Ms Alexandra DENES

• Lecturer, Department of Media Arts and Design, Chiang Mai University, Thailand

• Session 3: Presenter 1
• Session 5: Commentator 1

Brokering Intangible Cultural Heritage in Thailand: Lessons Learned from a Nomination Process

This paper begins with a review of the concept of “cultural brokerage” in the discipline of anthropology and the field of heritage studies to consider the intermediary role that researchers play as cultural brokers between communities and state and non-state actors. In keeping with the accepted definition of cultural brokerage in the field of applied anthropology, I argue that the primary role of cultural brokers is to serve as advocates who communicate the needs and viewpoints of communities to state and non-government agencies involved in the management of intangible heritage, with the aim of improving the quality of and relevance of interventions to safeguard ICH. My paper then turns to a discussion of my own experience as a researcher and “cultural broker” involved in facilitating the nomination of an element of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Thailand. Through this case study, I seek to illustrate that one of the challenges of cultural brokerage is coming to terms with the reality that communities are not monolithic in their views about how to safeguard their intangible culture. As such, one of the tasks of cultural brokers is to foster dialog among stakeholders acknowledging these differing perspectives, while at the same time encouraging collective decision-making about appropriate safeguarding measures. The paper concludes with suggestions for how researchers’ insights might be incorporated into the assessment of the ICH Convention’s impact, through mechanisms such as periodic reporting and conveying findings from ICH researcher meetings such as this one to the intergovernmental committee.

Dr. Alexandra Denes is cultural anthropologist specializing in heritage studies in Southeast Asia. She has been active in the field of intangible heritage since 2008, first as a senior researcher with the Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre in Bangkok, and now as a researcher and lecturer based at Chiang Mai University. She has published numerous academic articles based on her field research and involvement with communities in Thailand, including research on cultural rights at the Phnom Rung Historical Park in Buriram Province and on intangible heritage among the ethnic Khmer in Surin Province. She is presently a lecturer in the Media Arts and Design Program in the Faculty of Arts at Chiang Mai University and a certified UNESCO facilitator for the UNESCO Convention.