phenomenon that is being (re)presented as ICH and less by folklife and aesthetic social and cultural manifestations. Using other examples of Romanian living heritage less visible at the level of scholarly and policy initiatives, the author pleads for a middle ground between traditional folklore studies and the theory and current practices of documenting living heritage. The topic may thus contribute to greater efforts to break the old rules of the discipline, turning experts’ eyes from mythological horses to real ones.

The Preservation Strategy of Written Batik as a Cultural Heritage (Case Study Of GunawanSetiawan Batik in Kauman Batik Tourism Village, Solo –Central Java, Indonesia)

Batik, with a unique style, reflectsthe prosperityofIndonesian culture. UNESCO officially designated batik as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. One of the batiksin Indonesia is original hand-written batik.Batik Gunawan Setiawan is a local batik company remainsproducing traditional hand-written batik. Hand-made batikfaced few problems includingless competitive with printingbatik, scarce raw materials, and the lack of batik artist regeneration. Thisresearch aims to describe Gunawan Setiawan's Batik strategyfor maintainingsustainable written batikbusiness. This study uses structural functionaltheorydeveloped by Talcott Parsons. This is a qualitativestudy supported bya case study approach. The data were collected through in-depth interview, observation, and documentation. Data validity was tested with source triangulation. Afteranalyzing datawith data reduction, presentation, and conclusion, fact-findings indicate that to preserve written batikthe current strategycovers batik training program, writtenbatik fashioninnovation, batik-linked socialevents, direct selling promotion, mixed social media branding, joint Kauman batik tourism village,and regular Kauman batik exhibitionin Solo Batik Museum.

The Implementation of the POPMAR (Policy, Organising, Planning and Implementing, Measuring Performance, Audit and Reviewing) Model in Occupational Health and Safety Risk Management in an Indonesian Batik Company

Introduction: In 2009, UNESCO declared Batik Indonesia as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This study examines the occupational health and safety hazards and risks that arise in a Batik company based on a case example of a Batik company in Surakarta, Indonesia. In Indonesia, Batik is categorized as traditional attire. Two kinds of Batik are produced - Batik tulis (traditionally handcrafted) and Batik printing, which uses specific printing tools. The UK Health Safety Executive (HSE) risk assessment framework is referred to in this study, which consists of: hazard identification, population exposure, risk evaluation, precaution development, recording findings, and regular appraisal of systems. Methods: Both observation and interviews (of workers) at the Batik company were utilized for this study as well as an independent risk assessment. Results: The findings highlighted physical, ergonomic, chemical, mechanical, and biological hazards, originating from the materials, tools, and working methods utilized in the batik production. Conclusion: Many of the issues highlighted by this study can be addressed via in-depth risk assessment, using the POPMAR model to frame the activities. This approach can create a positive pathway, leading to a continuous cycle of improvement which puts the workers’ health at the forefront of the business activities.Keywords: Batik, workers, hazard identification, HSE Model, risk management

Gastronomy as a Sign of the Identity and Cultural Heritage of Tourist Destinations: A Bibliometric Analysis 2001–2020

Gastronomy represents a significant part of the cultural heritage and identity of tourist destinations; however, related scientific literature is scarce. Considering these aspects within the field of tourism and hospitality, and selecting the articles written in English indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus from 2001 to 2020, the objective of this research is twofold: (1) to present a bibliometric analysis of the literature on gastronomic heritage (71 articles); and (2) to analyze some aspects (main topics, frequency of key terms, methods, and data sources) of the research on case studies in Asia and Europe (46 articles), as they are the most prominent regions on the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity (UNESCO). The study shows the temporal evolution of the literature on gastronomic heritage in parallel with UNESCO’s actions on cultural heritage. The results reveal that most articles relate gastronomic heritage to the sustainability of tourist destinations, and that European case studies address sustainability more than Asian studies do. Regarding the methodology to analyze Asian and European case studies, qualitative research predominates. Within quantitative studies, the use of online content generated by consumers and marketers as a data source is rare.

Characterization of the dry stone heritage of the Barrocal region (Algarve, Portugal)

The paper aims to value the diverse and important dry stone heritage located in the Barrocal area (Algarve, Portugal). The dry stone construction technique and the set of constructions that derive from its application are present in all parts of the world where stone is present. Throughout the Iberian Peninsula and specifically in the territory of Portugal, there are different dry stone constructions that make up the rural landscape. They are an example of the work in the field and the use of local natural resources during different generations. The recognition by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (2018) highlights the importance of maintaining a construction technique that, transmitted orally, is materialized in different constructions according to the constructive heritage and the stone typology of the nearby environment. The study focuses on a specific partially cultivated area of the Barrocal where different types of construction of dry stone elements exist. Starting from the contextualization of the studies carried out throughout Portugal, the predominant dry stone constructions of the Barrocal, the area with the greatest presence of a variety of types of the Algarve, are being identified, recorded and analysed. The work provides a classification of the present constructions in the area linked to their use and provides data on the construction characteristics and the typology of the stone. The knowledge of these constructions makes it possible to explain the economic and social context of a certain period and to plan reactivation measures for other economic sectors not linked to tourism. The Algarve, one of the most touristic areas of Portugal, has focused most of its economy on beach tourism, leaving the cultural and dry stone architectural heritage almost unnoticed.The constructions and the dry stone construction technique are a way of preserving the rural landscape and the cultural memory so that the benefits related to ecology and biodiversity are observed through this document.

