Category
669 public knowledge systems connected to this registry facet.
Adinkra
Akan visual symbols used in cloth, architecture, funerary practice and public design to carry philosophical, ethical and social concepts.
Mrammuo and goldweight knowledge
Cast brass goldweights used in trade, measure, diplomacy and proverbial communication across Akan contexts.
Agbamevor and related weaving traditions
Strip-woven cloth traditions where technique, pattern, naming and social use carry histories of making and identity.
L’« hatajo de negritos » et l’« hatajo de pallitas » de la côte sud-centrale du Pérou
‘Hatajo de Negritos’ and the ‘Hatajo de Pallitas’ from the Peruvian south-central coastline are two complementary expressions featuring music and singing as part of Christmas celebrations, hailing from the central department of Ica in Peru. The expressions are biblical representations of the story of the visit of a group of shepherds to...
Le 'ie Samoa, ou natte fine, et sa valeur culturelle
The ‘Ie Samoa is a special finely hand-woven mat fastened at the hem with two rows of green and red feathers, and a loose fringe on one end. Traditionally woven with fine strippings of the pandanus plant, the final product is silk-like. Its shiny coppery colour adds to its value as it is a testament to its age and the natural bleaching...
Les connaissances et les savoir-faire musicaux ancestraux d’Aboxan Musik ǀŌb ǂÂns tsî ǁKhasigu
Aboxan Musik ǀŌb ǂÂns tsî ǁKhasigu, ancestral musical sound knowledge and skills relates to the specific traditional music of the Nama people, one of Namibia’s tribal minority groups. It involves the use of traditional musical instruments: the khab (musical bow) and !guitsib (traditional guitar), usually played by men or women, and the...
L’Ahellil du Gourara
Performed during collective ceremonies, the Ahellil is a poetic and musical genre emblematic of the Zenete population of Gourara. This region in southwest Algeria includes some one hundred oases populated by over 50,000 inhabitants of Berber, Arab and Sudanese origin. The Ahellil, which is specific to the Berber-speaking part of...
L'aitysh/aitys, art de l'improvisation
Aitysh/Aitys is a contest centred on improvised oral poetry spoken or sung to the accompaniment of traditional musical instruments – the Kazakh dombra or Kyrgyz komuz. Two performers (''akyns'') compete with one other to improvise verses on topical themes in a battle of wits that alternates between humorous ripostes and penetrating...
L’artisanat de l’ak-kalpak, connaissances et savoir-faire traditionnels liés à la fabrication et au port du chapeau masculin kirghiz
Ak-kalpak craftsmanship is a traditional Kyrgyz handicraft. The Ak-kalpak is a traditional male hat made with white felt, which bears deep sacral meanings. Ak-kalpak craftsmanship is a cumulative, ever-evolving body of knowledge and skills passed down by craftswomen in the communities concerned comprising felting, cutting and sewing and...
L’Akiu no Taue Odori
In the Akiu no Taue Odori, residents of the town of Akiu in northern Japan pray for a good harvest by simulating in dance the actions involved in transplanting rice. Performed since the end of the seventeenth century in communities throughout the region, the Akiu no Taue Odori today takes place during festivals in the spring or autumn....
Le tissage à la main de la piña des Aklanons
Piña is a textile made from pineapple leaf fibres and woven using a handloom. Farmers harvest the leaves of the pinya Bisaya, a specific pineapple species, and extract the fibres by hand. The fibres are weighed using a local unit of measurement and method involving old coins of different denominations. The knowledge and skills of piña...
Al aflaj, système traditionnel d’irrigation aux EAU, traditions orales, connaissances et savoir-faire liés à sa construction, à son entretien et à la distribution équitable de l’eau
Al Aflaj and the related oral traditions, knowledge and skills of construction, maintenance and equitable water distribution are a source of pride for the associated communities. Al Aflaj is a traditional irrigation system which uses an underground tunnel to conduct water over long distances from an underground source to a basin, where...
Le programme éducatif Al Sadu : former les formateurs à l’art du tissage
The Al Sadu Society developed the Educational Programme: Train the Trainers in The Art of Weaving in collaboration with the Arts Department in the Ministry of Education, in order to raise awareness about traditional Al Sadu weaving among younger generations in Kuwait. A national curriculum was developed, along with training workshops to...
Al Sadu, tissage traditionnel dans les Émirats arabes unis
Between 2011 and 2023, a safeguarding programme was put in place to address the risk of disappearance of Al Sadu weaving, whose know-how is preserved by a dwindling number of older women. Thanks to the combined efforts and resources of social actors, research, documentation, knowledge transfer, dissemination, marketing support, and...
Al talli, savoir-faire traditionnels de la broderie aux Émirats arabes unis
Talli is a traditional handicraft practised in various parts of the United Arab Emirates. Today, the demand for Talli is at its highest before religious festivals (Eids) and the marriage season in the summer. Also known as Alseen, Talli is usually created with a combination of six cotton threads separated by a silver thread in the...
Al-Ayyala, un art traditionnel du spectacle dans le Sultanat d’Oman et aux Émirats arabes unis
Al-Ayyala is a popular and expressive cultural performance practised in north-western Oman and throughout the United Arab Emirates. Al-Ayyala involves chanted poetry, drum music and dance, and simulates a battle scene. Two rows of about twenty men face each other, carrying thin bamboo sticks to signify spears or swords. Between the rows...
Al-Bar’ah, musique et danse des vallées du Dhofar d’Oman
Al-Bar’ah is a Bedouin musical tradition from the Dhofar mountains in southern Oman. It takes the form of a warlike dance performed to drums and the chanting of poetry in a local tribal dialect. Al-Bar’ah is performed in a half circle formed by ten to thirty men and women. As they chant and clap, two male dancers holding ''khanjars''...
Al-Jertiq : pratiques, rituels et expressions pour la préservation, la protection, l’abondance et la fertilité au Soudan
Among the Nubian populations residing in northern Sudan, along the Nile, up to the Egyptian border, Al-Jertiq is a ritual for protection, fertility and abundance that is held during significant life events such as marriage, childbirth and circumcision, or to mourn the death of a young, unmarried man. Although the ritual has adapted over...
Al-Khanjar, compétences artisanales et pratiques sociales
Al-Khanjar is a part of traditional dress worn by men in Oman during national and religious events and special occasions such as weddings. An essential element of Omani culture, its manufacture requires significant knowledge and skills that are transmitted from one generation to next. The Omani khanjar is attached around the waist and...
L'arbre Mihrass: connaissances, compétences et rituels associés
Al-Mihrass is a type of olive tree notable for its size and age. The care of these ancient trees including grafting, pruning, fertilizing and harvesting requires traditional knowledge and skills that have been passed down through generations. The olive harvest takes place between October and early November, with families and neighbours...
L’Al-Qatt Al-Asiri, décoration murale traditionnelle par les femmes de l’Asir (Arabie saoudite)
Al-Qatt Al-Asiri, a traditionally female interior wall decoration, is an ancient art form considered as a key element of the identity of the region of Asir. It is a spontaneous art technique carried out largely by women today in the community that involves decorating the interior walls of their houses, specifically rooms for visiting...
L’al-Qudoud al-Halabiya
Al-Qudoud al-Halabiya is a form of traditional music from Aleppo with a fixed melody. Sung for religious and entertainment purposes, the lyrics vary according to the type of event. Well-versed singers can improvise lyrics according to what is happening around them. They are known to use deep vocals and to reach a peak while holding a...
L’Al-Razfa, un art traditionnel du spectacle
Al-Razfa is a traditional performing art practised throughout the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman. It is performed by men of all ages and classes during social occasions, such as weddings and national festivals. Male performers form two facing lines with dancers filling the space between. Led by the main singer, the two...
L’épopée Al-Sirah al-Hilaliyyah
This oral poem, also known as the Hilali epic, recounts the saga of the Bani Hilal Bedouin tribe and its migration from the Arabian Peninsula to North Africa in the tenth century. This tribe held sway over a vast territory in central North Africa for more than a century before being annihilated by Moroccan rivals. As one of the major...
Al-Zajal, poésie déclamée ou chantée
Al-Zajal is a form of Lebanese folk poetry declaimed or sung at social and family celebrations and in daily life. The performers, both men and women, express themselves either individually or collectively on a variety of themes including life, love, nostalgia, death, politics and daily events. During poetic jousts, troupes of poets and...
L’ala-kiyiz et le chirdak, l’art du tapis traditionnel kirghiz en feutre
Traditional felt carpets are one of the foremost arts of the Kyrgyz people and an integral part of their cultural heritage. The Kyrgyz traditionally produce two types of felt carpets: Ala-kiyiz and Shyrdaks. Knowledge, skills, diversity, the semantics of ornamentation, and the ceremonies of creating carpets are all important cultural...
Alardah Alnajdiyah, danse, tambours et poésie d’Arabie saoudite
Alardah is a traditional performance combining dance, drumming and chanting poetry that signifies the start and end of notable occasions, such as religious holidays, weddings, births, graduation ceremonies, or events of national or local significance. It is considered a fundamental component of the cultural expressions of the practicing...
Alheda’a, traditions orales de l’appel des troupeaux de dromadaires
Alheda’a is an oral polyphonic expression accompanied by gestures or musical instruments played by herders to communicate with their camels. The rhythmic expression is inspired by poetry, and the herder uses a unique repository of sounds that the camels have become accustomed to in order to direct herds through the desert or pasture to...
L'Almezmar, danse du bâton au son des tambours
Almezmar is a traditional group performance practised by members of the Hijazi community in Saudi Arabia for festive occasions, such as family and national celebrations, religious holidays or government events. It involves about 15 to 100 practitioners dressed in long white garments who begin by standing in two rows opposite each other....
Saison d’alpage
In Switzerland, alpine pasture season refers to the period between May and October, when cattle, sheep and goats are driven to high-altitude pastures to take advantage of the extra forage. During this time, alpine farmers of all genders care for the animals, maintain the pastures, fences and buildings, process the milk into cheese and...
Les techniques ancestrales et traditionnelles d’élaboration du « Poncho Para’i de 60 Listas » de la ville de Piribebuy, République du Paraguay
The Poncho Para’í de 60 Listas de Piribebuy is a handmade garment from Paraguay consisting of three parts: the body, the fringes and the fajita or guard. Each part entails different crafting procedures which are carried out collaboratively by women weavers. To create the poncho, the practitioners weave three types of cotton threads,...
La méthode géorgienne de vinification à l’ancienne dans des kvevris traditionnels
Qvevri wine-making is practised throughout Georgia, particularly in village communities where unique varieties of grapes are grown. The Qvevri is an egg-shaped earthenware vessel used for making, ageing and storing the wine. Knowledge and experience of Qvevri manufacture and wine-making are passed down by families, neighbours, friends...
La cosmovision andine des Kallawaya
The Kallawaya ethnic group, based in the mountainous Bautista Saavedra region north of La Paz, traces its roots to the pre-Inca period. Like many aspects of Andean culture, the Kallawaya’s practices and values have evolved through the fusion of native and Christian religions. The principal activity of the Kallawaya involves the practice...
La marche des sonneurs de cloches du carnaval annuel de la région de Kastav
During the January carnival period, bell ringers march through the villages that dot the Kastav region in north-west Croatia. Clothed in sheepskin throws with bells around their waists and sporting distinctive hats embellished with sprigs of evergreen, two to more than thirty ringers swagger in groups behind a guide carrying a small...
Le pèlerinage annuel au mausolée de Sidi ‘Abd el-Qader Ben Mohammed dit « Sidi Cheikh »
Every year, nomadic and settled Sufi communities undertake a pilgrimage to the mausoleum of the Muslim mystic, Sidi ‘Abd el-Qader Ben Mohammed (Sidi Cheikh), located in El Abiodh Sidi Cheikh. Beginning on the last Thursday of June, three days of religious rituals and secular festive events honour the founder of the brotherhood. The...
Antep İşi, une broderie au fil tiré de Gaziantep
Antep Isi, or drawn thread embroidery, is a centuries-old needlework technique that traditionally involves working on white fabric with white thread. The threads are drawn and cut to create designs and patterns that have been passed down for centuries. Today, the embroidery is sometimes made using coloured fabrics and threads. Drawn...
La calligraphie arabe : connaissances, compétences et pratiques
Arabic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting Arabic script in a fluid manner to convey harmony, grace and beauty. The practice, which can be passed down through formal and informal education, uses the twenty-eight letters of the Arabic alphabet, written in cursive, from right to left. Originally intended to make writing...
Le café arabe, un symbole de générosité
Arabic coffee highlights an important aspect of generosity in Arab societies and the associated traditions of hospitality. Serving and drinking Arabic coffee is a daily ritual for communities, groups and individuals. It is served at weddings and tribal gatherings (reconciliation and conflict resolution majalis) in all submitting States...
Le kohl arabe
Arabic Kohl is both a craft and a social practice that is integral to the lifestyle of Bedouin and nomadic tribes, as well as rural, marshland, and fishing communities in the Arab region. It is a fine black powder used as eyeliner by people of all genders, serving not only as a cosmetic but also for protection against wind, sand and...
L’argan, pratiques et savoir-faire liés à l’arganier
The argan tree is an endemic woodland species found in the Arganeraie Biosphere Reserve in south-west Morocco. Rural women and, to a lesser extent, men living in the reserve practise traditional methods to extract argan oil from the fruit of the tree. Different tasks, transmitted by means of imitation and through non-formal education,...
Le Festival international de la culture et de la pêche d'Argungu
Every year in the north-west of Nigeria, communities gather to participate in the Argungu International Fishing and Cultural Festival near the Matan Fada River. The four day festival, which runs between late February and March, features kabanci – a series of water competitions including hand fishing, canoe racing, wild duck catching –...
L’art des croix de pierre arméniennes. Symbolisme et savoir-faire des Khachkars
Khachkars are outdoor steles carved from stone by craftspeople in Armenia and communities in the Armenian diaspora. They act as a focal point for worship, as memorial stones and as relics facilitating communication between the secular and divine. Khachkars reach 1.5 metres in height, and have an ornamentally carved cross in the middle,...
L’écriture arménienne et ses expressions culturelles
Armenian letter art and its cultural expressions constitutes the centuries-old art of Armenian letters, Armenian scripts, the rich culture of decorating letters and its various uses. The element is based on the Armenian alphabet created in 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots, following the ‘one-letter-for-one-sound’ principle. The element is also...
L’art des Akyn, conteurs épiques Kirghiz
The predominant form of cultural expression among the Kyrgyz nomads is the narration of epics. The art of the Akyns, the Kyrgyz epic tellers, combines singing, improvisation and musical composition. The epics are performed at religious and private festivities, seasonal ceremonies and national holidays and have survived over the...
L’art des Ashiqs d’Azerbaïdjan
The art of Azerbaijani Ashiqs combines poetry, storytelling, dance and vocal and instrumental music into a traditional performance art that stands as a symbol of Azerbaijani culture. Characterized by the accompaniment of the ''saz,'' a stringed musical instrument, the classical repertoire includes 200 songs, 150 literary-musical...
L’art de la gravure de sceaux chinois
The art of seal engraving is a cornerstone of Chinese fine arts. The seal was originally used as a signature or sign of authority, but it came to be used by all social classes and in much of Asia. The Seal Engravers’ Society of Xiling in Zhejiang Province, central China, which was founded a century ago, preserves the art of seal...
L’art de fabriquer et de jouer du kobyz
The kobyz, made and played in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan, is a traditional string instrument with an arc shape and two strings made from horsehair. The body is covered with leather and includes detailed decorations made from local wood such as mulberry or apricot tree. A special bow, also made...
L’art de fabriquer et de jouer la mbira/sanza, lamellophone traditionnel au Malawi et au Zimbabwe
The art of crafting and playing Mbira/Sansi, the finger-plucking traditional musical instrument in Malawi and Zimbabwe, plays a key role in the communities concerned. The basic Mbira/Sansi instrument consists of a wooden board with metal keys attached on top, and the instrument is sometimes mounted on a calabash/wooden resonator. The...
L’art de la fabrication et de la pratique du rubab/rabab
One of the oldest musical instruments in Central, South and Southwest Asia, the rubab is a string instrument made with dried mulberry wood collected in deserts. It is played on many occasions, including for celebrations, weddings, funerals, gatherings and ritual healings. It is also a leading instrument in orchestral and contemporary...
L’art de fabriquer et de jouer du kamantcheh/kamanche, instrument de musique à cordes frottées
The art of crafting and playing with Kamantcheh/Kamancha (‘little bow’), a bowed string instrument, has existed for over 1,000 years. In the Islamic Republic of Iran and Azerbaijan, it constitutes a major element of classical and folkloric music, and performances occupy a central place in a wide number of social and cultural gatherings....
L'art du đờn ça tài tử, musique et chants, dans le sud du Viet Nam
A musical art with both scholarly and folk roots, Đờn ca tài tử is an indispensable part of the spiritual activity and cultural heritage of the people of southern Viet Nam. The music and songs evoke the people’s life and work on the land and rivers of the Mekong Delta region. Performed at numerous events such as festivals, death...
L’art de la construction en pierre sèche : savoir-faire et techniques
The art of dry stone construction refers to the practice of building with stone without using binding material. Practised in various countries in Europe, it requires an innate understanding of geometry and physics, as well as skills to handle the raw materials used. Dry stone construction is achieved through the careful selection and...
L’art de la miniature
The miniature is a type of two-dimensional artwork that involves the design and creation of small paintings on books, papier-mâché, rugs, textiles, walls, ceramics and other items using raw materials such as gold, silver and various organic substances. Historically, the miniature was exemplified by book painting in which the text was...
L’art de jouer, chanter et fabriquer la lahuta
The lahuta is a single-stringed wooden instrument with a sound box covered in leather and a carved neck that is made, played and sung with by which the rural communities of north and northwestern Albania. The instrument is handcrafted from wood such as maple or walnut, with strings once made of horsehair and now often nylon. It is...
L’art de la poterie du peuple Chăm
Chăm pottery products are mainly household utensils, religious objects and fine art works, including jars, pots, trays and vases. They are made by women and viewed as an expression of individual creativity based on the knowledge transmitted within the community. Instead of using a turntable, the women revolve around the piece to shape...
L’art de la danse xòe du peuple tai au Viet Nam
Xòe is a form of Vietnamese dancing with movements that symbolize human activities in ritual, culture, life and work. It is performed at rituals, weddings, village festivals and community events. There are three main types of xòe: ritual, circle and presentational. The ritual and presentational xòe dances are named after props used...
Les savoir-faire artisanaux et la culture de la baguette de pain
The baguette is the most popular kind of bread enjoyed and consumed in France throughout the year. The traditional production process entails weighing and mixing the ingredients, kneading, fermentation, dividing, relaxing, manually shaping, second fermentation, marking the dough with shallow cuts (the baker’s signature) and baking....
Les processus et techniques artisanaux des fibres végétales pour le tissage des talcos, crinejas et pintas du chapeau pinta’o
The artisanal process of obtaining the plant fibres for weaving talcos, crinejas and pintas used to make pintao hats is a manual process carried out using five plants and swamp mud. Artisans weave braids and create talco weaves with different designs and pintas. Participants either plant, process the raw materials, weave or create the...
Processus de fabrication de la talavera artisanale de Puebla et de Tlaxcala (Mexique) et de la céramique de Talavera de la Reina et d’El Puente del Arzobispo (Espagne)
The processes of making the artisanal talavera of Puebla and Tlaxcala (Mexico) and ceramics of Talavera de la Reina and El Puente del Arzobispo (Spain) are identified with two communities in both Mexico and Spain. The ceramics have domestic, decorative and architectural uses. Despite changes over time and the developments ceramics have...
Les arts, savoir-faire et pratiques associés à la gravure sur métaux (or, argent et cuivre)
Engraving on metals such as gold, silver and copper is a centuries-old practice that entails manually cutting words, symbols or patterns into the surfaces of decorative, utilitarian, religious or ceremonial objects. The craftsperson uses different tools to manually cut symbols, names, Quran verses, prayers and geometric patterns into...
La tradition Âşıklık (de l’art des trouvères)
The Âşıklık (minstrelsy) tradition of Turkey is performed by wandering poet-singers known as ''âşıks.'' Dressed in traditional clothes and plucking a stringed ''saz,'' the âşık is a common performer at weddings, in coffeehouses and during public festivals of all sorts. The âşık is called in a dream to undertake a long apprenticeship in...
La tapisserie d’Aubusson
A centuries-old tradition, the craft of Aubusson tapestry consists of weaving an image using processes practised in Aubusson and a number of other localities in the Creuse region of France. This craft produces mainly large decorative wall hangings but also rugs and pieces of furniture. Aubusson tapestry can be based on an image in any...
Ayeneh-Kari, l’art du travail du miroir dans l’architecture persane
Ayeneh-Kari, or mirror-work, refers to the handcrafted art of decorating architectural surfaces such as ceilings, walls, domes, columns and panels using cut pieces of mirrors. The process entails cutting and shaping mirrors into geometric patterns or organic shapes and gluing them onto the surfaces to create designs that reflect light...
