UNESCO Nomination Files
UNESCO Nomination Files
Embedded Files
UNESCO's World Heritage List is known around the world for its prestige. For the loosely related UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists, I've worked on several successful nomination files.
UNESCO's World Heritage List is known around the world for its prestige. For the loosely related UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists, I've worked on several successful nomination files.
Every year, UNESCO holds a committee meeting to select elements for inclusion on its living heritage lists. (Living heritage is also called intangible cultural heritage.) During these meetings, different nations present proposals to nominate heritage elements for placement on one of UNESCO's esteemed lists. I've had the privilege of co-editing several nomination files on behalf of the Republic of Korea and a few other nations. They were all accepted. Below are a few details.
Before Beginning
Before Beginning
It is important to note that the rules for nomination files are strict to say the least. There are directed language requirements and a several other rules. There is no room for creative license. In other words, as intergovernmental documentation usually is, the content is dry on the surface, but the subject matter can be potentially interesting. The goal of the nomination files is to fulfill prescribed requirements to be selected, and I'm happy to have been part of the process. Working as part of a multi-organizational team was educational. Approval of our hard work was just as satisfying.
Below I give some background for each of the four elements selected to the lists with links to the official UNESCO website for each listing.
Kimjang
Kimjang
Anyone familiar with Korean cuisine knows what kimchi is. However, few people outside of Korea may know that there is an entire community culture related to making kimchi. This kimchi-making culture is called kimjang, which is also Romanized as gimjang.
Nongak
Nongak
Also known as "farmer's music," nongak is a rather energetic performing art that primarily includes several percussive instruments. The performers dress in colorful costumes and generally play their instruments while acrobatically dancing. The performance developed in agricultural areas on the peninsula.
Tugging Rituals and Games
Tugging Rituals and Games
Tugging Rituals and Games (tug-of-war) was a multinational nomination involving rice-farming cultures of East Asia and Southeast Asia—namely, Cambodia, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, and Vietnam. The reason for such an unusual name for what most people call "tug-of-war" came, ironically enough, from the four representative countries arguing over the name. They didn't like the idea of using the term "war" since that evokes a sense of violence, and the rituals and games are anything but violent. They settled on Tugging Rituals and Games.
Culture of Jeju Haenyeo
Culture of Jeju Haenyeo
Haenyeo (sea women) are a culture of women free divers, mostly from Jeju Island. On the surface, this may seem like gee-whiz information; however, many of these women are aged well into their 80s, and they dive for seven hours a day during the harvest season. Aside from diving ten or so meters on a single breath to collect shellfish and seafood, their culture includes several rituals and songs.
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