ANALISA STANDARISASI MUSEUM BATIK DENGAN PENDEKATAN KEARIFAN LOKAL BUDAYA ARSITEKTUR SURAKARTA

Batik, which is rich in symbols and philosophies for the Indonesian people, has now been recognized by UNESCO as a Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The beginning of the emergence of batik in Indonesia is in the city of Solo, and comes from the Pajang kingdom 400 years ago. With the passage of time, batik continues to grow and produces various variations and innovations, from raw materials to the drawn motifs. However, it is very unfortunate that not all of the previous heritage batik can be maintained. Recently, there has been a batik museum created by individuals or institutions, but in the design, some interior elements are less than optimal in their arrangement. So they don't affect the batik stored or on display. In this research, focus of the discussion is on standardization which discusses spatial planning, facilities, collections, lighting, ventilation, acoustics and museum security, which are combined with local wisdom of Surakarta architecture, so that the data becomes a batik museum with character and can preserve the stored batik. This research uses a case study of the Surakarta batik museum, and the final results of this study can be used as a guide for designing a museum with fabric materials in it.

Post-UNESCO Effect

Chhau, a traditional masked dance form of West Bengal has been enlisted as ‘UNESCO- Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, 2010’. In 2015, UNESCO along with the MSME of Government of West Bengal developed a ‘Rural Craft Hub’ in Chorida village of Purulia district centring Chhau. Consequently, tourism in the area got international and national patronage. This entire phenomenon encouraged the commercialization of the traditional dance and craft form associated with Chhau as a result of heritagization. Unfortunately, the implication of the heritagization happened in a flawed fashion which eventually led to folklorization and institutionalization while compromising their contextual significance. The paper explores how heritagization ensures the sustainability of intangible tradition like Chhau while leading to folklorization and institutionalization of performance and craft. The paper also documents the history and ritualistic significance of Chhau to draw a lucid comparison between the traditional form and the form which is the result of folklorization. The paper establishes that the Heritagization- Folklorization- Institutionalisation are intertwined with each other in the context of Chhau. From the interviews of the tourists and locals associated with Chhau, it is evident that the organization concerned with policy making should keep it in mind that an enormous distortion of craft and performance comes along when the target buyers in the market are alien to the traditional context. In such a scenario, the contextual significance of a craft form can be kept intact if the targeted buyers can be made aware of the contextual and functional relevance of the folkloric element that they are consuming in its modernized version.

Traditional Fermented Beverages of Mexico: A Biocultural Unseen Foodscape.

Mexico is one of the main regions of the world where the domestication of numerous edible plant species originated. Its cuisine is considered an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and ferments are important components but have been poorly studied. Traditional fermented foods are still diverse, but some are endangered, requiring actions to promote their preservation. Our study aimed to (1) systematize information on the diversity and cultural history of traditional Mexican fermented beverages (TMFB), (2) document their spatial distribution, and (3) identify the main research trends and topics needed for their conservation and recovery. We reviewed information and constructed a database with biocultural information about TMFB prepared and consumed in Mexico, and we analyzed the information through network approaches and mapped it. We identified 16 TMFB and 143 plant species involved in their production, species of Cactaceae, Asparagaceae, and Poaceae being the most common substrates. Microbiological research has been directed to the potential biotechnological applications of Lactobacillus, Bacillus, and Saccharomyces. We identified a major gap of research on uncommon beverages and poor attention on the cultural and technological aspects. TMFB are dynamic and heterogenous foodscapes that are valuable biocultural reservoirs. Policies should include their promotion for conservation. The main needs of research and policies are discussed.

Entexted Heritage: Calligraphy and the (Re)Making of a Tradition in Contemporary China

From medieval times to the present, calligraphy has been theorised as a product of “spirit” rather than of the hand, and has b­een situated atop the Chinese aesthetic hierarchy. Recognising calligraphy as a key aspect of national identification, the People’s Republic of China applied for its recognition to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Through the process of constructing calligraphy as Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), a simplified calligraphic canon emerged, which epitomises the “correct spirit of tradition.” Building on art historical and anthropological questions of transmission and authentication of the classical tradition of calligraphy, this paper challenges this idealised conceptualisation by investigating how a contemporary Chinese ICH regime has worked to “entextualise” calligraphy into present social and political circumstances.