Le mugham azerbaïdjanais
The Azerbaijani Mugham is a traditional musical form, characterized by a large degree of improvisation. The Mugham, though a classical and academic art, draws upon popular bard melodies, rhythms and performance techniques and is performed in many venues throughout the country. Contemporary representations of the Azerbaijani Mugham...
La culture de la cornemuse
Bagpipe culture consists of a wide range of expressions and knowledge associated with bagpipes and their use, including music repertoire, style and ornamentation, songs, dances, instrument-making, folk customs and traditions and special verbal expressions. The bagpipe tradition exists throughout Slovakia, with regional differences...
Les cornemuses et la pratique de la cornemuse en Bulgarie : transmission des connaissances et des savoir-faire
The bagpipe is a traditional wind instrument made of a leather bag connected to a chanter (a pipe with finger holes and a reed), a drone (a pipe that produces a continuous tone), and a blowpipe used to fill the bag with air. There are different types based on pitch: high, medium and low. The bagpipe is played at social and cultural...
Le baile chino
Bailes Chinos are brotherhoods of musicians who express their faith through music, dance and singing in the context of commemoration festivities. The practice stretches mainly from the area known as the Norte Chico to the central region of Chile and comprises five fully differentiated styles, each named after the valley or basin where...
L’art du bakhshi
Epic poetry plays a crucial role in the musical and poetic heritage of the Uzbek and Karakalpak people of Uzbekistan. Called dostons, the traditional centuries-old poems are based on myths, legends, folk tales and legendary chants, and address varied themes such as patriotism, commitment, love, friendship and solidarity. Bakhshi refers...
Les célébrations de chants et danses baltes
Both a repository and a showcase for the region’s tradition of performing folk art, this cultural expression culminates in large-scale festivals every fifth year in Estonia and Latvia and every fourth year in Lithuania.These grand events, held over several days, assemble as many as 40,000 singers and dancers. For the most part, the...
La fabrication des tissus d’écorce en Ouganda
Barkcloth making is an ancient craft of the Baganda people who live in the Buganda kingdom in southern Uganda. Traditionally, craftsmen of the Ngonge clan, headed by a kaboggoza, the hereditary chief craftsman have been manufacturing bark cloth for the Baganda royal family and the rest of the community. Its preparation involves one of...
Le carnaval de Bâle
Beginning on the Monday following Ash Wednesday and lasting exactly 72 hours, Basel Carnival is the largest carnival in Switzerland. Two parades take place on the Monday and Wednesday, bringing together 11,000 costumed carnivalists in parades of fife and drum cliques, floats and carriages. Tuesday is dedicated to children, with concerts...
Les traditions de la vannerie
Basketry is the art of using natural materials such as wicker, roots, straw, cattail, linden bark and bast to weave practical items and decorations. It is practised by people of all genders. Some weavers work independently, while others are commissioned by businesses. Many certified weavers lead organizations and offer courses or open...
Les chants des Baul
The Bauls are mystic minstrels living in rural Bangladesh and West Bengal, India. The Baul movement, at its peak in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, has now regained popularity among the rural population of Bangladesh. Their music and way of life have influenced a large segment of Bengali culture, and particularly the...
La pratique du chant et de la musique bećarac de Croatie orientale
Bećarac is a popular genre of music in eastern Croatia deeply rooted in the cultures of Slavonia, Baranja and Srijem. Communication among its performers is essential: lead singers interchange vocal lines, striving to out-sing one another while creating, emulating and combining decasyllabic verses and shaping the melody – all the while...
La culture apicole en Slovénie, un mode de vie
In Slovenia, beekeeping is a way of life for many individuals, families and communities, who obtain bee products for food and traditional medicine and use their knowledge and skills to care for the honeybees and the environment. The only subspecies kept in Slovenia is the Carniolan bee. Beekeepers have around 200,000 bee colonies, and...
La culture de la bière en Belgique
Making and appreciating beer is part of the living heritage of a range of communities throughout Belgium. It plays a role in daily life, as well as festive occasions. Almost 1,500 types of beer are produced in the country using different fermentation methods. Since the 80s, craft beer has become especially popular. There are certain...
Betashar, rituel traditionnel de mariage
In Kazakhstan, the Betashar ritual is the ceremony of revealing the bride’s face during a wedding ceremony. It originated in medieval times, when the groom rarely saw his future bride before the wedding. At the beginning of the ceremony, the bride’s mother dresses her in the traditional Kazakh headdress and a veil. She is escorted into...
Le geetgawai, chants populaires en bhojpuri à Maurice
Geet-Gawai is a pre-wedding ceremony that combines rituals, prayer, songs, music and dance. It is performed mainly by Bhojpuri-speaking communities in Mauritius who have Indian descent. The traditional practice takes place at the home of the bride or groom and involves female family members and neighbours. It begins with five married...
Le bigwala, musique de trompes en calebasse et danse du royaume du Busoga en Ouganda
Bigwala music and dance is a cultural practice of the Basoga people of Uganda, performed during royal celebrations such as coronations and funerals and, in recent decades, on social occasions. Bigwala describes a set of five or more monotone gourd trumpets blown in hocket to produce a melody, accompanied by a specific dance. A typical...
Le processus de fabrication de la poterie noire de Bisalhães
Bisalhães in Portugal is known as ‘the land of pot and pan producers’ or more specifically, where black pottery is made. Designed for decorative and cooking purposes, the traditional practice that features on the village’s coat of arms has been an important part of the community’s identity, with old methods still used today to create...
Le bisht (abaa pour hommes) : savoir-faire et pratiques
Bisht is a traditional outer garment worn by men during special occasions such as births, weddings, funerals, ceremonies and festivals. The long garment, which is worn over regular clothes, is draped over the shoulders, wrapped across the chest and held on one side, leaving the right hand free for greetings. The style varies according...
Le Blaudruck/Modrotisk/ Kékfestés/Modrotlač, impression de réserves à la planche et teinture à l'indigo en Europe
Blaudruck/Modrotisk/Kékfestés/Modrotlač, which translates directly as blueprint or blue-dyeing, refers to the practice of printing a dye-resistant paste onto a cloth before dyeing over it with indigo dye. The resistant paste prevents the dye from penetrating the design, thereby ensuring the applied design remains white or undyed after...
La dentellerie aux fuseaux en Slovénie
Bobbin lacemaking in Slovenia is a handicraft skill of making lace by crossing and twisting thread wound on special wooden sticks known as bobbins. Using locally recognizable patterns with local names, bobbin lacemakers make lace in bands or in finished shapes. The bobbin lacemaking process follows a specific pattern: a drawing on paper...
Le boléro, identité, émotion et poésie en chanson
Bolero is an indispensable part of the Latin American sentimental song, with a strong lyrical character deeply rooted in Cuba and Mexico. A cultural amalgam, it combines the language used in European poetry, with African rhythms of enslaved peoples and the sentiments of the native peoples of the Americas. Bolero lyrics allude to daily...
Le boreendo, bhorindo : un ancien instrument de musique traditionnel en voie de disparition, ses mélodies, connaissances et savoir-faire
The boreendo, or bhorindo, is a traditional musical instrument that is deeply rooted in village life and nature amongst the Thari community. It has a hollow, spherical shape with sound holes, and is made of clay that is sun dried and kiln fired. It is played by men, while women are involved in decorating the instrument with clay paint....
La tradition de la marionnette à tringle à Bruxelles
Rod puppetry is a traditional form of theatre inherited from traveling fairground theatres in Europe. The puppets are manipulated using metal rods attached to the head and body. These rods allow puppeteers to control the puppets’ movements. The practice requires the skilled teamwork of up to six puppeteers hidden behind a booth. The...
Le chant bouddhique du Ladakh : récitation de textes sacrés bouddhiques dans la région transhimalayenne du Ladakh, Jammu-et-Cachemire, Inde
In the monasteries and villages of the Ladakh region, Buddhist lamas (priests) chant sacred texts representing the spirit, philosophy and teachings of the Buddha. Two forms of Buddhism are practised in Ladakh – Mahayana and Vajrayana – and there are four major sects, namely Nyngma, Kagyud, Shakya and Geluk. Each sect has several forms...
La danse budima
The Budima Dance is a warrior dance performed all year round by the Wee people on a number of sombre and spiritual occasions, especially during traditional ceremonies, funeral processions, weddings, initiation ceremonies, the installation of chiefs, thanksgiving, harvest celebrations and ritual activities. The dance is performed with...
La construction et l’utilisation des pirogues monoxyles expansées dans la région de Soomaa
The Estonian expanded dugout boat from the Soomaa region is a canoe-like boat, hollowed out from a single tree (usually aspen), with expanded sides and a shallow base. The building of a dugout boat is a complex process, beginning with the identification of a suitable tree and culminating with the boat’s launch. Dugout boatbuilding is a...
Le Buklog, système de rituels de gratitude des Subanen
Buklog is an elaborate thanksgiving ritual system of the Subanen, an indigenous people in the southern Philippines. The head of a host family, usually a village chief called ‘timuay’, plans the ritual system to express gratitude to the spirits. The rituals ensure harmony among family, clan and community members, as well as among the...
Les festivités Busó de Mohács : une coutume de carnaval masqué marquant la fin de l’hiver
The Busó festivities at Mohács in southern Hungary are a six-day carnival in late February to mark the end of winter, named for the ''busós,'' frightening-looking costumed people (traditionally men) wearing wooden masks and big woolly cloaks. The festival is multifaceted, including a children’s costume contest, a display of the art of...
Le chant Ca trù
Ca trù is a complex form of sung poetry found in the north of Viet Nam using lyrics written in traditional Vietnamese poetic forms. Ca trù groups comprise three performers: a female singer who uses breathing techniques and vibrato to create unique ornamented sounds, while playing the clappers or striking a wooden box, and two...
Le rituel du Căluş
Performed in the Olt region of southern Romania, the Căluş ritual dance also formed part of the cultural heritage of the Vlachs of Bulgaria and Serbia. Although the oldest documented music used in this dance dates from the seventeenth century, the ritual probably derived from ancient purification and fertility rites using the symbol of...
La course de dromadaires, pratique sociale et patrimoine festif associés aux dromadaires
Camel racing, a social practice and festive heritage associated with camels, is a popular social practice in the communities concerned. Preparing the racing camels involves several stages. Camels are selected based on type, origin and age and are given a special diet. They practise on the racetrack in groups and are trained to take part...
Le Candombe et son espace socioculturel : une pratique communautaire
Every Sunday and on many holidays, the ''llamadas'' ''de'' ''tambores'' ''de'' ''candombe'' or candombe drum calls enliven the Sur, Palermo and Cordón districts in southern Montevideo, Uruguay, home to a population of African descent. The practice of the candombe begins around communal fires as people gather to tune their drums and...
Le cercle de capoeira
Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian cultural practice – simultaneously a fight and a dance – that can be interpreted as a tradition, a sport and even an art form. Capoeira players form a circle at the centre of which two players engage with one another. The movements require great bodily dexterity. The other players around the circle sing,...
Le carnaval de Negros y Blancos
Arising out of native Andean and Hispanic traditions, the Carnaval de negros y blancos (Black and White Carnival) in San Juan de Pasto in south-western Colombia is a great celebration lasting from 28 December to 6 January each year. The celebrations begin on the 28th with the Carnival of Water − the throwing of water in homes and on the...
Le carnaval de Barranquilla
Every year during the four days before Lent, the Carnival de Barranquilla offers a repertory of dances and musical expressions originating from different Colombian sub-cultures. Because of its geographical location situated on the Caribbean coast and the commercial development during the colonial period, the city of Barranquilla became...
Le carnaval de Binche
The town of Binche is situated south of Brussels in Belgium’s Hainaut province. Each year, during the three days preceding Lent, it is host to carnival festivities that mobilize the historic centre and attract throngs of foreign visitors. With roots dating back to the Middle Ages, Binche’s famed celebration ranks as one of Europe’s...
Le carnaval d’El Callao, représentation festive d’une mémoire et d’une identité culturelle
The Carnival of El Callao, practised in communities of Venezuela, is associated with cannes brulées emancipation celebrations in French-speaking islands of the Caribbean. Running from January to March, the traditional practice features parades of people dressed as characters from history and fantasy, as well as calypso music, dancing...
Le carnaval de Granville
The Carnival of Granville is a four-day celebration that takes place in the lead up to Shrove Tuesday involving members of the community and nearby communes. Opening with the mayor handing the keys to King Carnival (a papier mache figure), it begins with a series of float processions interspersed with marching bands. The floats, about...
Le carnaval d’Oruro
The town of Oruro, situated at an altitude of 3,700 metres in the mountains of western Bolivia and once a pre-Columbian ceremonial site, was an important mining area in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Resettled by the Spanish in 1606, it continued to be a sacred site for the Uru people, who would often travel long distances to...
La navigation traditionnelle et la construction de pirogues des îles Carolines
Carolinian wayfinding and canoe making refers to the centuries-old tradition of building and navigating long-distance canoes. Communities in Micronesia, and particularly in the outer islands of Yap State, continue the traditions of building the ocean- voyaging sailing canoes from local materials and of navigating, or wayfinding, without...
Les processions de structures géantes portées sur les épaules
Catholic processions featuring large shoulder-borne processional structures take place throughout Italy, but particularly in four historic city centres: in Nola, a procession of eight wood and papier mâché obelisks commemorates the return of St Paolino; in Palmi, bearers carry a complex processional structure in honour of Our Lady of...
La fête du pardon célestinien
The Celestinian forgiveness celebration was inspired by Pope Celestine V, who issued a historical ‘Bull’ as an act of partnership among local populations. Taking place in the city and province of L’Aquila, the tradition comprises a set of rituals and celebrations transmitted uninterruptedly since 1294. The practice conveys a sense of...
Les arts de la céramique en Ouzbékistan
Ceramic art is one of the oldest forms of applied art in Uzbekistan, where deposits of loess clay, including pottery clay, can be found. The practice is used to create large household items used in the everyday life of rural populations, such as large containers for storing food and water, tandoor ovens, jugs and toys. Traditionally,...
La tradition cérémonielle du Keşkek
Keşkek is a traditional Turkish ceremonial dish prepared for wedding ceremonies, circumcisions and religious holidays. Women and men work together to cook wheat and meat called ‘Keşkek’ in huge cauldrons, then serve it to the guests. The wheat is washed with prayers the preceding day, and then carried to a large stone mortar, to the...
Ch’utillos, la fête de Saint Barthélemy et de Saint Ignace de Loyola : la rencontre des cultures à Potosí
Ch’utillos, or the Festival of San Bartolomé and San Ignacio de Loyola, is celebrated in Potosí, Bolivia in the month of August. An integral part of the local cultural identity, the festival is characterised by gastronomic fairs, dance performances and a procession to the sanctuary located in the Mullu Punku gorge, a natural site with...
Le chakan, art de la broderie en République du Tadjikistan
The art of Chakan embroidery is the practice of sewing ornaments, images of flowers and symbolic drawings with colourful threads on cotton or silk fabrics. The tradition is widespread among women and girls in Tajikistan. Chakan embroidery is used to decorate clothing and household items such as women’s shirts, headscarves, curtains,...
Le chamamé
Chamamé is a form of popular cultural expression that is mainly practised in the Corrientes province. Its key components include a style of ‘close embrace’ dancing where participants hold each other chest to chest and follow the music without set choreography. Other elements include musiqueada, a celebratory act that includes a party,...
Le chant de la Sibylle de Majorque
The chant of the Sybil is performed at matins on the night of 24 December in churches throughout Majorca. The chant marks the annual Christmas Vigil, and is sung by a boy or girl accompanied by two or more altar boys or girls. During the chant they walk through the church towards the chancel, the singer carrying a sword in his or her...
Le chapei Dang Veng
Chapei Dang Veng is a Cambodian musical tradition closely associated with the life, customs and beliefs of the Cambodian people. It features the chapei (a type of lute often played at cultural festivals) accompanied by singing. Song lyrics range from the educational and a type of social commentary, to satire while incorporating...
La pêche à la charfiya aux îles Kerkennah
Charfia fishing in the Kerkennah Islands is a traditional, passive fishing technique that capitalises on the hydrographic conditions, seabed contours and natural resources both at sea and on land. The ‘charfia’ is a fixed fishery system consisting of palm fronds embedded in the seabed to create a triangular barrier, blocking the path of...
La Charrería, tradition équestre au Mexique
Charrería is a traditional practice of livestock herding communities in Mexico. It was initially used to help herders managing livestock from different estates better coexist. Techniques were then passed on to younger generations within families. These days, purpose-built charrería associations and schools assist in continuing...
Le festival des cerises de Sefrou
For three days in June each year, the local population of Sefrou celebrates the natural and cultural beauty of the region, symbolized by the cherry fruit and that year’s newly chosen Cherry Queen, selected during a pageant that draws competitors from the region and entire country. The highlight of the festival is a parade with...
La danse Chhau
Chhau dance is a tradition from eastern India that enacts episodes from epics including the Mahabharata and Ramayana, local folklore and abstract themes. Its three distinct styles hail from the regions of Seraikella, Purulia and Mayurbhanj, the first two using masks. Chhau dance is intimately connected to regional festivals, notably the...
Le chidaoba, lutte en Géorgie
Chidaoba (wrestling) is an ancient form of martial art practised by a large proportion of the male population throughout all the regions, villages and communities of Georgia. Bearers of the tradition include young people, city residents, sports clubs, educational institutions and amateur organizations. The practice is a complex...
La technique de la xylogravure chinoise
The traditional China engraved block printing technique requires the collaboration of half a dozen craftspeople possessed of printing expertise, dexterity and team spirit. The blocks themselves, made from the fine-grained wood of pear or jujube trees, are cut to a thickness of two centimetres and polished with sandpaper to prepare them...
La calligraphie chinoise
Chinese calligraphy has always been more than simply a tool for communication, incorporating as it does the element of artistry for which the practice is still valued in an age of ballpoint pens and computers. Indeed, calligraphy is no longer the basic tool of intellectuals and officials but has become the preserve of professional...
Le découpage de papier chinois
Present throughout China and in various ethnic groups, paper-cut is a popular art integral to everyday lives. A predominantly female pursuit, it is transmitted from mother to daughter over a long period of time, beginning in childhood, and is particularly common in rural areas. It earns the most skilful artists respect and admiration....
Le théâtre d’ombres chinoises
Chinese shadow puppetry is a form of theatre acted by colourful silhouette figures made from leather or paper, accompanied by music and singing. Manipulated by puppeteers using rods, the figures create the illusion of moving images on a translucent cloth screen illuminated from behind. Many elder shadow puppetry artists can perform...
Les savoir-faire liés à l’architecture traditionnelle chinoise pour les structures à ossature en bois
Standing as distinctive symbols of Chinese architectural culture, timber-framed structures are found throughout the country. The wooden components such as the columns, beams, purlins, lintel and bracket sets are connected by tenon joints in a flexible, earthquake-resistant way. The surprisingly strong frames can be installed quickly at...
Le chogan, jeu équestre accompagné de musique et de contes
Chogān is a traditional horse-riding game accompanied by music and storytelling; it has a history of over 2,000 years in Iran and has mostly been played in royal courts and urban fields. In Chogān, two rider teams compete and the aim is to pass the ball through the opposing team’s goal posts using a wooden stick. Chogān includes the...
Le Chopi Timbila
The Chopi communities live mainly in the southern part of Inhambane province in southern Mozambique and are famous for their orchestra music. Their orchestras consist of five to thirty wooden xylophones, called timbila, of varying sizes and ranges of pitch. The timbila are finely manufactured and tuned wooden instruments made from the...
Le tchovgan, jeu équestre traditionnel pratiqué à dos de chevaux karabakhs en République d'Azerbaïdjan
Chovqan is a traditional horse-riding game played on a flat, grassy field by two competing teams of players mounted on Karabakh horses. Each team has five riders, with two fullbacks and three forwards. The game starts at the centre of the field and players use wooden mallets to try to drive a small leather or wooden ball into their...
Le bram de Noël et le sambai de Gales Point Manatee au Belize
The Christmas Bram and Sambai are annual cultural celebrations held on 25 and 26 December in the Gales Point Manatee Village, located on a peninsula inside Southern Lagoon on the central coast of Belize. Deeply rooted in African heritage, these festivities promote unity and a shared sense of identity within the practising community. The...
Le Círio de Nazaré (Le Cierge de Notre-Dame de Nazareth) à Belém, dans l’État du Pará
The Círio de Nazaré festival in Belém honours Our Lady of Nazareth. The main procession concludes the festivities on the second Sunday of October, when a wooden image of Our Lady of Nazareth is carried from Sé Cathedral to Sanctuary Square¬¬¬, but the celebrations start in August and run until fifteen days after the procession. Almost...
L'équitation classique et la Haute École de l'École d'équitation espagnole de Vienne
Classical horsemanship at the Spanish Riding School Vienna is the traditional art and practice of breeding, keeping, training and riding Lipizzaner horses. The School’s various social practices and culturally-shaped rituals and ceremonies are based on the long-lasting relationship between breeders, grooms, craftspeople, riders and...
