59th Korea Emerging as Intangible Heritage Hub in Asia
By Chung Ah-young
Staff reporter
After nearly half a century of protecting its intangible cultural heritage, Korea has become especially keen on promoting the idea of international safeguards for intangible properties.
So it is no wonder that Korea's Intangible Cultural Heritage Center for Asia and the Pacific (ICHCAP) received category II status under the auspices of UNESCO at its 35th General Conference in Paris this month.
"The center is the first international organization sponsored by the UNESCO in cultural sectors to be housed in Korea," Park Seong-yong, executive director of the center, said in an interview with The Korea Times.
The proposal to create the center was approved by UNESCO because the government demonstrated its commitment to support and implement the organization's programs to safeguard intangible cultural heritages.
Park said that among other things, the nation's continuous efforts to enhance regional safeguarding were highly appreciated in UNESCO's approval.
Category II means the member nation supports financing, provides facilities and projects under the auspices of UNESCO.
"We've made enormous efforts to win approval for the center over the last five years. In the process, the government's commitment was counted as the most important factor," he said.
Korea first launched the intangible cultural heritage protection system under the Cultural Properties Protection Law in 1962. The most notable effort was the government's proposal to UNESCO in 1993 to establish the Living Human Treasures System as a means of promoting the transmission of knowledge and skills of intangible cultural heritage practitioners, which was followed by a series of annual international training workshops.
In addition, the Arirang Prize, created by Korea in 2000, is awarded by UNESCO to those making significant contributions to the protection of intangible heritage.
"With the accumulated experience and knowledge regarding the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage, Korea is now playing a leading role in enhancing regional safeguarding capacity in Asia-Pacific region," the director said.
Korea started its campaign for the center's approval in 2003 following the Convention for Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The government delegation officially announced its intention to set up the center during the 33rd UNESCO General Conference in October 2005.
In September 2006, the Establishment Initiative for the Intangible Center for Asia-Pacific (EIIHCAP) was launched under the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation, which is funded and supported by the Cultural Heritage Administration.
The official pitch to build the center in Korea was made in the spring of 2008. In November that year, EIIHCAP changed its name to the Intangible Cultural Heritage Center for Asia and the Pacific.
The proposal underwent a feasibility study in January followed by discussions at the 181st session of UNESCO's Executive Board.
Park said that before winning approval, it has helped Asian countries such as Mongolia, Vietnam and India set up living treasure systems with technological and academic support.
In the recent conference, China and Japan also gained approval for centers in their countries. Their roles, however, will be different.
While the center in Korea will focus on information and networking, the center in China will focus on training and the one in Japan will conduct research on safeguarding intangible heritage.
"The center in Korea will be expected to play a leading role in facilitating information sharing and networking in the Asia and Pacific region in the era of information technology," Park said.
The director said that the center will establish an information system to ensure effective management of intangible cultural heritage data through the construction of a database; support identification and documentation of such heritages; conserve and digitalize archival materials; and support the development of metadata standards.
"It will be a kind of archive center to preserve cultural resources through information networking among China, Japan and Korea. Information technology-based archiving is very important because the intangible cultural heritages are changeable over time. We expect the center to become a hub to facilitate information and technology archiving in the Asia-Pacific region," he said.
Park also said that the cooperation and division of the roles among the three states will create a synergy effect.
Bulgaria in Europe and Iran in Southwest Asia will also house centers in their countries.
"Asia is emerging as a region abundant in intangible cultural heritages. It represents about 60 percent of the world's population, and has rich human treasures. Asia is getting the spotlight in the preservation of the intangible cultural assets," Park noted.
The director also expects to raise the domestic system and the environment of intangible cultural heritages to international levels through activities at the center.
"The international concept of intangible heritages is very wide, and includes the knowledge system, for example. We hope that such international standards will be applied to the domestic environment."
The director emphasized the urgent need to protect intangible cultural heritages as they are rapidly disappearing in the fast-changing, modernizing, urbanized and globalized world.
The center will officially reopen as the UNESCO-sponsored center next year and move to a new site in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, around 2013.
To seek better operations at the centers, the International Conference on Information and Networking for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritages will be held in Seoul at the Grand Hilton Hotel from Nov. 3 to 4.
South Korea has eight traditions that are registered under UNESCO's Representative List, including the "pansori" epic chant and the Royal Ancestral Ritual at the Jongmyo Shrine.