IFACCA’s Deputy Director, Magdalena Moreno, was among a group of experts invited to present at the 2015 Sub-regional Meeting for Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding in Southeast Asia, held in Hanoi, Vietnam, from 5 to 8 October 2015.

The meeting was organized by the International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region under the auspices of UNESCO (ICHCAP) and the Vietnamese Institute for Musicology (VIM) and supported by the Minister of Culture. 

The theme for the meeting focussed on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Stakeholders Network Building and Utilization and two international case studies were presented: the International Network of Folk Arts (presented by its President, Carmen Padilla) and IFACCA (presented by Deputy Director, Magdalena Moreno). Professor Marc Jacobs, Vrije University & Director of FARO, presented on participation and mediation: safeguarding intangible cultural heritage in and with groups, communities and networks; Vanessa Achilles, UNESCO Office in Bangkok, presented on the Importance of Information and Network Building about ICH Stakeholders, and Deok Soon Kim, Section Chief, ICHCAP, presented suggestions of Collaborative Project: ICH Stakeholders Mapping in Southeast Asia.

The meeting also included presentations by representatives from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, about their ICH safeguarding programs, challenges and opportunities.  

Although IFACCA has not been closely engaged in the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, it was evident from the meeting that the vision of IFACCA, its services and resources are aligned to the values of UNESCO’s 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and in many cases applicable to supporting the arts, particularly at a grassroots level. IFACCA’s topic page on defining ICH is at http://www.ifacca.org/topic/heritage-defining-intangible-cultural-heritage/ 

IFACCA was grateful for the warm hospitality provided in Vietnam. 

Further details about the meeting can be found at: http://ichcap.org/eng/index/index.php

http://www.ifacca.org/topic/heritage-defining-intangible-cultural-heritage/