Le rituel pour amadouer les chamelles
Mongol herders perform the coaxing ritual to encourage a female camel to accept a new-born calf or to adopt an orphan. The mother is tied close to the calf and a singer begins a monotone song accompanied by gestures and chanting. The coaxer changes the melody depending on the mother’s behaviour, which may be initially aggressive, and...
La cobza, connaissances, savoir-faire et musique traditionnels
The cobza is a pear-shaped string instrument with a short neck and wooden body, traditionally used to provide rhythm and harmony in folk music. It can be played solo or in groups and is usually strummed with a folded goose feather. Though its design has changed slightly over time, such as with the recent use of metal strings, the...
La tradition du théâtre dansé Cocolo
The Cocolo dancing drama tradition developed among descendants of British Caribbean slaves who had come to the Dominican Republic in the mid-nineteenth century to work in the sugar fields. This linguistically and culturally distinct community set up their own churches, schools, benevolent societies and mutual assistance lodges. Their...
La sortie des masques et marionnettes de Markala
The coming forth of the masks and puppets is a ritual festivity practised among the Bambara, Bozo, Marka and Somono communities in Markala, and is characterized by masked dances, drums and songs featuring dancers and puppeteers. Each mask and puppet symbolizes the sacred link between man and nature, with particular animals incarnating...
La fête de commémoration de la découverte de la Véritable Sainte-Croix du Christ
The festival of Maskel is celebrated across Ethiopia on 26 September to commemorate the unearthing of the True Holy Cross of Christ. Celebrations begin with the building of the Damera bonfire in Maskel Square in Addis Ababa – a conical pyre of poles surrounded by bundles of branches and torches, decorated with green grass and Abyssinian...
Les fêtes communautaires à Campo Maior
The Community Festivities of Campo Maior is a popular event during which the streets of Campo Maior in Portugal are decorated with millions of paper flowers in various shapes, colours and patterns. The community, which is organized in street commissions, decides the date and develops the concept of the decorative elements and the colour...
L’écomusée de la Batana, projet communautaire de sauvegarde de la culture vivante de Rovinj/Rovign
A batana is a type of traditional fishing boat found in Rovinj, Croatia. Important to the town’s trade and heritage, with craftsmanship methods handed down by families, it became scarce with the popularity of industrial models until 2004 when local enthusiasts started an association to help safeguard it and its associated practices (an...
La sauvegarde et la documentation de la coutume du carnaval « Lastovo Poklad » par la communauté
The annual ‘Lastovo Poklad’ carnival is a social event that takes place between 17 January and Ash Wednesday. It features a circle dance performance and a procession, which is led by a carnival crew member steering a donkey with a straw effigy, called the Poklad, on its back. The carnival culminates in the descent of the effigy down a...
Le compagnonnage, réseau de transmission des savoirs et des identités par le métier
The French Compagnonnage system is a unique way of conveying knowledge and know-how linked to the trades that work with stone, wood, metal, leather, textiles and food. Its originality lies in its synthesis of varied methods and processes of transmitting knowledge: national and international educational travel (known as the ‘Tour de...
La rumba congolaise
Congolese rumba is a musical genre and a dance common in urban areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo. Generally danced by a male-female couple, it is a multicultural form of expression originating from an ancient dance called nkumba (meaning ‘waist’ in Kikongo). The rumba is used for celebration and...
Les processus de construction de la maison quincha et de la junta de embarre/embarra
The construction of mud or clay houses, known as quincha houses, is a traditional building practice commonly found in rural and semi-urban areas in many parts of Panama. These homes are made using a mix of clay soil, hay and natural fibres, along with wood and plants to support the structure. This construction process – called a 'junta...
L’artisanat du cuivre de Lahidj
Copper craftsmanship of Lahij is the traditional practice of making and using copperware concentrated in the Lahij community in the Caucasus. The copper-smelting master coordinates the entire process and is accompanied by an apprentice who learns the necessary techniques while helping the master. The coppersmith-hammerer pumps the air...
La culture du corso, défilés de fleurs et de fruits aux Pays-Bas
Dating back to the late nineteenth century, a corso is an annual parade of floats or boats decorated with flowers, fruit, vegetables and, in some cases, people in costumes. Originating in the south of France and Italy, the practice spread to the Netherlands in the nineteenth century. The parade takes place in streets or on rivers, and...
L’artisanat de la gravure sur bois traditionnelle de Đông Hồ
Đông Hồ Folk woodblock printing is the practice of creating colourful prints using carved wooden blocks, observed in a village forming part of Bắc Ninh province. The themes of these prints often include worship, history, daily life and landscapes. The entire process is carried out by hand, from drawing the design with ink on special...
Les savoir-faire du meunier liés à l’exploitation des moulins à vent et à eau
The craft of the miller operating windmills and watermills involves the knowledge and skills necessary to operate a mill and maintain it in a good state of repair. With a declining number of people earning their livelihood from the craft, millers today also play a key role in transmitting the cultural history of the practice. There are...
Les techniques artisanales et les pratiques coutumières des ateliers de cathédrales, ou "Bauhütten", en Europe, savoir-faire, transmission, développement des savoirs, innovation
The workshop organization, or Bauhüttenwesen, appeared in the Middle Ages on the construction sites of European cathedrals. Now, as then, these workshops are home to various trades working in close collaboration. The term Bauhüttenwesen in German refers both to the organization of a workshop network dealing with the construction or...
La fabrication et la pratique de l’oud
The oud is a traditional, lute-type instrument played in Iran and Syria. The musician places the short-necked instrument on their leg, fretting with one hand and plucking the chords with the other. In both countries, the oud consists of a pear-shaped sound box made of walnut, rose, poplar, ebony or apricot wood. Crafting an oud takes up...
L'artisanat des figurines en argile d'Estremoz
The Craftsmanship of Estremoz Clay Figures involves a production process lasting several days: the elements of the figures are assembled before being fired in an electric oven and then painted by the artisan and covered with a colourless varnish. The clay figures are dressed in the regional attires of Alentejo or the clothing of...
La facture et la pratique musicale du tar, instrument à cordes à long manche
The Tar is a long-necked plucked lute, traditionally crafted and performed in communities throughout Azerbaijan. Considered by many to be the country’s leading musical instrument, it features alone or with other instruments in numerous traditional musical styles. Tar makers transmit their skills to apprentices, often within the family....
L’artisanat et l’art de jouer du balaban/mey
Balaban (in Azerbaijan) or Mey (in Türkiye) is a centuries-old woodwind instrument made up of three parts: a body, a wide and flat double reed and a clip. The instrument is traditionally made of plum or apricot wood and coated with linseed or olive oil. Once dry, crafters drill several holes into the front of the body and one hole into...
Le savoir-faire de la dentelle au point d’Alençon
The technique of ''point d’Alençon'' is a rare technique of needle lace-making, practised in the town of Alençon in Normandy in north-west France. Alençon needle lace is unusual because of the high level of craftsmanship required and the very long time that it takes to produce (seven hours per square centimetre). The pieces of openwork...
L’artisanat du savon Ghar d’Alep
The crafting of Aleppo ghar soap in the Syrian Arab Republic is based on traditional knowledge and skills that combine natural, locally produced olive oil (metraf) and laurel oil (ghar). In autumn, families pick the wild laurel berries from surrounding forests and boil them in water until they split. When the oil rises to the surface,...
Le savoir-faire de la céramique traditionnelle de Horezu
Horezu ceramics are a unique traditional craft. Handmade in the northern part of Vâlcea County, Romania, they reflect generations of knowledge and craftsmanship. Men and women generally divide the fabrication processes. Men select and extract the earth, which is then cleaned, cut, watered, kneaded, trampled and mixed – transforming it...
Les savoir-faire en mécanique horlogère et mécanique d'art
At the crossroads of science, art and technology, the skills related to the craftsmanship of mechanical watchmaking and art mechanics are used to create watchmaking objects designed to measure and indicate time (watches, pendulum clocks, clocks and chronometers), art automata and mechanical androids, sculptures and animated paintings,...
Le savoir-faire lié à l’incrustation de nacre
Mother of pearl inlay is the practice of inserting mother of pearl pieces into wooden objects such as Koran cases, desks, chests, chairs, mirrors, jewel cases and musical instruments. Craftspeople begin by cutting the inner shells of molluscs into different shapes. They draw motifs on a piece of wood, carve out the outlines and shape...
L’artisanat du brocart Yunjin de Nanjing
In the Chinese tradition of weaving Nanjing Yunjin brocade, two craftspeople operate the upper and lower parts of a large, complicated loom to produce textiles incorporating fine materials such as silk, gold and peacock feather yarn. The technique was once used to produce royal garments such as the dragon robe and crown costume; today,...
L'artisanat du kente, un textile traditionnel tissé
In Ghana, Kente is a fabric made of strips that are woven from silk, cotton or rayon using horizontal looms. The age, social status and gender of users influence the choice of colour and design of the fabric. Finished products are named with proverbs, sayings and social situations, among others. The craft has been enriched over time...
La création et le symbolisme des croix
<b>Supported by Latvia</b> Cross-crafting refers to a widespread tradition of making crosses and altars, as well as the consecration of these crosses and the rituals associated with them. The carved oak crosses are linked to Catholic ceremonies and harvest celebrations. Once the cross is consecrated by a priest, it acquires an...
La danse traditionnelle csárdás
The csárdás is a Hungarian dance that is performed by couples consisting of a man and a woman, or, in some regions, of two women. Multiple couples participate in the dance at the same time, forming one large or several smaller circles. Each region has its own themes, gestures and figures, which are improvised according to well-known,...
Le cuarteto : musique, danse et paroles dans la ville de Córdoba, Argentine
Cuarteto is a lively dance music genre that blends local criollo musical styles with influences from European immigrants. Early cuarteto orchestras featured instruments such as the piano, violin, accordion and double bass, with a singer leading the performance. Over time, the genre has incorporated Caribbean rhythms, Afro-Latin...
Le complexe culturel du bumba-meu-boi du Maranhão
The Cultural Complex of Bumba-meu-boi from Maranhão is a ritualistic practice involving forms of musical, choreographic, performing and ludic expression, in which the practitioners’ relationship with the sacred is mediated by the figure of the ox. The practice features certain key distinguishing elements: the cycle of life; the...
Les pratiques et expressions culturelles liées au balafon et au kolintang au Mali, au Burkina Faso, en Côte d’Ivoire et en Indonésie
The balafon (in Mali, Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire) and kolintang (in Indonesia) refer to a set of wooden xylophones of different lengths. The Indonesian and West African instruments share similarities in material, shapes, keys, functions, transmission processes and values. They are believed to represent mutual respect and tolerance...
Les pratiques et expressions culturelles liées au krama, un textile traditionnel tissé au Cambodge
Krama is a woven textile associated with traditional practices and cultural expressions of the daily life in Cambodia. A rectangular cloth made of either cotton or silk, krama features a variety of grid-pattern motifs. The white, yellow, red and blue dyes used are extracted from natural vegetation and insects, and the cloth is woven...
Les pratiques et expressions culturelles liées au "M'bolon", instrument de musique traditionnel à percussion
The M’Bolon is a musical instrument with a large calabash sound box covered with cowhide and a bow-shaped wooden neck with strings. To amplify the sound vibrations, the player often wears a bell-like device made of metal plates with small oval-shaped lobes. This device is fitted with small iron rings and attached to the player’s hand by...
Les pratiques culturelles associées au 1er Mars
Cultural Practices Associated to the 1st of March comprise traditions transmitted since ancient times to celebrate the beginning of spring. The main practice consists of making, offering and wearing a red and white thread, which is then untied when the first blossom tree, swallow or stork is seen. A few other local practices also form...
L’espace culturel et la culture orale des Semeiskie
The Semeiskie communities are formed by a group of so-called “Old Believers”, a confessional community originating from the time of the Instigation of the Russian Orthodox Church in the seventeenth century.Their history is marked by repression and exile. During the reign of Catherine the Great, believers in the “old system” from various...
L’espace culturel du district de Boysun
The Boysun District located in south-eastern Uzbekistan on the route from Asia Minor to India, is one of the oldest inhabited areas of Central Asia. With the diminishing importance of the Silk Road and the political changes in Central Asia, the region became quite isolated, which favoured the preservation of ancient traditions that show...
L’espace culturel de la place Jemaa el-Fna
The Jemaa el-Fna Square is one of the main cultural spaces in Marrakesh and has become one of the symbols of the city since its foundation in the eleventh century. It represents a unique concentration of popular Moroccan cultural traditions performed through musical, religious and artistic expressions. Located at the entrance of the...
L’espace culturel de Palenque de San Basilio
The village of Palenque de San Basilio, with a population of about 3,500 inhabitants, is located in the foothills of the Montes de María, southeast of the regional capital, Cartagena. Palenque de San Basilio was one of the walled communities called palenques, which were founded by escaped slaves as a refuge in the seventeenth century....
L’espace culturel du Sosso-Bala
The sacred balafon instrument, known as the Sosso- Bala, has been perceived as the symbol of the freedom and cohesion of the Mandingue community, which is spread across a territory that once belonged to the Empire of Mali. Originally owned and played by King Sumaoro Kanté, who succeeded to the Sosso throne in the early thirteenth...
L’espace culturel de la Fraternité du Saint-Esprit des congos de Villa Mella
The Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit of the Congos of Villa Mella is distinguished in the fields of music, dance and popular festivities. The Brotherhood musicians play instruments called congos. These congos, the origin of which is attributed to the Holy Spirit, are hand-drums. The Brotherhood, which is nowadays open to all without...
L’espace culturel du yaaral et du degal
The cultural space of the Yaaral and the Degal encompasses the vast pastoral lands of the Peul of the inner Niger Delta. The Yaaral and the Degal festivities mark the crossing of the river at the time of the transhumance. Twice a year, herds of cattle cross the arid land of the Sahel and the flood plains of the inner Niger River. The...
La culture du çay (thé) : un symbole d'identité, d’hospitalité et d’interaction sociale
Tea culture in Azerbaijan and Türkiye is an important social practice that shows hospitality, builds and maintains social ties, and is used to celebrate important moments in the lives of communities. Although there are several types of tea and brewing techniques, communities in both countries primarily harvest and consume black tea....
La coutume du costume coréen : connaissances, savoir-faire et pratiques sociales traditionnels en République populaire démocratique de Corée
The Korean costume is an outfit comprised of a jacket and a woman’s skirt or men’s trousers. It is completed with seasonal overclothes, including an overcoat and a waistcoat, and may include other accessories such as a breast ribbon. The costume is created using natural fabrics such as silk, ramie and cotton. The related knowledge and...
La dabkeh, danse traditionnelle en Palestine
Dabkeh is a popular group dance in Palestine that is accompanied by traditional wind instruments and popular singing. A social activity, it is performed in several regions during festivals, celebrations and events such as weddings and graduations. Dabkeh is performed by eleven dancers, regardless of gender. The dancers stand in a...
Le Daemokjang, architecture traditionnelle en bois
The term ‘Daemokjang’ refers to traditional Korean wooden architecture and specifically to the woodworkers who employ the traditional carpentry techniques. The activities of these practitioners also extend to the maintenance, repair and reconstruction of historic buildings, ranging from traditional Korean houses to monumental wooden...
Le Dainichido Bugaku
According to legend, travelling performers of ''bugaku,'' the ritual dance and music of the imperial palace, visited Hachimantai Town in northern Japan in the early eighth century, during the reconstruction of Dainichido, the shrine pavilion. The ritual performance of Dainichido Bugaku takes its name from this story, but the art evolved...
Les connaissances, savoir-faire, traditions et pratiques associés au palmier dattier
Typically found in deserts and dry, temperate climates, the date palm is an evergreen plant with roots that deeply penetrate the earth in search of humidity. Date palms grow in oases in desert areas with suitable water levels for irrigation. For centuries, many populations have been associated with the date palm tree, which has aided...
Dipavali
Deepavali, also known as Diwali, is a light festival celebrated annually by diverse individuals and communities across India, that marks the last harvest of the year and the start of a new year and new season. Based on the lunar calendar, it falls on the new moon in October or November and lasts several days. It is a joyous occasion...
La Doïna
Known by various names throughout Romania, the ''doina'' is a lyrical, solemn chant that is improvised and spontaneous. As the essence of Romanian folklore, until 1900 it was the only musical genre in many regions of the country. Technically, the doina can be sung in any context (outdoors, at home, at work or during wakes), and is...
Le Dondang Sayang
Dondang Sayang is a traditional Malay art still practised in Melaka by four communities: the Malay, Baba Nyonya, Chitty and Portuguese communities. The practice combines elements of music (violins, gongs and tambourines or the tambour), songs and chants, and features beautiful melodious strains of poetry. Also known as love ballads, the...
Le festival du Bateau-Dragon
Beginning on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, people of several ethnic groups throughout China and the world celebrate the Dragon Boat festival, especially in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The festivities vary from region to region, but they usually share several features. A memorial ceremony offering...
Drotárstvo, art et artisanat à partir de fil de fer
Drotárstvo, wire craft and art refers to the technique of manufacturing using wire. In the 18th century, wire craftsmen discovered the interesting properties of wire and developed a simple technique based on manual bending, binding and interlacing metal fibers without welding or soldering, a technique still used to this day. Initially,...
Le Duduk et sa musique
The duduk, the Armenian oboe, is a double-reed wind instrument characterized by a warm, soft, slightly nasal timbre. It belongs to the category of aerophones, which also includes the balaban played in Azerbaijan and Iran, the duduki common in Georgia and the ney in Turkey.The soft wood of the apricot tree is the ideal material for the...
Le durbar à Kano
In Nigeria, Durbar is a procession of about 10,000 men on horses, and men and women on foot. It takes place during the ninth and twelfth months of the Muslim calendar to mark the Eid el-Fitr and Eid el-Kabir every year. The central figure of the Durbar procession is the Emir and his palace courtiers, officials and bodyguards. There are...
La Durga Puja à Calcutta
Durga Puja is an annual festival celebrated in September or October, most notably in Kolkata, in West Bengal of India, but also in other parts of India and amongst the Bengali diaspora. It marks the ten-day worship of the Hindu mother-goddess Durga. In the months preceding the festival, small artisanal workshops sculpt images of Durga...
La fabrication artisanale du dutar et l’art de pratiquer la musique traditionnelle associée au chant
Dutar is a traditional instrument and musical genre from Turkmenistan. The dutar instrument is a long-necked, two-stringed lute with a pear-shaped body covered by a thin wooden sounding board. The resonating body and soundboard are made from a piece of mulberry wood, and the neck is made with the dried trunk of an apricot tree. To make...
Le savoir-faire de la poterie en terre cuite dans le district de Kgatleng au Botswana
Earthenware pottery-making skills are practised among the Bakgatla ba Kgafela community in south-eastern Botswana. The women potters use clay soil, weathered sandstone, iron oxide, cow dung, water, wood and grass to make pots of different forms, designs and styles that relate to the traditional practices and beliefs of the community....
Ebru, l’art turc du papier marbré
Ebru is the traditional Turkish art of creating colourful patterns by sprinkling and brushing colour pigments onto a pan of oily water and then transferring the patterns to paper. Known as marbling, the designs and effects include flowers, foliage, ornamentation, latticework, mosques and moons, and are used for decoration in the...
Éducation et formation au patrimoine culturel du batik indonésien à destination des étudiants des écoles élémentaires, secondaires, supérieures, professionnelles et polytechniques en collaboration avec le Musée du Batik de Pekalongan
Indonesian Batik is a traditional hand-crafted dye-resist textile rich in intangible cultural values, passed down for generations in Java and elsewhere since the early nineteenth century. The batik community noted the younger generation’s interest in batik was waning, and felt the need to increase efforts to transmit batik cultural...
El Güegüense
A forceful expression of protest against colonial rule, El Güegüense is a satirical drama well known throughout Nicaragua. It is performed during the feast of San Sebastián, patron saint of the city of Diriamba in Nicaragua’s Carazo province. El Güegüense, a synthesis of Spanish and indigenous cultures combining theatre, dance and...
L’elechek, la coiffe des femmes kirghizes : rituels et connaissances traditionnels
Elechek is a traditional female headwear consisting of a hair cap and a very long piece of white fabric that is wrapped around the head like a turban and adorned with embroidery, ribbons and jewellery. The practice is an integral part of the traditional marriage ceremony in Kyrgyzstan. A rite of passage, the ritual of wrapping the...
Le chant épique Görogly
The epic art of Gorogly is an oral performing tradition describing the achievements of the legendary hero Gorogly and his forty cavalrymen. The epic incorporates narration, singing, composition, prose, poetry and vocal improvisation, and also functions as an oral encyclopaedia of traditional customs and knowledge (including stock...
L’art équestre au Portugal
Equestrian art in Portugal is a combination of functionality and aesthetics. It is characterized by the rider’s position on the saddle, as well as by the traditional attire and harnesses used. Equestrian art in Portugal establishes a sense of harmony and deep respect between rider and horse, with the rider communicating with the horse...
L’équitation de tradition française
Equitation in the French tradition is a school of horseback riding that emphasizes harmonious relations between humans and horses. The fundamental horse-training principles and processes are guided by non-violence and lack of constraint, blending human demands with respect for the horse’s body and mood. Knowledge of the animal itself...
