Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) refers to the non tangible aspects of cultures; songs, dances, languages, ideas, knowledge etc. It even refers to practices, and other cultural expressions of people and groups.
ICH also includes things like artifacts and cultural spaces which communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. Before you go further, here is a video you can watch, that talks about ICH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuTSC9TB5Ds
ICH unfortunately is something that is disappearing quite fast in many parts of the world, as places modernise, as people move or relocate, as technological changes happen.
Many communities, governments and groups associated with cultural heritage are concerned with the preservation and safeguarding of these unique and precious part of our cultures and heritage. Many places view the identification, protection and promotion of intangible cultural heritage as critical as the world undergoes rapid socio-economic transformation.
From ways of cooking, to communication, to celebrating festivals, to methods of fishing, ICH is almost boundless when it comes to varieties. And that means, there is also a variety of ways to safeguard (protect and preserve) these ICH.
Many countries and governments are now paying attention to these previously seldom discussed part of our collective identity, with many countries these days investing time and money to safeguard threatened intangible aspects of culture and heritage and ensuring they are passed down to the next generation.
What ICH is and is not intangible cultural heritage must not be wrongly misunderstood as only containing inherited traditions from the past; it also does at times, include contemporary rural and urban practices in which diverse cultural groups take part.
Intangible cultural heritage are passed from one generation to another, and often has evolved in response to their environments. This we need to know and not mistakenly view ICH as nothing to do with contemporary environments. Intangible cultural heritage does not give rise to questions of whether or not certain practices are specific to a culture.
What makes ICH so complex? One of the things that make ICH complicated to understand and to safeguard is that because it has a variety of types, is intangible and also is hard to measure. It is difficult to measure the loss or the recovery, difficult to quantify how much of it is lost, and difficult to measure the economic costs needed to finance its preservation.
It is also complicated because we often are unable to quantify how the loss of ICH has impacted our lives. What economic loss to our lives and society has it caused/created? What about non-economic loss? How does the disappearance of some foods in your culture cause a loss in your community?
What are your views?
ICH is perhaps also complicated because the intangible aspects of culture are often difficult to express and document. They pose complexities when it comes to safeguarding. Who owns them? What is considered as authentic?