L’Épiphanie éthiopienne
Ethiopian epiphany is a colourful festival celebrated all over Ethiopia to commemorate the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. The commemoration starts on the eve of the main festival on 18 January. The eve is known as Ketera, which means blocking the flow of water for the blessing of the celebrants. On the...
Le Fado, chant populaire urbain du Portugal
Fado is a performance genre incorporating music and poetry widely practised by various communities in Lisbon. It represents a Portuguese multicultural synthesis of Afro-Brazilian sung dances, local traditional genres of song and dance, musical traditions from rural areas of the country brought by successive waves of internal...
Le falak
Falak, meaning ‘heaven’, ‘fortune’ and ‘universe’, is the traditional folklore music of the mountain people of Tajikistan. The expressive and philosophical musical genre may be performed by a male or female soloist, either acappella, or with a single instrumental accompaniment or an ensemble and dancers. Characterized by their high...
La fauconnerie, un patrimoine humain vivant
Falconry is the traditional art and practice of training and flying falcons (and sometimes eagles, hawks, buzzards and other birds of prey). It has been practised for over 4000 years. The practice of falconry in early and medieval periods of history is documented in many parts of the world. Originally a means of obtaining food, falconry...
Le musée vivant du Fandango
Fandango is a popular music and dance expression in coastal communities in southern and south-eastern Brazil. Fandango songs are called ''modas'' and are played with handmade instruments – viola, fiddle and frame drum. Traditionally, fandangos were offered as payment for collective activities, such as planting, harvesting and fishing....
La danse des fermiers du groupe ethnique coréen en Chine
Gathering in fields or villages during community festivals, members of the Korean ethnic group in Jilin and other provinces in north-eastern China offer a traditional sacrifice to the God of the Land to pay homage to nature and pray for good fortune and a plentiful harvest. This is the beginning of the farmers’ dance of China’s Korean...
La fête des Quarante saints martyrs à Chtip
The Feast of the Holy Forty Martyrs takes place every year on 22 March, honouring the fourth-century martyrs of Sebaste and marking the first day of spring. Participants gather on the streets and in the squares of Štip, and then hike up the Isar hill, stopping en route at the church to pay tribute to the Holy Forty Martyrs. During the...
Le fest-noz, rassemblement festif basé sur la pratique collective des danses traditionnelles de Bretagne
Fest-Noz is a festive gathering based on the collective practice of traditional Breton dances, accompanied by singing or instrumental music. The strong Breton cultural movement has preserved this expression of a living and constantly renewed practice of inherited dance repertoires with several hundred variations, and thousands of tunes....
Le festival de la déesse Bà Chúa Xứ au Mont Sam
The festival of Bà Chúa Xứ Goddess at Sam Mountain takes place from the 22nd to the 27th day of the fourth lunar month. Observed by the Kinh, Khmer, Cham and Hoa communities in Châu Đốc city, it entails performing religious ceremonies and music and dance to express gratitude to the Mother Earth goddess, who is believed to grant...
Le festival de folklore à Koprivshtitsa, ensemble de pratiques pour présenter et transmettre le patrimoine
The concept for the Festival of Folklore in Koprivshtitsa, where thousands of Bulgarians of all ages and the diaspora meet in August to present and share their intangible cultural heritage practices ranging from dance and storytelling, to games and craftsmanship, originated when local musicians saw a need to protect traditions...
Le festival de Saint François d’Assise, Quibdó
Every year from 3 September to 5 October the twelve Franciscan districts of Quibdó, Colombia, hold the Fiesta de San Pacho, a celebration of the community’s Afro-descendant Chocó identity, embedded in popular-rooted religion. It begins with the Catholic ‘Inaugural Mass’ at the Cathedral blended with traditional dances and chirimía music...
Les festivités associées au voyage de la Sainte Famille en Égypte
The festivals related to the Journey of the Holy Family in Egypt commemorate the Holy Family’s voyage from Bethlehem to Egypt to escape King Herod’s oppression. Every year, the event is memorialized by two festivals in which Egyptians, including Muslims and Coptic Christians of all ages and genders, participate in large numbers. The...
Le cycle des festivités autour de la vénération et du culte de Saint Jean-Baptiste
The Venezuelan Saint John the Baptist celebrations feature practices and knowledge that originated in the eighteenth century in Afro-Venezuelan communities associated with former colonial estates. From the beginning, the festivities have been heavily influenced by Catholicism, but they are also rich in verbal, musical and physical...
La fête de « la Mare de Déu de la Salut » d’Algemesí
The Festivity of ‘la Mare de Déu de la Salut’ is celebrated in Algemesí in the Province of Valencia, Spain. Every 7 and 8 September almost 1,400 people participate in theatre, music, dance and performances organized in the historical areas of the city: Valencia, La Muntanya, Santa Barbara and La Capella. Processions run from the...
Les parrandas, fêtes du centre de Cuba
Held for the first time in 1820 in the town of Remedios, the Festivity of Las Parrandas is now celebrated by eighteen communities in the centre of Cuba, mostly taking place towards the final months of the year. The Parrandas is a cultural competition between the two neighbourhoods or parties into which each town is divided, with ‘spies’...
La fête de saint Blaise, saint patron de Dubrovnik
The evening before the festivity of Saint Blaise in Dubrovnik, Croatia, as all the church bells in the city ring and white doves are released as symbols of peace, worshippers gather for a ritual healing of the throat to preserve them against illness. On the third of February, the official day of both saint and city, parish banner...
La Fête de la Vierge de Guadalupe, patronne de Sucre
The Festivity of the Virgin of Guadalupe is a religious and cultural event held each year in Sucre. It honours the Virgin of Guadalupe, seen by many as a spiritual protector. Coordinated by the Catholic Church and the Association of Folkloric Groups, the celebration combines faith with music, dance and traditional art. It begins with...
La fête de la Virgen de la Candelaria de Puno
The Festivity of Virgen de la Candelaria, celebrated each February in the city of Puno, includes activities of religious, festive and cultural character that draw on Catholic traditions and symbolic elements of the Andean worldview. The main festival commences at the beginning of the month with a daybreak mass, followed by an ancient...
La fête des patios de Cordoue
For twelve days at the beginning of May, the city of Cordova celebrates the Fiesta of the Patios. The patio houses are communal, family or multi-family dwellings or sets of individual houses with a shared patio, located in the city’s historical quarter. This characteristic cultural space boasts an abundant array of plants, and during...
Le filete porteño à Buenos Aires, technique picturale traditionnelle
Filete porteño from Buenos Aires is a traditional painting technique used for ornamental design that combines brilliant colours with specific lettering styles. It can be seen as a form of decoration on urban buses and trucks and is also used for store signage and increasingly, home decoration. Images used relate back to the city’s...
Le fjiri
Fjiri is a musical performance that commemorates the history of pearl diving in Bahrain. Dating back to the late nineteenth century, it was traditionally performed by pearl divers and pearling crews to express the hardships faced at sea. The performers sit in a circle, singing and playing different types of drums, finger chimes and a...
Le Flamenco
Flamenco is an artistic expression fusing song ''(cante),'' dance ''(baile)'' and musicianship ''(toque).'' Andalusia in southern Spain is the heartland of Flamenco, although it also has roots in regions such as Murcia and Extremadura. ''Cante'' is the vocal expression of flamenco, sung by men and women, preferably seated, with no...
L’art populaire des Matyó, la broderie d’une communauté traditionnelle
The folk art of the Roman Catholic Matyó community in and around the town of Mezőkövesd in north-eastern Hungary is characterized by floral motifs that are found in flat-stitch embroidery and ornamented objects. Matyó embroidery decorates the traditional dress of the region, worn by local people in celebratory events and in folk dancing...
La technique d’interprétation du chant long des joueurs de flûte limbe – la respiration circulaire
The Limbe is a side-blown flute of hardwood or bamboo, traditionally used to perform Mongolian folk long songs. Through the use of circular breathing, Limbe performers are able to produce the continuous, wide-ranging melodies characteristic of the long song. Players breathe in through the nose while simultaneously blowing out through...
Fonelamvonglao (lamvonglao)
The fonelamvonglao is a celebratory dance practiced widely by Lao communities. It involves couples of men and women. To start the dance, the man typically invites the woman onto the dance floor. The men perform in an inner circle and the women perform in an outer circle, dancing in a counterclockwise direction. The dance consists of...
Le frevo, arts du spectacle du Carnaval de Recife
Frevo is a Brazilian artistic expression comprising music and dance, performed mainly during the Carnival of Recife. Its quick frenetic and vigorous rhythm draws upon the fusion of musical genres such as marching music, Brazilian tango, square dance, polka and pieces of classical repertoire, performed by martial bands and fanfares. The...
La Fujara et sa musique
The Fujara, an extremely long flute with three finger holes traditionally played by Slovak shepherds, is regarded as an integral part of the traditional culture of Central Slovakia. It is not just a musical instrument, but also an artefact of great artistic value due to its highly elaborate, individual ornamentation. The main tube of...
Les Furyu-odori, danses rituelles imprégnées des espoirs et prières de la population
Furyu-odori in Japan refers to various ritual folk dances, characterized by eye-catching costumes and lively dances and music. These local dances have been performed for centuries, primarily in rural areas. With life in these areas often affected by severe climate events, local communities created ritualistic performances to express...
Le Gagaku
Gagaku, characterized by long, slow songs and dance-like movements, is the oldest of the Japanese traditional performing arts. It is performed at banquets and ceremonies in the Imperial Palace and in theatres throughout the country, and encompasses three distinct arts. The first, Kuniburi no Utamai, features ancient Japanese songs,...
Le Gagok, cycles de chant lyrique accompagnés d’un orchestre
Gagok is a genre of traditional Korean vocal music sung by men and women to the accompaniment of a small orchestra, one of several forms of singing that together constitute ''jeongga,'' or ‘right song’. Formerly a music associated with the higher classes, Gagok is today widely popular throughout the country. Gagok comprises twenty-six...
Le gamelan
Gamelan refers to the traditional Indonesian percussion orchestra and to the set of musical instruments used. Consisting primarily of ornate, percussive instruments made of hand-forged metal, the ensemble typically includes xylophones, gongs, gong-chimes, drums, cymbals, string instruments and bamboo flutes. Gamelan music follows...
Le festival Danoje de Gangneung
The annual Gangneung Danoje Festival takes place in the town of Gangneung and its surroundings, situated east of the Taebaek Mountain Range on the Korean peninsula.The festival includes a shamanistic ritual on the Daegwallyeong Ridge, which pays tribute to the mountain deity and male and female tutelary deities. It encompasses...
Le garba du Gujarat
Garba is a ritualistic and devotional dance that is performed on the occasion of the Hindu festival of Navaratri, which is dedicated to the worship of the feminine energy or ‘Shakti’. The dance takes place around a perforated earthenware pot lit with an oil lamp, or an image of the mother goddess Amba. The dancers move around the centre...
Le repas gastronomique des Français
The gastronomic meal of the French is a customary social practice for celebrating important moments in the lives of individuals and groups, such as births, weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, achievements and reunions. It is a festive meal bringing people together for an occasion to enjoy the art of good eating and drinking. The...
Le Gbofe d’Afounkaha, la musique des trompes traversières de la communauté Tagbana
The Gbofe is mainly performed in the village of Afounkaha in the Tagbana community. The term Gbofe is used both for the transverse horns and for the performance as a whole, which encompasses music, song and dance. The Gbofe horns are made of roots covered by cowhide. Six of these horns are used together, ranging in length from 50 to 70...
La tradition épique du Gesar
The ethnic Tibetan, Mongolian and Tu communities in western and northern China share the story of the ancient hero King Gesar, sent to heaven to vanquish monsters, depose the powerful, and aid the weak while unifying disparate tribes. The singers and storytellers who preserve the Gesar epic tradition perform episodes of the vast oral...
Le Gifaataa, festival du Nouvel An des Wolaitas
Gifaataa is a New Year festival celebrated by the Wolaita community between mid-September and early October. Before the festival starts, people clean their surroundings and return home to be with their families. Disputes are resolved peacefully in preparation for the new year. On the main day of the festival, families come together to...
L’art du pain d’épices en Croatie du Nord
The tradition of gingerbread making appeared in certain European monasteries during the Middle Ages and came to Croatia where it became a craft. Gingerbread craftspeople, who also made honey and candles, worked in the area of Northern Croatia. The process of making gingerbread requires skill and speed. The recipe is the same for all...
Les fêtes de Gióng des temples de Phù Ðông et de Sóc
The Gióng festival of Phù Đổng and Sóc temples is celebrated annually in outlying districts of Hanoi, the capital of Viet Nam. Each spring, before the rice harvest, the Việt people honour the mythical hero, god and saint, Thánh Gióng, who is credited with defending the country from foreign enemies, and is worshipped as the patron god of...
Le glasoechko, chant d'hommes à deux voix dans le bas Polog
Male two-part singing in Dolni Polog is a traditional form of vocal music, known locally as Glasoechko, which is characteristic to the region. Songs are sung in a polyphonic manner with the drone voice moving contrapuntally in relation to the melodic leading voice, often accompanied by a shepherd’s flute and a bagpipe. Glasoechko is...
Gnaoua
Gnawa refers to a set of musical events, performances, fraternal practices and therapeutic rituals mixing the secular with the sacred. Gnawa is first and foremost a Sufi brotherhood music combined with lyrics with a generally religious content, invoking ancestors and spirits. Originally practised by groups and individuals from slavery...
La grande fête de Tarija
The Grand Festival of Tarija takes place in the city of Tarija, in the southeast of Bolivia. Celebrated every year in August and September, it involves devotional processions, music festivals, competitions and fireworks dedicated to Saint Roch. The festival has its origins in the colonial period, when the inhabitants of the city...
Le grand chant du groupe ethnique Dong
A popular saying among the Dong people in Guizhou Province in southern China has it that ‘rice nourishes the body and songs nourish the soul’. Their tradition of passing on culture and knowledge in music is exemplified in the Grand Song of the Dong ethnic group, multi-part singing performed without instrumental accompaniment or a...
La tradition du concours de fauchage d’herbe à Kupres
The most important social event in the Kupres municipality is the annual mowing competition that takes place in July at a specific meadow called Strljanica, which is also the local name for the custom. The contest involves the manual mowing of grass using a scythe and is judged by the time, effort and amount mown as cutting grass at...
La guarania, son de l'âme paraguayenne
The Guarania is a musical genre originating in Paraguay. Created in the early twentieth century, it is a collective expression of Paraguayan values. It uses the Guarani language, combining elements of native and popular music. The genre is characterized by syncopated rhythms and a slow tempo that is inspired by the Paraguayan polka. It...
Le Gule Wamkulu
Gule Wamkulu was a secret cult, involving a ritual dance practiced among the Chewa in Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique. It was performed by members of the Nyau brotherhood, a secret society of initiated men.Within the Chewa’s traditional matrilineal society, where married men played a rather marginal role, the Nyau offered a means to...
Le Guqin et sa musique
The Chinese zither, called guqin, has existed for over 3,000 years and represents China’s foremost solo musical instrument tradition. Described in early literary sources and corroborated by archaeological finds, this ancient instrument is inseparable from Chinese intellectual history. Guqin playing developed as an elite art form,...
Le gwoka : musique, chants, danses et pratique culturelle représentatifs de l’identité guadeloupéenne
Gwoka is found among all ethnic and religious groups of Guadeloupean society. It combines responsorial singing in Guadeloupean Creole, rhythms played on the Ka drums and dancing. In its traditional form, Gwoka unites these three areas of expression and emphasizes individual qualities of improvisation. The participants and public form a...
Le rassemblement hadrami dan
Hadrami Dan is a traditional performance and community gathering that combines spontaneous poetry, music and dance, widespread practiced across Hadhramaut Governorate. A typical Hadrami Dan gathering includes at least one singer and poet, with the audience seated in rows or circles. The performance begins with the rhythmic chanting of...
La fabrication artisanale de décorations d'arbres de Noël en perles de verre soufflé
Handmade production of Christmas tree decorations from blown glass beads refers to handmade Christmas tree decorations that are produced by blowing a heated glass tube inserted in a brass mould shaped into a string of beads called klaustschata and silvered, coloured and hand decorated. The string of beads is then cut into shorter or...
Le tissage à la main en Haute-Égypte (Sa’eed)
The craft tradition ‘Handmade weaving in Upper Egypt (Sa’eed)’ is a complex process that requires time, effort, patience and practice. Many steps and techniques are involved in the loom preparation, threading and weaving to achieve the final product; it is a work of precision and intricate workmanship. For centuries, men and women have...
La harissa, savoirs, savoir-faire et pratiques culinaires et sociales
Harissa, a seasoning made with chilli pepper paste, is an integral part of domestic provisions and the daily culinary and food traditions of Tunisian society. It is usually prepared by women in a convivial and festive family or neighbourhood setting. It is prepared by drying the chilli peppers in the sun, and splitting the peppers,...
Le Kagura d’Hayachine
In the fourteenth or fifteenth century, when the people of Iwate Prefecture in the northern part of mainland Japan worshipped Mt. Hayachine as a deity, they began a tradition of folk performance that continues to enliven the Great Festival of the Hayachine Shrine held in Hanamaki City on the first day of August. The Hayachine Kagura is...
Le henné : rituels, esthétique et pratiques sociales
Henna is a deciduous tree that grows in hot regions. Perceived as sacred by communities in Northern Africa and the Middle East, its leaves are harvested twice a year, left to dry, then ground and processed to create a paste. The specific ingredients and techniques used to prepare the paste vary according to the intended use and country....
Héritage de Dede Qorqud/Korkyt Ata/Dede Korkut : la culture, les légendes populaires et la musique liées à cette épopée
The epic culture, folk tales and music of Dede Qorqud/Korkyt Ata/Dede Korkut are based on twelve heroic legends, stories and tales and thirteen traditional musical compositions shared and transmitted across the generations through oral expressions, performing arts, cultural codes and musical compositions. Dede Qorqud appears in each...
Le Yimakan, les récits oraux des Hezhen
When the element was first inscribed, only five storytellers were still capable of performing certain Yimakan cantos, and the traditional practices associated with the Hezhen oral narratives faced several threats. This programme has engaged families, communities, schools, local authorities and the State in safeguarding the custom. Its...
La musique et la danse highlife
Highlife music and dance is a popular form of musical expression and storytelling known for its lively rhythms, lyrics and strong connection to everyday life. It features a mix of instruments, including guitars, horns, drums, xylophones and percussion. The music is often built around call-and-response singing, with the lead singer...
Le Hiragasy, art du spectacle des Hautes terres Centrales de Madagascar
Hiragasy is a performing art composed of song, dance and speech. Originating in the central highlands of Madagascar, the performance takes place in public spaces. It generally involves two troupes and lasts about one hour and thirty minutes, following a standard structure, including drumming, greetings, storytelling, dance and folk...
La Semaine sainte au Guatemala
Holy Week in Guatemala is one of the country’s most notable events, entailing processions, vigils, funeral marches, seasonal gastronomy and the creation of carpets, orchards and altars. On this occasion, the fronts of houses and buildings are also decorated, adding to the festive atmosphere. Holy Week is a religious and cultural...
Processions de la Semaine sainte à Mendrisio
The Holy Week processions take place in the historic town of Mendrisio on the evenings of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, attracting over 10,000 spectators. On these occasions, the city’s lights are turned off and the streets are lit by the glow of ‘transparencies’: translucent paintings mounted on wooden frames and illuminated from...
Les processions de la Semaine sainte à Popayán
The Holy Week processions in Popayán are one of the oldest traditions in Colombia, practised since the colonial period. From the Tuesday to the Saturday before Easter, between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., a series of processions take place. The five processions, devoted to Mary, Jesus, the Cross, the Laying in the Tomb, and the Resurrection...
La procession dansante d’Echternach
Each year, on the Tuesday of Pentecost (a Christian religious festival), the hopping procession of Echternach ''(Iechternacher Sprangprëssioun)'' takes place in the medieval town centre of Echternach, the oldest city in Luxembourg. Documented since the year 1100, the procession is founded on the cult of Saint Willibrord, a monk and...
L’Alardhah du cheval et du chameau
Horse and camel Ardhah is practised across many regions of Oman. On Alardhah day (meaning the ‘day of the festival’ in Arabic), people gather around the racecourse to watch shows by horse and camel riders that reflect Omani people’s skill in dealing with and taming the animals. Traditional arts (such as the reciting of traditional...
Houtem Jaarmarkt, foire annuelle d’hiver et marché aux bestiaux à Hautem-Saint-Liévin
Houtem Jaarmarkt is an annual trading fair taking place in the village of Sint-Lievens-Houtem in the south-east of the Belgian province of East Flanders. Every year, on 11 and 12 November, the village becomes the site of the country’s last substantial open-air market for trading cattle and purebred horses. Hundreds of dealers proudly...
La Huaconada, danse rituelle de Mito
Huaconada is a ritual dance performed in the village of Mito in the province of Concepción in the central Peruvian Andes. Every year, on the first three days of January, masked men known as ''huacones'' perform a choreographed series of dances in the centre of the town. The ''huacones'' represent the former council of elders, and for...
Le Hudhud, récits chantés des Ifugao
The Hudhud consists of narrative chants traditionally performed by the Ifugao community, which is well known for its rice terraces extending over the highlands of the northern island of the Philippine archipelago. It is practised during the rice sowing season, at harvest time and at funeral wakes and rituals. Thought to have originated...
Les tours humaines
''Castells'' are human towers built by members of amateur groups, usually as part of annual festivities in Catalonian towns and cities. The traditional setting is the square in front of the town hall balcony. The human towers are formed by ''castellers'' standing on the shoulders of one another in a succession of stages (between six and...
La tradition de l’ensemble à cordes hongrois
The Hungarian string band tradition is one of the country’s defining ensembles and one of the most common representatives of folk music culture. The basic fiddle-viola-bass line-up takes many forms across regions and eras and can be expanded to include additional string players or reed instruments. Up until the middle of the twentieth...
Le programme de pratiques de sauvegarde du PCI pour le Festival culturel et écologique des tortues marines d’Armila
For centuries, the people of Armila, Panama have lived in harmony with their natural environment and local fauna, a relationship that is embodied in oral traditions. In response to the decreasing transmission of these oral traditions, and to strengthen the artisanal practices and ritual expressions, dances and music associated with...
L’Ichapekene Piesta, la plus grande fête de Saint Ignace de Moxos
Every year, the inhabitants, both young and old, of San Ignacio de Moxos in Bolivia celebrate Ichapekene Piesta, a syncretic festival that reinterprets the Moxeño founder myth of the Jesuit victory of Ignacio de Loyola and melds it with indigenous beliefs and traditions. The festivities begin in May with firework displays, singing and...
Le système de divination Ifa
The Ifa divination system, which makes use of an extensive corpus of texts and mathematical formulas, is practiced among Yoruba communities and by the African diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean. The word Ifa refers to the mystical figure Ifa or Orunmila, regarded by the Yoruba as the deity of wisdom and intellectual development....
Le masque Ijele
In many communities in the state of Anambra in south-eastern Nigeria, celebrations, burial ceremonies and other special occasions during the dry season to evoke fertility and a bountiful harvest feature the performance of the Ijele masquerade. The mask is about four metres tall – so large that it takes a hundred men six months of work...
Les fêtes indigènes dédiées aux morts
As practised by the indigenous communities of Mexico, el Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) commemorates the transitory return to Earth of deceased relatives and loved ones. The festivities take place each year at the end of October to the beginning of November. This period also marks the completion of the annual cycle of cultivation...
L’Angklung indonésien
Angklung is an Indonesian musical instrument consisting of two to four bamboo tubes suspended in a bamboo frame, bound with rattan cords. The tubes are carefully whittled and cut by a master craftsperson to produce certain notes when the bamboo frame is shaken or tapped. Each Angklung produces a single note or chord, so several players...
Le Batik indonésien
The techniques, symbolism and culture surrounding hand-dyed cotton and silk garments known as Indonesian Batik permeate the lives of Indonesians from beginning to end: infants are carried in batik slings decorated with symbols designed to bring the child luck, and the dead are shrouded in funerary batik. Clothes with everyday designs...
Le Kris indonésien
The kris or keris is a distinctive, asymmetrical dagger from Indonesia. Both weapon and spiritual object, the kris is considered to possess magical powers. The earliest known kris go back to the tenth century and most probably spread from the island of Java throughout South-East Asia. Kris blades are usually narrow with a wide,...
L'Ingoma Ya Mapiko
The mapiko dance is a celebratory dance practiced by the Makonde people of Mozambique. A part of the traditional rite of passage from puberty to adulthood, the dance is performed in an enclosure, usually under mango trees, with dancers, musicians and the public coming together to celebrate the initiation rite. The dance may also be...
Intore
Intore is a Rwandan dance performed by a troupe. The dancers are arranged in lines representing the ranks of warriors on a battlefield. Through their movements, they mimic a battle with an invisible adversary, leaping and wielding their spears and shields to the rhythm of the traditional drums and horns. They are supported by songs and...
Le chant et la danse du tambour des Inuits
Drum dancing and drum singing are indigenous forms of Inuit artistic expression and music in Greenland. Drum dances and songs are frequently performed during national holidays, festive celebrations and social events, by a single person or a group. A single drum dancer may also perform with a choir. During a drum dance, the performer...
Le maqâm iraquien
Widely recognized as Iraq’s predominant classical music tradition, the Maqam encompasses a vast repertory of songs, accompanied by traditional instruments. Moreover, this popular genre provides a wealth of information on the musical history of the region and the Arab influences that have held sway over the centuries. The Iraqi Maqam is...
La pratique de la harpe irlandaise
Irish harping is at the heart of the identity of the people of the island of Ireland. The harp is Ireland’s national symbol and has been played for more than 1,000 years; its bell-like sounds and music captivate all those who hear it and are celebrated in Irish mythology, folklore and literature. Nowadays, instead of a harp hewn from a...
La danse Isukuti des communautés Isukha et Idakho de l’ouest du Kenya
The Isukuti dance is a traditional celebratory performance practised among the Isukha and Idakho communities of Western Kenya. It takes the form of a fast-paced, energetic and passionate dance accompanied by drumming and singing. An integral tool for cultural transmission and harmonious coexistence between families and communities, it...
Le rite Yeongdeunggut de Chilmeoridang à Cheju
The Jeju Chilmeoridang Yeongdeunggut is a ritual held in the second lunar month to pray for calm seas, an abundant harvest and a plentiful sea catch. The rites held at Chilmeoridang in the village of Gun-rip are representative of similar ceremonies held throughout the island of Jeju in the Republic of Korea. Village shamans perform a...
Le joropo au Venezuela
Joropo is a lively festive tradition resulting from the encounter between Indigenous People, Africans and Europeans. Its practice varies according to the regions: East, Guayana, The Andes, West Central, Central and The Plains. It combines music, poetry, singing and dancing, and involves various instruments such as the harp, cuatro,...
Le Jultagi, marche sur corde raide
Tightrope walking is a widespread form of entertainment that in most countries focuses purely on acrobatic skill. The traditional Korean performing art of Jultagi is distinctive in that it is accompanied by music and witty dialogue between the tightrope walker and an earthbound clown. Jultagi is performed outside. The tightrope walker...
Le Junkanoo
Junkanoo is the national cultural festival of The Bahamas. Dating back to the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was brought to The Bahamas by enslaved Africans who used their three-day holiday to recreate festivals from home. An outlet for creative expression, today Junkanoo is mainly celebrated through parades that retain many...
La pratique de la danse k’cimi de Tropojë
In Albania, the k’cimi dance is a popular, festive dance performed in spontaneous gatherings or during traditional ceremonies such as weddings, birthdays, initiations and village celebrations. Typically accompanied by drums, k’cimi is performed by men, women and children of all ages, and usually in couples, with partners changing...
Le théâtre Kabuki
Kabuki is a Japanese traditional theatre form, which originated in the Edo period at the beginning of the seventeenth century and was particularly popular among townspeople. Originally, both men and women acted in Kabuki plays, but eventually only male actors performed the plays: a tradition that has remained to the present day. Male...
Les chants et danses populaires Kalbelia du Rajasthan
Songs and dances are an expression of the Kalbelia community’s traditional way of life. Once professional snake handlers, Kalbelia today evoke their former occupation in music and dance that is evolving in new and creative ways. Today, women in flowing black skirts dance and swirl, replicating the movements of a serpent, while men...
La danse kalela
The Kalela dance originated during colonial times in the Luapula Province of Zambia. It was adopted by mine workers and used for entertainment at the Chief's Palace during traditional ceremonies, funerals, harvest celebrations and other important occasions. Kalela is a kind of dance drill formation in which the dancers form two or three...
Le Kankurang, rite d’initiation mandingue
The Kankurang is an initiatory rite practised throughout the Manding provinces of Senegal and Gambia, mainly corresponding to the Casamance, and in the city of Mbour. According to tradition, the origin of the Kankurang is to be found in the Komo, a secret society of hunters whose organization and esoteric practices contributed to the...
Le Karagöz
Karagöz is a form of shadow theatre in Turkey in which figures known as ''tasvirs'' made of camel or ox hide in the shape of people or things are held on rods in front of a light source to cast their shadows onto a cotton screen. A play begins with the projection of an introductory figure to set the scene and suggest the themes of the...
Le Katta Ashula
Katta Ashula (literally ‘big song’) is a type of traditional song that forms part of the identity of various peoples of the Ferghana Valley in Uzbekistan, which is also home to Tajiks, Uyghurs and Turks, and of some regions of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. An original genre, Katta Ashula combines performing arts, singing,...
La pratique du violon à Kaustinen et les pratiques et expressions connexes
Kaustinen folk music is a Finnish tradition where the fiddle (violin), although not the only instrument, is the main melodic instrument. It is in fact the violin (with or without other instruments) that cadences the dances or the songs. Based on playing by ear, it is characterized by syncopated and accented rhythms that are easy for...
L’art traditionnel kazakh du dombra kuï
The art of DombraKuy refers to a short solo composition performed on a traditional pear-shaped, long-necked, two-stringed, plucked musical instrument known as a dombra. The music aims to connect people to their historic roots and traditions through classical and improvised pieces that engage the audience at a spiritual and emotional...
La kebaya : connaissances, savoir-faire, traditions et pratiques
Kebaya is a front-opening top often adorned with intricate embroidery and worn with fasteners such as brooches or buttons. It comes in various lengths and can be worn with a matching sarong. Kebaya is a way of dressing that has evolved with the lifestyles of Southeast Asian women. It is worn at casual as well as formal events, social...
La musique du khène du peuple lao
The khaen music of the Lao people is played with a mouth organ that resembles panpipes but made with bamboo tubes of varying lengths, each with a metal reed. The player blows into the instrument through an air chamber and the sound produced depends on the size of the tube. Khaen music is popular in all regions of the Lao People’s...
La fête de Khidr Elias et l'expression des vœux
Every year in February communities in Iraq honour Alkhidr, a holy figure who, according to ancient beliefs, grants worshippers their wishes particularly those in need. In northern Iraq, during the last three days of the month, families gather on a hill where the sanctuary of Alkhidr is thought to be. Dressed in traditional clothes they...
Le khon, théâtre masqué et dansé en Thaïlande
Khon, the Khon Masked Dance Drama in Thailand, is a performing art that combines musical, vocal, literary, dance, ritual and handicraft elements. Khon performances – which involve graceful dance movements, instrumental and vocal renditions and glittering costumes – depict the glory of Rama, the hero and incarnation of the god Vishnu,...
Le lazgi, danse de Khorezm
The movements of Khorazm dance, Lazgi encapsulate human creativity by reflecting the sounds and phenomena of surrounding nature, feelings of love and happiness. Initially associated with the Khorazm Region, Khorazm dance, Lazgi has since become widespread in Uzbekistan. Paintings of the dance can be found in the archaeological site of...
L’espace culturel de Kihnu
Lying off Estonia’s Baltic coast, the small islands of Kihnu and Manija are home to a community of 600 people whose cultural expressions and agricultural traditions have been kept alive over the centuries largely through the island’s female population. The men of the Kihnu community have taken to sea to hunt seals and fish, while the...
Le kimjang, préparation et partage du kimchi en République de Corée
Kimchi is the Korean name for preserved vegetables seasoned with spices and fermented seafood. It forms an essential part of Korean meals, transcending class and regional differences. The collective practice of Kimjang reaffirms Korean identity and is an excellent opportunity for strengthening family cooperation. Kimjang is also an...
Le festival de lutte à l’huile de Kırkpınar
The Kırkpınar oil wrestling festival takes place in Edirne, Turkey. Thousands of people from different age groups, cultures and regions travel every year to see ''Pehlivan'' (wrestlers) fight for the Kırkpınar Golden Belt and the title of Chief Pehlivan. Each festival is launched by its patron, the ''Kırkpınar Aga,'' in a ceremony...
Connaissances, techniques et savoir-faire du verre artisanal
Traditional handmade glass production entails shaping and decorating hot and cold glass to produce hollow glass objects, flat glass and crown glass. It is characterised by the high degree of craftsmanship inherent to the work and by strong team values due to the need to respect the previous steps performed by other glassmakers. Most...
Les savoirs, savoir-faire et pratiques liés à la production et à la consommation du couscous
The knowledge, know-how and practices pertaining to the production and consumption of couscous encompass the methods of preparation, manufacturing conditions and tools, associated artefacts and circumstances of consumption of couscous in the communities concerned. Preparing couscous is a ceremonial process involving several different...
Les connaissances, savoir-faire et rituels liés à la rénovation annuelle du pont Q’eswachaka
The Q’eswachaka bridge is a rope suspension bridge over a gorge of the Apurimac River in the southern Andes. It is renewed every year, using traditional Inca techniques and raw materials. The Quechua-speaking peasant communities of Huinchiri, Chaupibanda, Choccayhua and Ccollana Quehue see it as a means of strengthening their social...
Le kochari, danse collective traditionnelle
Kochari is a traditional dance that is widely performed throughout Armenia during holidays, festive celebrations, family ceremonies and other social events. It is open to all participants, irrespective of age, gender or social status. Kochari provides a sense of shared identity and solidarity, contributes to the continuity of...
Le kolo, danse traditionnelle
Kolo is a traditional, collective folk dance performed by dancers who are interlinked to form a chain, usually moving in a circular line holding hands with their arms down. It is performed to the accompaniment of music at private and public gatherings and involves all members of the local community. Cultural-artistic societies and folk...
La sculpture sur bois à Konjic
Konjic woodcarving is an artistic craft with a long tradition in the Konjic municipality. The woodcarvings – which include furniture, sophisticated interiors and small decorative objects – stand out for their recognizable hand-carved motifs and overall visual identity. The woodcarving is a constitutive part of the local community’s...
La tradition orale Koogere des Basongora, Banyabidi et Batooro
Koogere was a female chief of Busongora about 1,500 years ago. Oral tradition describes her exceptional wisdom and the prosperity of the chiefdom through a series of narratives, which form part of the collective memory of Basongora, Banyabindi and Batooro communities in Kasese. This oral tradition is an essential and inspirational part...
La kopatchkata, danse communautaire du village de Dramtche, Pianets
Kopachkata is a dynamic and energetic social dance performed by local residents of the village of Dramche in the region of Pijanec. It is danced at weddings, public gatherings and religious holidays by the village’s best male dancers. The dance is performed in a semicircle accompanied by drummers, a fiddle, and sometimes a tamboura lute...
Les Krakelingen et le Tonnekensbrand, fête du feu et du pain de la fin de l’hiver à Grammont
The city of Geraardsbergen holds its annual market on the first Monday in March and celebrates the end of winter on Sunday eight days earlier, with the festival of Krakelingen and Tonnekensbrad. In the days before, shopkeepers decorate their windows, bakers bake special ring-shaped breads called krakelingen, and schoolteachers recount a...
La Kumbh Mela
Kumbh Mela (the festival of the sacred Pitcher) is the largest peaceful congregation of pilgrims on earth, during which participants bathe or take a dip in a sacred river. Devotees believe that by bathing in the Ganges one is freed from sins liberating her/him from the cycle of birth and death. Millions of people reach the place without...
Le Kumiodori, théâtre traditionnel musical d’Okinawa
Kumiodori is a Japanese performing art found on the Okinawa islands. It is based upon traditional Okinawan music and dance, but also incorporates elements from mainland Japan, such as Nogaku or Kabuki, as well as from China. Kumiodori dramas recount local historical events or legends, accompanied by a traditional three-stringed...
L’opéra Kun Qu
Kun Qu Opera developed under the Ming dynasty (fourteenth to seventeenth centuries) in the city of Kunshan, situated in the region of Suzhou in southeast China. With its roots in popular theatre, the repertory of songs evolved into a major theatrical form. Kun Qu is one of the oldest forms of Chinese opera still performed today. It is...
Le théâtre sanscrit, Kutiyattam
Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatre, which is practised in the province of Kerala, is one of India’s oldest living theatrical traditions. Originating more than 2,000 years ago, Kutiyattam represents a synthesis of Sanskrit classicism and reflects the local traditions of Kerala. In its stylized and codified theatrical language, neta abhinaya...
Le kwagh-hir, représentation théâtrale
Kwagh-Hir theatrical performance is a composite art form encompassing a spectacle that is both visually stimulating and culturally edifying. Kwagh-hir has its roots in the story-telling tradition of the Tiv people called ‘kwagh-alom’, a practice where the family was treated to a storytelling session by creative storytellers, usually in...
Le L-Għana, une tradition du chant populaire maltais
Ghana (pronounced ‘ana’) is used to describe three related types of rhymed folksong in Malta. The most popular form of ghana is the ‘quick-wit’ ghana, an improvised duel between one or two pairs of singers, focusing on rhymes, convincing argumentation and witty repartee. ‘Factual’ ghana is a long, narrative poem sung by a soloist,...
La romería, cycle rituel de pèlerinage de la Vierge de Zapopan portée en procession
The annual celebration of La Romería on 12 October, honouring the image of the Virgin of Zapopan, is a tradition that dates back to 1734. The day marks the final phase of the annual ritual cycle popularly known as ‘The Carrying of the Virgin’, which begins in May and encompasses many community and liturgical activities. The cycle ends...
La Tumba Francesa
The dance, song and drumming style known as Tumba Francesa (French Drum) was brought to Cuba by Haitian slaves who were resettled in the island’s eastern regions following the unrest in Haiti during the 1790s. It embodies one of the oldest and most tangible links to the Afro-Haitian heritage of Cuba’s Oriente province and developed from...
La dentellerie en Croatie
At least three distinct traditions of Lacemaking in Croatia persist today, centred on the towns of Pag on the Adriatic, Lepoglava in northern Croatia and Hvar on the Dalmatian island of the same name. Pag needle-point lace was originally used to make ecclesiastical garments, tablecloths and ornaments for clothing. The process involves...
Les danses des garçons en Roumanie
Lad’s dances are a genre of men’s folk dance in Romania practised in community life on festive occasions, such as weddings and holidays, as well as during stage performances. Each community has its own variants, all of which display virtuosity and harmonious combinations of movement and rhythm. A special role is assigned to the dance...
Lakalaka, danses et discours chantés du Tonga
The Tonga archipelago lies in the South Pacific approximately 2,000 kilometres north-east of New Zealand. It is the only constitutional monarchy in the Pacific region. Often considered Tonga’s national dance, Lakalaka is a blend of choreography, oratory, and vocal and instrumental polyphony. This cultural expression is practised by...
Le programme « Terre des légendes »pour promouvoir et redynamiser l’art du conte dans le comté de Kronoberg
The Land-of-Legends programme is aimed at promoting and revitalizing the art of storytelling in the Kronoberg region of southern Sweden. In Sweden, as elsewhere, factors such as industrialization, urbanization and television and social media have led to the disappearance of traditional venues for storytelling and modes of transmission,...
La langue, la danse et la musique des Garifuna
A population of mixed origin incorporating cultural elements of indigenous Caribbean and African groups, the Garifuna settled along the Atlantic coast of Central America after being forced to flee from the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent in the eighteenth century. Today, Garifuna communities mainly live in Honduras, Guatemala,...
Le lavash : préparation, signification et aspect du pain traditionnel en tant qu’expression culturelle en Arménie
Lavash is a traditional thin bread that forms an integral part of Armenian cuisine. Its preparation is typically undertaken by a small group of women, and requires great effort, coordination, experience and special skills. A simple dough made of wheat flour and water is kneaded and formed into balls, which are then rolled into thin...
La dentelle de Lefkara ou Lefkaritika
The tradition of lace-making in the village of Lefkara in southeastern Cyprus dates back to at least the fourteenth century. Influenced by indigenous craft, the embroidery of Venetian courtiers who ruled the country beginning in 1489, and ancient Greek and Byzantine geometric patterns, Lefkara lace is made by hand in designs combining...
Les ostensions septennales limousines
The Limousin septennial ostensions are grand ceremonies and processions organized every seventh year for the exhibition and worship of relics of Catholic saints kept in Limousin churches. Widely supported by local towns and villages, the festivities are attended by great numbers of people who gather to see the reliquaries as they...
Les traditions d’élevage des chevaux Lipizzan
Lipizzan horse breeding traditions were initially used to breed horses for the Habsburg imperial court in Vienna, but today the Lipizzan horse plays a special role in the everyday cultural and social life of communities in rural areas. They are included in events, celebrations and festivities such as horse blessings, carnival...
La culture vivante des trois systèmes d'écriture de l'alphabet géorgien
The evolution of Georgia’s written language has produced three alphabets – Mrgvlovani, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli – which all remain in use today. Mrgvlovani was the first alphabet from which Nuskhuri was derived and then Mkhedruli. The alphabets coexist thanks to their different cultural and social functions, reflecting an aspect of...
Les tableaux vivants de Galeras, Sucre
The Living Pictures of Galeras in Colombia is a collective and community-based artistic expression that consists of recreating static scenes related to religion, daily life, literature, current affairs, legends, or any other topic that may arise from the rich collective imaginary. The staging of a picture demands a concerted effort...
Le lkhon khol de Wat Svay Andet
Lkhon Khol Wat Svay Andet is practised in one community surrounding a Buddhist monastery, Wat Svay Andet – located about 10km east of Phnom Penh on the Mekong River – and is performed by men wearing masks to the accompaniment of a traditional orchestra and melodious recitation. The specific aim is to propitiate the Neak Ta (guardian...
La danse et musique de lyre arquée ma’di
The Ma’di bowl lyre music and dance is a cultural practice of the Madi people of Uganda. Passed on by the community’s ancestors, the songs and dances involved in the tradition are performed for various purposes, including weddings, political rallies, to celebrate good harvests, educate children, resolve conflict or mourn the passing of...
Le théâtre Mak Yong
This ancient theatre form created by Malaysia’s Malay communities combines acting, vocal and instrumental music, gestures and elaborate costumes. Specific to the villages of Kelantan in northwest Malaysia, where the tradition originated, Mak Yong is performed mainly as entertainment or for ritual purposes related to healing practices....
La mascarade Makishi
The Makishi masquerade is performed at the end of the mukanda, an annual initiation ritual for boys between the ages of eight and twelve. This ritual is celebrated by the Vaka Chiyama Cha Mukwamayi communities, which include the Luvale, Chokwe, Luchazi and Mbunda peoples, who live in the northwestern and western provinces of Zambia....
La cérémonie de purification des garçons chez les Lango du centre-nord de l’Ouganda
The male-child cleansing ceremony, performed among the Lango people of central northern Uganda, is a healing ritual for a male child believed to have lost his manhood. During the ceremony, the mother and male child spend three days inside the house and eat unsweetened millet porridge. The child is treated as a baby for the duration of...
Le Malhoun, un art poético-musical populaire
Malhun is a popular form of poetic expression in Morocco. The verses are sung in dialectical Arabic and sometimes Hebrew. They are accompanied by music played on traditional instruments, notably the lute, the violin, the rebab and small drums. Popular topics include love, the joys of life, the beauty of people, nature, religious prayer...
Le Maloya
Maloya is a form of music, song and dance native to Réunion Island. Of mixed racial origins since its outset, maloya was created by Malagasy and African slaves on the sugar plantations and was eventually appropriated by the whole of the island’s population. Initially conceived as a dialogue between a soloist and a choir accompanied by...
La festa villageoise maltaise, une célébration communautaire annuelle
The festa is a community event of religious origin held annually in village parishes across Malta and Gozo. The main festa season in Malta starts towards the end of April and runs until the beginning of October, with multiple events taking place in different villages. Community volunteers prepare the festa throughout the year and the...
Le Manas
The Kirgiz ethnic minority in China, concentrated in the Xinjiang region in the west, pride themselves on their descent from the hero Manas, whose life and progeny are celebrated in one of the best-known elements of their oral tradition: the Manas epic. Traditionally sung by a Manaschi without musical accompaniment, epic performances...
La Charte du Mandén, proclamée à Kouroukan Fouga
In the early thirteenth century, following a major military victory, the founder of the Mandingo Empire and the assembly of his wise men proclaimed in Kurukan Fuga the new Manden Charter, named after the territory situated above the upper Niger River basin, between present-day Guinea and Mali. The Charter, one of the oldest...
La Mangal Shobhajatra du Pahela Baishakh
Mangal Shobhajatra is a festival organized by students and teachers of Dhaka University’s Faculty of Fine Art in Bangladesh open to the public to celebrate Pahela Baishakh (New Year’s Day). Taking place on April 14, the tradition of Mangal Shobhajatra began in 1989 when students, frustrated with having to live under military rule,...
La danse mangwengwe
The Mangwengwe is a traditional dance that is performed by the Mambwe and Namwanga people of Zambia. Dating to pre-colonial times, it is characterized by circular movements of the shoulders and sometimes waist. The performance involves a lead singer or dancer, supporting singers and dancers, hand-clappers and musicians. The rhythm is...
La sonnerie manuelle des cloches
In Spain and Italy, traditional manual bell ringing is a form of communication that is tied to the classification, acoustics and shapes of bells, bell towers and belfries, as well as to the knowledge, skills and techniques of the campanari (bell ringers, in Italian). The bells are played as musical instruments, individually or in...
La fabrication des sonnailles
The Portuguese cowbell is an idiophone percussion instrument with a single internal clapper, usually hung on a leather strap around an animal’s neck. It is traditionally used by shepherds to locate and control their livestock, and creates an unmistakable soundscape in rural areas. The cowbells are handmade from iron, which is...
La tradition orale Mapoyo et ses points de référence symboliques dans leur territoire ancestral
The oral tradition of the Mapoyo and its symbolic points of reference within the ancestral territory encompass a body of narratives that constitute the collective memory of the Mapoyo people. It is symbolically and permanently linked to a number of places located within the ancestral territory of the community along the Orinoco River in...
Les marches de l’Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse
The Marches of Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse are a major component of the cultural identity of the eponymous region found between the rivers of Sambre and Meuse in Wallonia, Belgium. The marches commemorate the dedication of churches of many villages and small towns honouring the Saint to whom the religious buildings are dedicated. The whole...
Le Centre de développement artisanal de Marguilan, sauvegarde des technologies traditionnelles de fabrication d’atlas et d’adras
The history of ikat atlas and adras-making technologies in the territory of modern-day Uzbekistan dates back to the Late Antique Period. Historically, Margilan was the centre for making atlas and adras – vivid and fine traditional fabrics. Traditional crafts went through turbulent times during the Soviet period, jeopardizing some...
Le Mariachi, musique à cordes, chant et trompette
Mariachi is a traditional Mexican music and a fundamental element of Mexican culture. Traditional Mariachi groups, made up of two or more members, wear regional costumes adapted from the charro costume and interpret a broad repertoire of songs on stringed instruments. Ensembles playing ‘modern Mariachi’ include trumpets, violins, the...
Les musiques de marimba, les chants et les danses traditionnels de la région du Pacifique Sud colombien et de la province d'Esmeraldas d'Équateur
Marimba music and traditional chants and dances are musical expressions integral to the family and community fabric of people of African descent in the Colombian South Pacific region and Esmeraldas Province of Ecuador. Chanted stories and poems are performed by men and women at ritual, religious and festive events as a celebration of...
Les traditions des Marrons de Moore Town
Situated in the highlands of eastern Jamaica, Moore Town is home to the descendants of independent communities of former runaway slaves known as Maroons. The African ancestors of the Moore Town Maroons were forcibly removed from their native lands to the Caribbean by Spanish slave traders in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The...
La danse des masques des tambours de Drametse
The mask dance of the Drametse community is a sacred dance performed during the Drametse festival in honour of Padmasambhava, a Buddhist guru. The festival, which takes place in this eastern Bhutanese village twice a year, is organized by the Ogyen Tegchok Namdroel Choeling Monastery. The dance features sixteen masked male dancers...
Le culte et les rituels de Mazu
As the most influential goddess of the sea in China, Mazu is at the centre of a host of beliefs and customs, including oral traditions, religious ceremonies and folk practices, throughout the country’s coastal areas. Mazu is believed to have lived in the tenth century on Meizhou Island, where she dedicated herself to helping her fellow...
La danse Mbende Jerusarema
The Mbende Jerusarema Dance is a popular dance style practiced by the Zezuru Shona people living in eastern Zimbabwe, especially in the Murewa and Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe districts. The dance is characterized by acrobatic and sensual movements by women and men, driven by a polyrhythmic drummer accompanied by men playing woodblock...
La međimurska popevka, chanson populaire traditionnelle de Međimurje
Međimurska popevka, a folksong from the Međimurje region, in the north-western part of Croatia, was historically predominantly a soloist vocal genre practised by women. Nowadays, it is performed by individuals and groups, men and women, in vocal, vocal-instrumental, instrumental, monophonic and multipart renditions, as a musical genre...
Le Mek Mulung
Mek Mulung is a traditional Malaysian performance involving acting, dialogue, singing and dancing. Originating in the village of Wang Tepus, it is performed by a group of fifteen to twenty people, accompanied by a music ensemble consisting of traditional percussion and wind instruments such as drums, clappers and a gong. Mek Mulung...
Le colindat de groupe d’hommes, rituel de Noël
Each year before Christmas, groups of young men gather in villages throughout Romania and the Republic of Moldova to prepare for the ritual of Colindat. On Christmas Eve, they go from house to house performing festive songs. Afterwards, the hosts offer the singers ritual gifts and money. The songs have an epic content, which is adapted...
Le Meshrep
Found among the Uygur people concentrated largely in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Meshrep constitutes the most important cultural carrier of Uygur traditions. A complete Meshrep event includes a rich collection of traditions and performance arts, such as music, dance, drama, folk arts, acrobatics, oral literature, foodways...
Méthodologie pour l’inventaire du patrimoine culturel immatériel dans les réserves de biosphère : l’expérience du Montseny
Initiated by the UNESCO Centre in Catalonia, a non-governmental organization, the project focuses on the identification of intangible cultural heritage in a biosphere reserve and the drawing up of inventories. The project was undertaken in an area covering the Montseny Biosphere Reserve and National Park in the Autonomous Community of...
Le Sema, cérémonie Mevlevi
The Mevleviye is an ascetic Sufi order founded in 1273 in Konya, from where it gradually spread throughout the Ottoman Empire. Today, the Mevleviye can be found in many Turkish communities throughout the world, but the most active and famous centres of the order’s activity are in Konya and Istanbul. The Mevleviye are renowned for their...
Le Mibu no Hana Taue, rituel du repiquage du riz à Mibu, Hiroshima
Mibu no Hana Taue is a Japanese agricultural ritual carried out by the Mibu and Kawahigashi communities in Kitahiroshima Town, Hiroshima Prefecture to assure an abundant rice harvest by celebrating the rice deity. On the first Sunday of June, after the actual rice transplanting has ended, the ritual enacts the stages of planting and...
La maïeutique : connaissances, savoir-faire et pratiques
Midwives are companions and supporters of pregnant women and their families before, during and after birth. Throughout the course of a pregnancy, midwives make home visits, provide guidance and care, and facilitate birth preparation and capacity-building classes. They contribute to the protection of fundamental human rights by...
Le bateau moliceiro : un art de la charpenterie navale de la région d’Aveiro
The Moliceiro boat is a traditional wooden vessel originally designed for harvesting aquatic plants, an important economic activity for the practising community. Built using pine wood, these boats follow time-honoured shipbuilding techniques that have been passed down through generations. The shipbuilders use a special tool called the...
La Momoeria, fêtes du Nouvel An dans huit villages de la région de Kozani, en Macédoine occidentale (Grèce)
From December 25 to January 5 in Kozani (north-western Greece), dancers, actors and musicians can be seen performing in village streets and visiting people’s homes to celebrate the coming of the new year. The Momoeria dancers, a group made up of 30 male performers, are a special focus. They represent the priests of Momos (god of...
Le Biyelgee mongol, danse populaire traditionnelle mongole
The Mongol Biyelgee – Mongolian Traditional Folk Dance is performed by dancers from different ethnic groups in the Khovd and Uvs provinces of Mongolia. Regarded as the original forebear of Mongolian national dances, Biyelgee dances embody and originate from the nomadic way of life. Biyelgee dances are typically confined to the small...
Le Tuuli mongol, épopée mongole
The Mongolian Tuuli is an oral tradition comprising heroic epics that run from hundreds to thousands of lines and combine benedictions, eulogies, spells, idiomatic phrases, fairy tales, myths and folk songs. They are regarded as a living encyclopaedia of Mongolian oral traditions and immortalize the heroic history of the Mongolian...
L’art mongol du chant Khoomei
The Mongolian art of singing: Khoomei, or Hooliin Chor (‘throat harmony’), is a style of singing in which a single performer produces a diversified harmony of multiple voice parts, including a continued bass element produced in the throat. These singers may perform alone or in groups. Khoomei is practised today among Mongolian...
Le tir aux osselets mongol
Mongolians revere certain parts of bones of their domestic livestock and use them in religious rites, plays and traditional games. One such popular team-based game is knuckle-bone shooting. Teams of six to eight players flick thirty domino-like marble tablets on a smooth wooden surface towards a target of sheep knuckle-bones, aiming to...
L’art traditionnel du Khöömei mongol
Khöömei is a form of singing originating in western Mongolia, in the Altai mountains. The performer imitates sounds of nature, simultaneously emitting two distinct vocal sounds: along with a continuous drone, the singer produces a melody of harmonics. Khöömei literally means pharynx, and it is believed to have been learned from birds,...
Les pratiques traditionnelles mongoles de vénération de sites sacrés
Mongolian practices of worshipping sacred sites have developed in the cultural space that is home to the nomadic lifestyle, which is characterized by its close harmony with nature and the environment. According to ancient shamanism, these practices are based on the belief in the existence of invisible deities of the sky, earth,...
La danse mooba du groupe ethnique lenje dans la province Centrale de Zambie
Mooba is the main dance of the Lenje ethnic group of Central Province of Zambia, performed since pre-colonial times. It is also practised in parts of Copperbelt and Lusaka Provinces, by both men and women. On certain occasions, when the dance reaches its peak, some lead dancers are possessed by ancestral spirits called BaChooba; it is...
L’épopée maure T’heydinne
The T’heydinn epic encompasses dozens of poems lauding the glorious feats of Moorish emirs and sultans. It propounds ancestral values underpinning the way of life of the Moorish community in Mauritania, and constitutes a literary and artistic manifestation of the Hassaniya language. Griots perform the epic accompanied by traditional...
La morna, pratique musicale de Cabo Verde
Morna, musical practice of Cabo Verde is a traditional Cape Verdean musical and choreographic practice with instrumental accompaniment that incorporates voice, music, poetry, and dance. Morna can be either sung or played only with instruments, mainly chordophones, including the guitar, violin, ten-string guitar, replaced with a...
Le Caftan marocain : art, traditions et savoir-faire
The caftan is a long tunic worn by people of all genders and ages for special occasions and celebrations. It comes in different styles and fabrics and can be worn with or without a decorative belt. Emanating from diverse cultural backgrounds, the traditional garment is known for its central opening, buttons and rich, hand-made...
Le Moussem de Tan-Tan
The Moussem of Tan-Tan in southwest Morocco is an annual gathering of nomadic peoples of the Sahara that brings together more than thirty tribes from southern Morocco and other parts of northwest Africa. Originally this was an annual event around the month of May. Part of the agricultural and herding calendar of the nomads, these...
Le moutya
Moutya was brought to Seychelles by the enslaved Africans who arrived with the French settlers in the early eighteenth century. They used to practise this dance at night in the forest, at a distance from the plantation house where their masters lived. Historically, Moutya was a psychological comfort against hardship and poverty and a...
Le Mudiyettu, théâtre rituel et drame dansé du Kerala
Mudiyettu is a ritual dance drama from Kerala based on the mythological tale of a battle between the goddess Kali and the demon Darika. It is a community ritual in which the entire village participates. After the summer crops have been harvested, the villagers reach the temple in the early morning on an appointed day. Mudiyettu...
Le chant à plusieurs voix de Horehronie
The Multipart Singing of Horehronie is characterized by a variable solo melody of pre-singing and more static choir answers, either by men or women. The singing culminates in intertwined parallel melodies with rich variations, consisting of two or three parts; each section presents a variation of the initial melodic formula. The song...
La musique et la danse de la bachata dominicaine
The music and dance of Dominican Bachata is a danceable musical expression, deriving from a fusion of rhythmic bolero with other Afro-Antillean genres such as Son, the Cha-cha-cha, Merengue, etc. The Dominican people consider the music and dance of Bachata as a vernacular cultural manifestation, omnipresent in community celebrations and...
La musique et la danse du merengue en République dominicaine
The merengue is considered part of the national identity of the Dominican community. It plays an active role in various aspects of people’s daily lives – from their education to social gatherings and celebrations, even political campaigning. In 2005, the traditional practice was recognised by presidential decree with November 26...
La musique de Terchová
The village of Terchová in north-west Slovakia is renowned for its collective vocal and instrumental music, performed by three-, four- or five-member string ensembles with a small two-string bass or diatonic button accordion. It is often accompanied by polyphonic singing and combined with folk dances. The musical tradition of Terchová...
La musique des Bakhshis du Khorasan
In Khorasan Province, the Bakhshis are renowned for their musical skill with the ''dotār,'' a two-stringed, long-necked lute. They recount Islamic and Gnostic poems and epics containing mythological, historical or legendary themes. Their music, known as ''Maghami,'' consists of instrumental and/or vocal pieces, performed in Turkish,...
L'art musical des sonneurs de trompe, une technique instrumentale liée au chant, à la maîtrise du souffle, au vibrato, à la résonance des lieux et à la convivialité
The musical art of horn players, an instrumental technique linked to singing, breath control, vibrato, resonance of place and conviviality, brings together the techniques and skills used to play the horn. The pitch, accuracy and quality of the notes produced are influenced by the musician’s breath and the instrumental technique is based...
Mvet Oyeng, art musical, pratiques et savoir-faire associés à la communauté Ekang
Mvet Oyeng is a cultural tradition that is practised by the Ekang community. It entails the singing of a series of epic stories, accompanied by dancing and the playing of a traditional stringed instrument. The audience actively participates in the performance by playing drumsticks or clapping, singing and engaging with the storyteller....
La danse spirituelle mwazindika de la communauté Daida du Kenya
The Mwazindika spiritual dance is a traditional practice used to promote individual and communal well-being amongst the Daida community. It combines dance, music, ritual and storytelling, and is performed during important events such as rites of passage, harvests, coronations and times of crisis like droughts or floods. Its purpose is...
Le mwinoghe, danse joyeuse
Mwinoghe is an instrumental dance performed among three ethnic communities – Sukwa, Ndali and Bandya – in the northern region of Malawi. In the Chisukwa dialect, the word ‘Mwinoghe’ literally means ‘Let us enjoy ourselves’: the dance is therefore performed to express joy and happiness. Derived from a ceremonial dance of the neighbouring...
Le mystère d’Elche
The mystery play of Elche is a sacred musical drama of the death, the passage into heaven (known as the Assumption) and the crowning of the Virgin Mary. Since the mid-fifteenth century it has been performed in the Basilica of Santa Maria and in the streets of the old city of Elche, situated in the region of Valencia. It is a living...
Le Naadam, festival traditionnel mongol
Naadam is a national festival celebrated every year from 11 to 13 July across Mongolia that focuses on three traditional games: horseracing, wrestling and archery. Mongolian Naadam is inseparably connected to the nomadic civilization of the Mongols, who have long practiced pastoralism on Central Asia’s vast steppe. Oral traditions,...
Le Nachi no Dengaku, art religieux du spectacle pratiqué lors de la « fête du feu de Nachi »
Nachi no Dengaku is a Japanese folk performing art with a deep connection to Kumano Sanzan, a sacred site in Nachisanku. It is performed on a stage inside Kumano Nachi Shrine during the annual Nachi Fire Festival, celebrated on 14 July. It is a key component of the festival and takes the form of ritual dancing to flute music and drums...
L’art ñai’ũpo, un artisanat ancestral de la céramique
Ñai’ũpo is a traditional ceramic craft that involves making blackish cooking and eating utensils by hand using natural materials and techniques that have been passed down through the generations. Practiced by communities organised in associations of potters in Itá, Tobatí and Yaguarón, the process is both practical and cultural,...
Le Namsadang Nori
Namsadang Nori, literally the ‘all-male vagabond clown theatre’, is a multifaceted folk performance tradition originally practised widely by travelling entertainers and now kept alive by professional troupes in the Republic of Korea. The performance is made up of six components: a segment of ‘farmers’ music’ emphasizes the percussive...
La cérémonie de la Nan Pa’ch
The Paach ceremony is a corn-veneration ritual celebrated in San Pedro Sacatepéquez. The ceremony gives thanks for good harvests in a ritual that highlights the close connection between humans and nature and features prayers in the Mam language. The participants are mostly older farmers, both men and women, with extensive ties to the...
Le Nanyin
Nanyin is a musical performing art central to the culture of the people of Minnan in southern Fujian Province along China’s south-eastern coast, and to Minnan populations overseas. The slow, simple and elegant melodies are performed on distinctive instruments such as a bamboo flute called the ''dongxiao'' and a crooked-neck lute played...
Le Naqqāli, narration dramatique iranienne
Naqqāli is the oldest form of dramatic performance in the Islamic Republic of Iran and has long played an important role in society, from the courts to the villages. The performer – the Naqqāl – recounts stories in verse or prose accompanied by gestures and movements, and sometimes instrumental music and painted scrolls. Naqqāls...
La tradition de la crèche (szopka) à Cracovie
The Nativity Scene (szopka) tradition in Krakow is a social practice originating from Christmas celebration customs, centred around constructing cribs. Born in the nineteenth century, the tradition is indissolubly connected to the City of Krakow and based on skills and knowledge passed down for generations. The szopka is a lightweight...
Le Nawrouz, Novruz, Nowrouz, Nowrouz, Nawrouz, Nauryz, Nooruz, Nowruz, Navruz, Nevruz, Nowruz, Navruz
Nauryz is a traditional folk spring festival based on the worship of nature, the sun and the universe. Observed in several countries in Asia and the Middle East, it is associated with a love of nature and all living things, a respect for human beings, and the spread of good. In Mongolia, it is one of the most important holidays of the...
La tradition textile negliubka du district de Vetka dans la région de Gomel
The negliubka textile tradition is a weaving and embroidery practice observed by a rural community in the Gomel region. It includes the creation of woven towels and clothing using a variety of techniques, such as cross-stitch weaving and embroidery. Negliubka towels are richly ornamented with complex colour combinations, geometric and...
Le Nestinarstvo, messages du passé : le panagyr des saints Constantin et Hélène dans le village de Bulgari
The Nestinarstvo fire-dancing rite is the climax of the annual Panagyr ritual on the feast days of Saints Constantine and Helena (3 and 4 June) in the village of Bulgari, in the Mount Strandzha region of south-east Bulgaria. The ritual is held to ensure the well-being and fertility of the village. In the morning, consecrated and...
Le Nha Nhac, musique de cour vietnamienne
Nha Nhac, meaning “elegant music”, refers to a broad range of musical and dance styles performed at the Vietnamese royal court from the fifteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Nha Nhac was generally featured at the opening and closing of ceremonies associated with anniversaries, religious holidays, coronations, funerals and official...
Le théâtre de marionnettes Ningyo Johruri Bunraku
Ranking with Nô and Kabuki as one of Japan’s foremost stage arts, the Ningyo Johruri Bunraku puppet theatre is a blend of sung narrative, instrumental accompaniment and puppet drama. This theatrical form emerged during the early Edo period (ca. 1600) when puppetry was coupled with Johruri, a popular fifteenth-century narrative genre....
Le théâtre Nôgaku
Nôgaku theatre had its heyday in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but actually originated in the eighth century when the Sangaku was transmitted from China to Japan. At the time, the term Sangaku referred to various types of performance featuring acrobats, song and dance as well as comic sketches. Its subsequent adaption to...
Le noken, sac multifonctionnel noué ou tissé, artisanat du peuple de Papouasie
Noken is a knotted net or woven bag handmade from wood fibre or leaves by communities in Papua and West Papua Provinces of Indonesia. Men and women use it for carrying plantation produce, catch from the sea or lake, firewood, babies or small animals as well as for shopping and for storing things in the home. Noken may also be worn,...
Les jeux nomades, redécouverte du patrimoine, célébration de la diversité
Kyrgyz people’s cultural heritage is intrinsically linked to the nomadic lifestyle. However, during the Soviet era, which came with forced sedentation, many elements became endangered, including traditional games. After gaining independence in 1991, the local communities in Kyrgyzstan started working on revitalizing and celebrating...
Le nongak, groupes de musique, danse et rituels communautaires de la République de Corée
Nongak is a popular performing art derived from communal rites and rustic entertainments. It has evolved into a representative performing art of the Republic of Korea, combining a percussion ensemble and sometimes wind instruments, parading, dancing, drama and acrobatic feats. Local Nongak performers clad in colourful costumes perform...
Le nora, drame dansé dans le sud de la Thaïlande
Nora is a lively and acrobatic form of dance theatre and improvisational singing from southern Thailand. Performances normally include a long oral invocation, followed by a presentation by a lead character who dances with vigorous and elaborate movements of the legs, arms and fingers. The performances are usually based on stories about...
Les traditions nordiques des bateaux à clins
Nordic clinker boats are small, open, wooden boats between five and ten metres long. For almost two millennia, the people of the Nordic region (including the indigenous Sami peoples in Finland, Norway and Sweden and minority groups such as the Kvens in Norway, the Tornedalians in Sweden and the Swedish-speaking population in Finland)...
Le réseau dédié au nyckelharpa, diffusion innovante d’une tradition musicale et de lutherie ayant ses racines en Suède
The nyckelharpa is a bowed instrument, originally built and played by farmers and craftspeople in northern Uppland in Sweden. Dating back to the seventeenth century, it was the most common instrument in this region, played at dances and in various ceremonies and rituals. In the early twentieth century, interest in the nyckelharpa waned...
L’Ojiya-chijimi, Echigo-jofu : techniques de fabrication du tissu de ramie dans la région d’Uonuma, de la préfecture de Niigata
The high-quality, lightweight patterned textiles made from the ramie plant are ideal for the hot and humid Japanese summer. Ojiya-chijimi, Echigo-jofu: techniques of making ramie fabric in Uonuma region, Niigata Prefecture developed in the north-western part of Japan’s main island and bear the mark of the region’s cooler climate –...
Le programme du grand voilier-école omanais pour les jeunes (Safinat Shabab Oman) pour la paix et le dialogue culturel durable
The Oman Youth Sail Training Ship programme for peace and sustainable cultural dialogue actively contributes to introducing Oman’s intangible cultural heritage to the rest of the world. To date, it has made eighteen voyages reaching more than fifty-five countries. The programme, which is financed by the State, aims to enrich the...
L'Ommegang de Bruxelles, cortège historique et fête populaire annuels
Ommegang of Brussels, an annual historical procession and popular festival takes place annually over two evenings in July in the historic centre of Brussels. The celebration begins with a crossbow competition and a ceremony in Sablon Church. In the surrounding streets, various groups form a large procession. The procession follows a 1.5...
La cérémonie Ong Chun/Wangchuan/Wangkang, les rituels et les pratiques associées pour entretenir le lien durable entre l’homme et l’océan
The Ong Chun ceremony and related practices are rooted in folk customs of worshipping Ong Yah, a deity believed to protect people and their lands from disasters. Developed in China’s Minnan region between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, the element is now centered in the coastal areas of Xiamen Bay and Quanzhou Bay, as well as...
Le théâtre de marionnettes sicilien Opera dei Pupi
The puppet theatre known as the Opera dei Pupi emerged in Sicily at the beginning of the nineteenth century and enjoyed great success among the island’s working classes. The puppeteers told stories based on medieval chivalric literature and other sources, such as Italian poems of the Renaissance, the lives of saints and tales of...
Le patrimoine oral Gèlèdé
The Gelede is performed by the Yoruba-Nago community that is spread over Benin, Nigeria and Togo. For more than a century, this ceremony has been performed to pay tribute to the primordial mother Iyà Nlà and to the role women play in the process of social organization and development of Yoruba society. The Gelede takes place every year...
La fabrication des orgues et leur musique
Organ craftsmanship and music has shaped Germany’s musical landscape and instrument-making for centuries, and there are a diverse number of related traditions in the country. Organ craftsmanship and music are closely related since each instrument is created specifically for the architectural space in which it will be played. The highly...
L’ornek, un ornement des Tatars de Crimée et les savoirs connexes
Örnek is a Ukrainian system of symbols and their meanings, currently used in embroidery, weaving, pottery, engraving, jewellery, wood carving, and glass and wall painting. The symbols are arranged to create a narrative composition. The Crimean Tatar communities understand the meaning of the symbols and often commission artisans to...
L’ortéké, un art du spectacle traditionnel au Kazakhstan : danse, marionnettes et musique
Orteke is an indigenous Kazakh performing art that combines theatre, music and puppetry. This folk art entails a music performance with a dombyra, a traditional two-stringed instrument, and a dance performed by a wooden puppet. Attached to the surface of a traditional drum with a metal rod, a wooden puppet in the shape of a mountain...
Le bateau Oselvar, adaptation du processus d’enseignement traditionnel de sa construction et son utilisation dans un contexte moderne
Previously western Norway’s main mode of transportation, also used for recreation, the wooden oselvar boat almost became obsolete with the introduction of modern boats in the 1940s, as well as government price restrictions forcing builders to find alternative work, and greater road transport in the 1960s. To help safeguard the...
L'Oshi Palav, plat traditionnel et ses contextes sociaux et culturels au Tadjikistan
Oshi palav (pilaf) is a traditional dish of communities in Tajikistan recognized as a part of their cultural heritage. Otherwise known as the ‘King of meals’, it is based on a recipe using vegetables, rice, meat and spices but up to 200 varieties of the dish exist. Considered an inclusive practice that aims to bring people of different...
Les traditions pastorales et les chars à bœufs du Costa Rica
The traditional oxcart, or carreta, is the product of Costa Rica’s most famous craft. Dating from the mid-nineteenth century, oxcarts were used to transport coffee beans from Costa Rica’s central valley over the mountains to Puntarenas on the Pacific coast, a journey requiring ten to fifteen days. The oxcarts used spokeless wheels, a...
Les rituels du Pahlevani et du Zoorkhanei
Pahlevani is an Iranian martial art that combines elements of Islam, Gnosticism and ancient Persian beliefs. It describes a ritual collection of gymnastic and callisthenic movements performed by ten to twenty men, each wielding instruments symbolizing ancient weapons. The ritual takes place in a ''Zoorkhane,'' a sacred domed structure...
La tradition et la culture du palov
There is a saying in Uzbekistan that guests can only leave their host’s house after palov has been offered. Palov is a traditional dish made and shared throughout rural and urban communities of Uzbekistan. It is prepared with ingredients such as rice, meat, spices and vegetables and in addition to be enjoyed as a regular meal, is served...
Les chants épiques Pansori
Pansori is a genre of musical storytelling performed by a vocalist and a drummer.This popular tradition, characterized by expressive singing, stylized speech, a repertory of narratives and gesture, embraces both elite and folk culture. During performances lasting up to eight hours, a male or female singer, accompanied by a single barrel...
Le pantun
Pantun is a form of Malay verse used to express intricate ideas and emotions. It is a widespread oral form in maritime Southeast Asia. Pantun has a clear a-b-a-b rhyme scheme. The four-line variety is the most common. Pantuns may be transmitted in music, song and writing. Performances are headed by the ‘pemantun’ (the pantun narrator),...
Les Parachicos dans la fête traditionnelle de janvier à Chiapa de Corzo
The traditional Great Feast takes place from 4 to 23 January every year in Chiapa de Corzo, Mexico. This celebration of music, dance, handicrafts, gastronomy, religious ceremonies and feasting takes place in honour of three Catholic saints: Saint Anthony Abbot, Our Lord of Esquipulas and, most importantly, Saint Sebastian. The dances of...
Le pasillo, chant et poésie
The pasillo is a type of music and dance that emerged in Ecuador in the nineteenth century, during the South American independence wars. It is a fusion of elements of indigenous music, such as the yaraví, with a complex variety of musical genres including the waltz, the minuet and the Spanish bolero. The pasillo, which means ‘small...
La Patum de Berga
The Patum of Berga is a popular festival whose origin can be traced to medieval festivities and parades accompanying the celebration of Corpus Christi. Theatrical performances and parades of a variety of effigies animate the streets of this Catalan town located north of Barcelona. The celebration takes place every year during the week...
La culture du pehlevanliq : jeux, sports et lutte traditionnels de zorkhana
Pehlevanliq culture in Azerbaijan includes games and sports, such as wrestling, and individual performances. Pehlevans use specific tools that resemble medieval weapons (such as swords, shields and bows), but are heavier (originally, to allow pehlevans to handle real weapons easily). The competitions are overseen by referees and...
L’opéra de Pékin
Peking opera is a performance art incorporating singing, reciting, acting, martial arts. Although widely practised throughout China, its performance centres on Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai. Peking opera is sung and recited using primarily Beijing dialect, and its librettos are composed according to a strict set of rules that prize form...
L’interprétation de l’épopée arménienne « Les enragés de Sassoun » ou « David de Sassoun »
The Armenian epic Daredevils of Sassoun recounts the story of David of Sassoun, a defiant and self-reliant youth, who by the grace of God defends his homeland in an unequal duel against the evil. The epic falls within the tradition of heroic folktales that dramatize and voice the deepest sentiments and aspirations of a nation. The epic...
Les arts du spectacle chez les ṭwāyef de Ghbonten
In Tunisia, the Twāyef are troupes of poet singers affiliated with the Ghbonten tribe. The troupes perform chants or songs wearing white robes and scarlet chechias (caps). They are accompanied by the sounds of the chenna, a traditional drum. Consisting of a leader and a group of male performers, each troupe boasts a unique repertoire of...
La peinture décorative de Petrykivka, expression de l’art populaire ornemental ukrainien
The people of the village of Petrykivka decorate their living quarters, household belongings and musical instruments with a style of ornamental painting that is characterized by fantastic flowers and other natural elements, based on careful observation of the local flora and fauna. This art is rich in symbolism: the rooster stands for...
La cueillette de la germandrée sur le mont Ozren
On 11 September each year, the day of the beheading of St. John the Baptist, inhabitants of the villages around Ozren mountain go to Gostilij to pick iva grass. After hiking up the hills, villagers of all social, gender and age groups pick iva grass, both individually and in groups. Iva must be picked carefully and pickers need to find...
Le pèlerinage au sanctuaire du seigneur de Qoyllurit’i
The Pilgrimage to the sanctuary of the Lord of Qoyllurit’i combines elements from Catholicism and worship of pre-Hispanic nature deities. It begins fifty-eight days after the Christian celebration of Easter Sunday, when 90,000 people from around Cusco travel to the sanctuary, located in Sinakara hollow. Pilgrims are divided into eight...
Le pèlerinage au monastère de l’apôtre Saint Thaddée
The annual three-day pilgrimage to St. Thaddeus Apostle Monastery in northwestern Iran is held each July. The pilgrimage venerates two prominent saints: St. Thaddeus, one of the first apostles preaching Christianity, and St. Santukhd, the first female Christian martyr. The bearers of the element are the Armenian population in Iran,...
Le pèlerinage à Watt Town
The Revival Pilgrimage to the community of Watt Town in Jamaica occurs every year on the first Thursday in March. Watt Town is considered a sacred site, which was once a refuge for enslaved Africans. Groups, called bands, journey from across Jamaica to the sacred site. The bands engage in ritual songs and dances, wearing clothing with...
Le pinisi, art de la construction navale en Sulawesi du sud
Pinisi, or the Art of Boatbuilding in South Sulawesi, refers to the rig and sail of the famed ‘Sulawesi schooner’. The construction and deployment of such vessels stand in the millennia-long tradition of Austronesian boatbuilding and navigation that has brought forth a broad variety of sophisticated watercrafts. For both the Indonesian...
La Pirekua, chant traditionnel des P’urhépecha
Pirekua is a traditional music of the indigenous P’urhépecha communities of the State of Michoacán, Mexico, sung by both men and women. Its diverse mix of styles draws on African, European and indigenous American origins, with regional variations identified in 30 of the 165 P’urhépecha communities. A Pirekua, which is generally sung...
Les chants polyphoniques des pygmées Aka de Centrafrique
The Aka Pygmies living in the south-west region of the Central African Republic have developed a distinctive vocal musical tradition, which involves a complex type of contrapuntal polyphony based on four voices, mastered by all members of the Aka community. Music and dance form an integral part of Aka rituals including ceremonies...
Le PCI frontalier luso-galicien : un modèle de sauvegarde créé par Ponte...nas ondas!
The Ponte…nas ondas! (PNO!) project aims to safeguard intangible cultural heritage on the Portuguese-Galician border by creating spaces in which the heritage can be practiced and transmitted to younger generations. Initially developed in schools of the municipalities of Salvaterra de Miño (Spain) and Monção (Portugal), the project later...
Les savoir-faire liés à la poterie des femmes de Sejnane
The pottery skills of the women of Sejnane relate to the practice of using a specific technique to produce terracotta artefacts for the home, including cooking utensils, dolls and animal figurines inspired by the environment. All stages of the pottery-making process are performed by women, who also sell the pots in the village and by...
Les valeurs, connaissances, coutumes et pratiques du peuple awajún liées à la poterie
The Awajún people of northern Peru view pottery as an example of their harmonious relationship with nature. The pottery preparation process comprises five stages: the collection of materials, modelling, firing, decorating and finishing. Each stage of the process has a meaning and associated values that are told in the people’s oral...
La pratique de la musique et de la danse traditionnelles au Setesdal, jouer de la musique, danser et chanter (stev/stevjing)
In the practice of traditional music and dance in Setesdal, playing, dancing and singing (stev/stevjing), traditional dance and music belong together, interwoven in the social context. The melodies are named after the ‘gangar’ dance and are mostly dance tunes; the melodies of the ‘stev’ songs can be played on instruments, and the lyrics...
Les pratiques et l'artisanat associés à la rose damascène à Al-Mrah
The practices and craftsmanship associated with the Damascene rose are mainly practised by farmers and families in Al-Mrah village, in rural Damascus, who possess expert knowledge of producing essential oils and traditional medicine from the Damask Rose, among other things, as well as the village community and families who organize the...
Les pratiques et savoirs liés à l’imzad des communautés touarègues de l’Algérie, du Mali et du Niger
Imzad music is a characteristic feature of Tuareg communities and is performed by women on a single-stringed bowed instrument known as the Imzad. The musician sits with the instrument on her knees and plays it with a wooden, arched bow. Imzad combines music and poetry and is frequently performed on ceremonial occasions in Tuareg camps....
Les pratiques et significations associées à la préparation et à la consommation du ceviche, une expression de la cuisine traditionnelle péruvienne
Ceviche is a traditional dish in Peru prepared with raw fish marinated in lemon, seasoned with chili pepper and salt and accompanied with locally grown produce. The dish is consumed both on a daily basis and during festivities. It is associated with moments of celebration and social gathering, as well as with ritual celebrations,...
Les pratiques et connaissances traditionnelles liées au terere, boisson guaraní ancestrale au Paraguay, dans la culture du pohã ñana
The practices and traditional knowledge of Terere in the culture of Pohã Ñana, Guaraní ancestral drink in Paraguay, are widespread in the Paraguayan territory and involve a variety of bearers. Terere is a traditional drink prepared in a jug or thermos, in which cold water is mixed with Pohã Ñana crushed in a mortar. It is served in a...
Les pratiques du then par les groupes ethniques Tày, Nùng et Thái au Viet Nam
Then, an essential ritual practice in the spiritual life of the Tày, Nùng and Thái ethnic groups in Viet Nam, reflects concepts about human beings, the natural world and the universe. Then ceremonies describe a journey in which the Then Master (male or female) controls ghost soldiers travelling from the earth realm to the heaven realm,...
Les pratiques liées à la croyance viet en les déesses-mères des Trois mondes
To meet spiritual needs, everyday wishes and gain help in achieving good health and success communities in Viet Nam worship the Mother Goddesses of Three Realms: heaven, water, and mountains and forests. The Mother Goddesses include Liễu Hạnh (a nymph who descended to earth, lived as a human and became a Buddhist nun) referred to as the...
Géants et dragons processionnels de Belgique et de France
__On 2 December 2022, the seventeenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage has decided to remove the ‘Ducasse of Ath’ of the element ‘Processional giants and dragons in Belgium and France’ (Belgium and France) from the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage...
Le Programme de sauvegarde des Bandos et Parrandas des Saints Innocents de Caucagua : pôles d’initiation et de transmission des connaissances et Conseils communautaires
The Bandos and Parrandas of the Holy Innocents of Caucagua, Venezuela refers to street celebrations that take place on the nights of 27 and 28 December. This Afro-descendant festivity is characterized by live music and satirical clothing mocking the styles of slave owners. A safeguarding programme was developed to address its decreasing...
Pujllay et Ayarichi : musiques et danses de la culture yampara
Pujllay and Ayarichi are the main musical and choreographic forms of the Yampara culture. They complement each other and form a whole: Pujllay linked to the rainy season and Ayarichi to the dry. Pujllay is performed primarily by males, during the ritual of the same name celebrating the renewal of life and abundance brought on by rains....
Le punto
Punto is the poetry and music of Cuban farmers, consisting of a tune or melody over which a person sings an improvised or learned stanza of ten octameter verse lines, with a rhyming scheme. There are two main variants of Punto: punto libre, a tune of free metre; and punto fijo, which can be in key or crossed. Throughout history, the...
Le théâtre de marionnettes en Slovaquie et en Tchéquie
Puppet theatre for communities in Slovakia and Czechia is not only a popular form of traditional entertainment but also a way of conveying a vision of the world, and an educational tool with messages on moral values. The puppets, whose characters are real or imaginary, are mostly made of wood and animated using various methods. Initial...
Le pysanka, tradition et art ukrainiens de décorer des œufs
The art of decorating eggs is a centuries-old Ukrainian tradition. Traditional patterns and symbols are applied to the egg using wax. The egg is then dipped into dye, covering all but the waxed areas. The process is repeated to achieve the desired pattern and colours. Personal wishes and messages are captured in the symbols used....
Le festival du Nouvel An des Qiang
Held on the first day of the tenth lunar month, the Qiang New Year Festival is an occasion for the Qiang people of China’s Sichuan Province to express their gratitude and reverence, reaffirm their harmonious and respectful relationship with nature, and promote social and family harmony. The festival is also a means of regulating...
Les chants populaires Quan Họ de Bắc Ninh
In the provinces of Bắc Ninh and Bắc Giang in northern Viet Nam, many of the villages are twinned, reinforcing their relationship through social customs such as Quan họ Bắc Ninh folk songs. The songs are performed as alternating verses between two women from one village who sing in harmony, and two men from another village who respond...
La poterie de Quinchamalí et Santa Cruz de Cuca
Chili's Quinchamalí and Santa Cruz de Cuca pottery is embedded in the mestizo cultural tradition of central Chile and is characterized by black functional and decorative objects with white accents, created using techniques dating back centuries. Functional items include pots, fountains and tableware. Decorative items include figurines...
Le Radif de la musique iranienne
The Radif of Iranian music is the traditional repertoire of the classical music of Iran that forms the essence of Persian musical culture. More than 250 melodic units, called ''gushe,'' are arranged into cycles, with an underlying modal layer providing the backdrop against which a variety of melodic motifs are set. Although the main...
Le raï, chant populaire d'Algérie
Raï is a popular folk song from Algeria. A means of conveying social reality without taboos or censorship, Raï music touches on topics such as love, freedom, despair and social pressures. It was originally practised in rural settings by doyens who sang poetic texts in vernacular Arabic, accompanied by a traditional orchestra. At the...
Les Raiho-shin, visites rituelles de divinités masquées et costumées
Raiho-shin rituals take place annually in various regions of Japan – especially in the Tohoku, Hokuriku, Kyushu and Okinawa regions – on days that mark the beginning of the year or when the seasons change. Such rituals stem from folk beliefs that deities from the outer world – the Raiho-shin – visit communities and usher in the new year...
Ramlila, représentation traditionnelle du Ramayana
Ramlila, literally “Rama’s play”, is a performance of then Ramayana epic in a series of scenes that include song, narration, recital and dialogue. It is performed across northern India during the festival of Dussehra, held each year according to the ritual calendar in autumn. The most representative Ramlilas are those of Ayodhya,...
Le Ramman, festival religieux et théâtre rituel du Garhwal, dans l’Himalaya, en Inde
Every year in late April, the twin villages of Saloor-Dungra in the state of Uttarakhand (northern India) are marked by Ramman, a religious festival in honour of the tutelary god, Bhumiyal Devta, a local divinity whose temple houses most of the festivities. This event is made up of highly complex rituals: the recitation of a version of...
Le rebétiko
Rebetiko is a musical and cultural expression directly linked to song and dance that initially spread among the urban lower and working-class populations in the early twentieth century. Rebetiko songs are now a standardized repertoire in almost every social occasion involving music and dance. The element is performed in public and...
Le reggae de Jamaïque
Having originated within a cultural space that was home to marginalized groups, mainly in Western Kingston, the Reggae music of Jamaica is an amalgam of numerous musical influences, including earlier Jamaican forms as well as Caribbean, North American and Latin strains. In time, Neo-African styles, soul and rhythm and blues from North...
Les centres régionaux de l'artisanat, stratégie pour sauvegarder le patrimoine culturel de l’artisanat traditionnel
The Werkraum Bregenzerwald, Hand.Werk.Haus Salzkammergut, and Textiles Zentrum Haslach are three centres in Austria run by local, traditional craftspeople who, for the past 15 years, have been collaborating with international artists, educational institutions, craft businesses and other entities to help safeguard their practices for...
Les arts Regong
In monasteries and villages along the Longwu River basin in Qinghai Province in western China, Buddhist monks and folk artists of the Tibetan and Tu ethnicity carry on the plastic arts of painting ''thangka'' and murals, crafting patchwork ''barbola'' and sculpting known collectively as the Regong arts. Their influence extends to nearby...
L’art du spectacle du Reog Ponorogo
In Indonesia, Reog Ponorogo Performing Art is a centuries-old theatrical dance that is traditionally performed on various occasions, including disaster aversion ceremonies, village cleansing events, weddings, Islamic and national holidays, circumcisions, thanksgiving ceremonies, public festivities, and when welcoming guests. Dancers...
La représentation de la Passion, de la Mort et de la Résurrection du Christ à Iztapalapa
The Representation of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ in Iztapalapa is a community tradition that brings together local residents in an expression of faith, identity and culture. It began when the community made a promise to hold a procession in gratitude after surviving a cholera epidemic in the nineteenth century. The...
La revitalisation du savoir traditionnel de l’élaboration de la chaux artisanale à Moron de la Frontera, Séville, Andalousie
The traditional practice of lime-making was a source of employment for Morón de la Frontera and a marker of its identity. When production was eclipsed by industrial lime, kilns fell into disuse and transmission of knowledge ceased. The project’s primary goals are to raise awareness of the practice and importance of lime-making and to...
Les rickshaws et la peinture sur rickshaw à Dhaka
The rickshaw is a small, three-wheeled passenger vehicle that is pulled by one person. It is a recognized feature of Dhaka and Bangladesh as a whole. Traditionally made by hand by a small group of craftsmen, almost every part of a rickshaw is painted with colourful floral patterns, natural imagery, birds and animals, creative depictions...
La Chevauchée des Rois dans le sud-est de la République tchèque
The Ride of the Kings takes place during the spring, as a part of the Pentecost traditions, in the towns of Hluk and Kunovice and the villages of Skoronice and Vlčnov. A group of young men ride through a village in a ceremonial procession. The ride is headed by chanters, followed by pageboys with unsheathed sabres who guard the King – a...
Le rite des Tsars de Kalyady (Tsars de Noël)
The Kalyady Tsars (Christmas Tsars) is a ritual and festive event celebrated in the village of Semezhava in the Minsk region of Belarus. Typical Belarusian New Year celebrations take place according to the ‘old’ Julian style calendar and are combined with distinctive local performing arts. About 500 men participate annually in the...
Les rites et les savoir-faire artisanaux associés à la tradition du costume nuptial de Tlemcen
The wedding ritual of Tlemcen in northwestern Algeria commences in the parents’ home, where the bride is dressed in a traditionally woven golden silk dress, surrounded by her friends and married female relations, the latter wearing their own wedding costumes. Symbolic henna designs are applied to her hands, and an older woman helps her...
Le rituel et les cérémonies de la Sebeïba dans l'oasis de Djanet, Algérie
The ritual and ceremonies of Sebeïba are practised by two communities living in Djanet during ten days in the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Male dancers and female singers compete for the right to represent their communities during a nine-day contest called Timoulawine. The chosen winners take part in the Sebeïba ritual and...
Les expressions rituelles et festives de la culture congo
The ritual and festive expressions of the Congo culture encompass the contemporary vision of a collective celebration of the black rebel descendants enslaved during the colonial period. Nowadays, participants play congo, celebrate their freedom, cheerfully sing about their everyday lives and perform representations and sensual dances...
La cérémonie rituelle des Voladores
The ritual ceremony of the Voladores (‘flying men’) is a fertility dance performed by several ethnic groups in Mexico and Central America, especially the Totonac people in the eastern state of Veracruz, to express respect for and harmony with the natural and spiritual worlds. During the ceremony, four young men climb a wooden pole...
La danse rituelle au tambour royal
The ritual dance of the royal drum is a spectacle combining powerful, synchronized drumming with dancing, heroic poetry and traditional songs. The entire population of Burundi recognizes it as a fundamental part of its heritage and identity. The dance calls for at least a dozen or so drums, always in an odd number, arranged in a...
L’art dramatique rituel du Ta‘zīye
Ta‘zīye (or Ta’azyeh) is a ritual dramatic art that recounts religious events, historical and mythical stories and folk tales. Each performance has four elements: poetry, music, song and motion. Some performances have up to a hundred roles, divided into historical, religious, political, social, supernatural, real, imaginary and fantasy...
Les parcours rituels dans la ville de La Paz pendant l'Alasita
During the ritual journeys in La Paz during Alasita, which begin on 24 January and last two or three weeks, participants procure ‘good luck’ miniatures associated with Ekeko, the city’s beneficent god of fertility. The activities begin with the search for and acquisition of the miniatures, followed by their consecration with the...
Le carnaval d’été de Rotterdam
The Rotterdam Summer Carnival is a multicultural celebration that unites participants from the Caribbean and European Netherlands, as well as ethnic minority groups from Central and South America and Africa living in the Netherlands. The event includes a street parade, a brass band competition and a festival market featuring Caribbean...
Le rituel royal ancestral du sanctuaire de Jongmyo et sa musique
The Jongmyo Shrine in Seoul is the setting for a Confucian ritual dedicated to the ancestors of the Joseon dynasty (14th to the 19th century) that encompasses song, dance and music. The ritual is practised once a year on the first Sunday in May and is organized by the descendants of the royal family. It offers a unique example of a...
Le Ballet royal du Cambodge
Renowned for its graceful hand gestures and stunning costumes, the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, also known as Khmer Classical Dance, has been closely associated with the Khmer court for over one thousand years. Performances would traditionally accompany royal ceremonies and observances such as coronations, marriages, funerals or Khmer...
Le rūkada nātya, théâtre traditionnel de marionnettes à fils au Sri Lanka
Rūkada Nātya is a type of drama performed using string puppets, traditionally to provide light entertainment and convey moral lessons to village communities. Rūkada Nātya is performed by family groups who belong to, or are connected with, the lineage known as Gamwari, living around the southern coastal towns of Ambalangoda, Balapitiya...
La rumba à Cuba, mélange festif de musiques et de danses et toutes les pratiques associées
The music and movements of rumba in Cuba are mainly associated with African culture but also feature elements from Antillean culture and Spanish flamenco. Historically, rumba in Cuba developed in marginal neighbourhoods of cities in Cuba like Havana and Matanzas, near other ports and shanty towns and grew especially popular in rural...
Le Sada Shin Noh, danse sacrée au sanctuaire de Sada, Shimane
Sada Shin Noh comprises a series of ritual purification dances performed every year on 24 and 25 September at the Sada Shrine in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture, Japan as part of the ''gozakae'' ritual of the changing of the rush mats. The dances are undertaken to purify new rush mats ''(goza)'', upon which the tutelary deities of the...
La célébration du Sadeh/Sada
Sadeh, or Sada, is a celebration held annually on 30 January. In the folk calendar, it marks the day when farmlands are prepared for their next spring plantation and when people celebrate the end of the coldest winter days, with 50 days and 50 nights remaining to spring. Accordingly, ‘Sadeh’ means ‘one hundred’. The element enjoys...
La sauvegarde du patrimoine culturel immatériel des communautés Aymara de la Bolivie, du Chili et du Pérou
The proposed sub-regional project aims at developing safeguarding measures to ensure the viability of the oral expressions, music and traditional knowledge (textile art and agricultural technologies) of the Aymara communities of Bolivia (La Paz-Oruro-Potosí), Chile (Tarapacá-Arica-Parinacota-Antofagasta) and Peru (Tacna-Puno-Moquegua)....
Le programme de sauvegarde pour Al Sadu, tissage traditionnel dans les Émirats arabes unis
Since the advent of oil wealth, the dispersion of Bedouin communities to cities, the gradual abandonment of pastoral activities, and the social changes associated with these processes have created threatening conditions for the art of Al Sadu weaving. The time required for artisanal production, the need for traditional knowledge about...
Le programme de sauvegarde pour le Yimakan, les récits oraux des Hezhen
At the time of the initial inscription, only five storytellers were still capable of performing certain Yimakan cantos, and the traditional practices associated with the Hezhen oral narratives faced several threats. In this context, a well-structured programme has engaged families, communities, schools, local authorities and the State...
Le programme de sauvegarde de la tradition de la kobza et de la vielle à roue
The Ukrainian kobza and wheel lyre tradition is a nomadic music tradition involving visually impaired musicians who sing and play string instruments such as the kobza. Becoming a kobza performer traditionally entailed initiation rites conditioned by a strong knowledge of the music and of the practitioners’ secret language. To regulate...
Stratégie de sauvegarde de l’artisanat traditionnel pour la consolidation de la paix
The safeguarding strategy of traditional crafts for peace building addresses the weakening of traditional crafts through a system of intergenerational transmission of knowledge between master and apprentice based on the non-formal ‘learning by doing’ method. The safeguarding strategy aims to train different sectors of the population,...
La sauvegarde de la culture du carillon : préservation, transmission, échange et sensibilisation
The art of making music with bells (carillon) is performed by carillonneurs, traditionally during market and festive days. The programme to safeguard carillon culture exists in seventy-six cities and villages of Belgium and in thirty countries worldwide. The primary objectives are to preserve the components of historic carillon culture...
La danse Saman
The Saman dance is part of the cultural heritage of the Gayo people of Aceh province in Sumatra. Boys and young men perform the Saman sitting on their heels or kneeling in tight rows. Each wears a black costume embroidered with colourful Gayo motifs symbolizing nature and noble values. The leader sits in the middle of the row and leads...
La Samba de Roda de Recôncavo de Bahia
The Samba de Roda, which involves music, dance and poetry, is a popular festive event that developed in the State of Bahia, in the region of Recôncavo during the seventeenth century. It drew heavily on the dances and cultural traditions of the region’s African slaves. The performance also included elements of Portuguese culture, such as...
Le festival de Sango, Oyo
In Nigeria, the Sango Festival of Oyo marks the beginning of the Yoruba Traditional New Year in August. It is an ancestral worship that takes place in Sango, Nigeria, near the ancient Koso Temple. The ten-day festival is strongly connected to the social, religious, cultural and political institutions of the Oyo State. It is held in...
Le Sanké mon, rite de pêche collective dans le Sanké
The Sanké mon collective fishing rite takes place in San in the Ségou region of Mali every second Thursday of the seventh lunar month to commemorate the founding of the town. The rite begins with the sacrifice of roosters, goats and offerings made by village residents to the water spirits of the Sanké pond. The collective fishing then...
Le sankirtana, chants rituels, tambours et danses du Manipur
Sankirtana encompasses an array of arts performed to mark religious occasions and various stages in the life of the Vaishnava people of the Manipur plains. Sankirtana practices centre on the temple, where performers narrate the lives and deeds of Krishna through song and dance. In a typical performance, two drummers and about ten...
La culture du sauna en Finlande
Sauna culture in Finland is an integral part of the lives of the majority of the Finnish population. Sauna culture, which can take place in homes or public places, involves much more than simply washing oneself. In a sauna, people cleanse their bodies and minds and embrace a sense of inner peace. Traditionally, the sauna has been...
Le Sbek Thom, théâtre d’ombres khmer
The Sbek Thom is a Khmer shadow theatre featuring twometre high, non-articulated puppets made of leather openwork. Dating from before the Angkorian period, the Sbek Thom, along with the Royal Ballet and mask theatre, is considered sacred. Dedicated to the divinities, performances could only take place on specific occasions three or four...
Schemenlaufen, le carnaval d’Imst, Autriche
Every four years the city of Imst in Austria celebrates its Fasnacht carnival on the Sunday before the Christian season of Lent. The central festivity is Schemenlaufen, a procession of masked, costumed dancers. The main characters are in pairs, one man wearing rotating bells and another wearing larger bells weighing up to 35 kg....
L’école d’artisanat ÚĽUV
The School of Crafts ÚLUV aims to safeguard, promote and develop traditional crafts in Slovakia. Since 1999, its courses have encouraged and facilitated the use of available natural materials for a wide range of traditional craft techniques. The teaching methodology is developed by the bearers of each craft, taking into account the...
La danse des ciseaux
The scissors dance is performed by inhabitants of Quechua villages and communities in the south-central Andes of Peru, and now in urban settings. This competitive ritual dance is performed during dry months coinciding with the main phases of the agricultural calendar. The scissors dance takes its name from the pair of polished iron...
La tradition du tracé dans la charpente française
The purpose of the scribing tradition is to master in three dimensions the design of a complex wooden building. This traditional expertise runs counter to modern standardization by emphasizing the role of the builder in the construction process and giving a creative impulse to the structures themselves. Scribing is a combination of the...
Le séga tambour des Chagos
Sega tambour Chagos is one of the types of Sega music of Mauritius, with origins in the Chagos Archipelago. Like other Sega music, it is born from slavery and sung in Chagossian Creole particular to the islands. Sega tambour Chagos is a gentle, vibrant and rhythmic performance of music, song and dance based on the ‘tambour’ – a large,...
Le séga tambour de Rodrigues
Sega Tambour of Rodrigues Island is a vibrant rhythmic performance of music, song and dance with its origins in slave communities. The leading percussion, the tambour, is banged energetically, while a triyang is hit from the side and the bwat and mayos are clapped. Sega Tambour is performed all over Rodrigues Island in the home and on...
Le Semah, rituel Alevi-Bektaşi
Semahs can be described as a set of mystical and aesthetic body movements in rhythmic harmony. They constitute one of the twelve main services found in ''Cem'' rituals, religious practices performed by adherents of Alevi-Bektaşi, a belief system based on admiration for Ali, the fourth caliph after the prophet Muhammed. Semahs are...
La semsemiah: fabrication et pratique musicale de l'instrument
Semsemiah is a popular harp-like instrument that is crafted and played among communities in the Suez Canal region. The body is attached to three wooden poles that form a triangle. The instrument is usually crafted by the players themselves, using natural or recycled materials such as wood or metal. The semsemiah is used by singers,...
La réfection septennale du toit du Kamablon, case sacrée de Kangaba
The Malinke and other peoples of the Manden region of south-west Mali gather every seven years to celebrate when a new thatch roof is installed atop the Kamablon (or House of Speech) in the village of Kangaba. Built in 1653, the distinctive circular Kamablon of Kangaba shelters objects and furniture of high symbolic value to the...
La sériciculture et l’artisanat de la soie en Chine
Sericulture and silk craftsmanship of China, based in Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces near Shanghai and Chengdu in Sichuan Province, have an ancient history. Traditionally an important role for women in the economy of rural regions, silk-making encompasses planting mulberry, raising silkworms, unreeling silk, making thread, and designing...
La sériciculture et la production traditionnelle de soie pour tissage
In sericulture and the traditional production of silk for weaving, farmers care for the silkworms through their entire lifecycle, growing the mulberry trees that provide leaves upon which the worms feed and produce silkworm eggs. The fibres are reeled from the cocoons, spun into silk threads, cleaned and dyed. The threads are then used...
Le Leelo seto, tradition chorale polyphonique seto
For the Seto community living in south-eastern Estonia and the Pechory district of the Russian Federation, the tradition of ''leelo,'' an ancient polyphonic singing tradition, is a cornerstone of contemporary identity. Performed to traditional melodies and in traditional costume, leelo features a lead singer who delivers a verse line...
Le théâtre d’ombres
Shadow play is a traditional art consisting of handmade puppets moving behind a thin translucent curtain or screen inside a dark theatre, now practised mainly in Damascus. A light from behind the stage projects the shadows of the puppets onto the screen as they move along to an oral script and music. The theatrical content of Shadow...
La Shakespeare Mas’, une composante traditionnelle du Carnaval annuel à Carriacou
In Grenada, Shakespeare Mas’ combines elements of speechmaking, costume design and public theatre. Practitioners, called ‘kings’, compete against each other, reciting passages from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, historical texts, Bible verses and rhetorical boasts meant to show their prowess with words and language. Incorrect recitations...
La musique Shashmaqom
For over ten centuries, the classical music tradition of Shashmaqom has evolved in the urban centres of Central Asia formerly known as Mâwarâ al-nahr, an area which now encompasses present-day Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Shashmaqom, meaning “six maqoms”, constitutes a fusion of vocal and instrumental music, melodic and rhythmic idioms...
La pêche aux crevettes à cheval à Oostduinkerke
Twelve households in Oostduinkerke are actively engaged in shrimp fishing: each has its own speciality, such as weaving nets or an extensive knowledge of Brabant draft horses. Twice a week, except in winter months, the strong Brabant horses walk breast-deep in the surf in Oostduinkerke, parallel to the coastline, pulling funnel-shaped...
Les défilés de porte-à-porte et masques des Jours gras dans les villages de la région de Hlinecko
The Shrovetide processions take place in the town of Hlinsko and six nearby villages in the Hlinecko area of Eastern Bohemia in the Czech Republic. This popular carnival custom takes place at the end of winter, during Shrovetide – the period just before the Christian Lent. Village men and boys, disguised in masks that depict traditional...
La fête de shuwalid
Shuwalid is an annual three-day festival celebrated by the Harari people of Ethiopia. It marks the end of six days of fasting to compensate omissions during Ramadan. The Harari people celebrate Shuwalid at the shrines of Aw Shulum Ahmed and Aw Akebara, found at the main entrance gates of the walled city of Harar. The festival starts...
Le chant accompagné au gusle
Singing to the accompaniment of the Gusle – a simple string instrument – is an ancient art of performing primarily heroic epics practised for centuries as a form of historical memory and an expression of cultural identity. Performances involve a complex form of interaction between the audience and performer and are based on the skills...
Le Sinjska Alka, un tournoi de chevalerie à Sinj
The Sinjska Alka is a chivalric tournament that takes place annually, as it has since the 18th century, in the town of Sinj, in the Cetinska krajina region. During the contest, knights ride horses at full gallop along a main street, aiming lances at an iron ring hanging on a rope. The name of the tournament derives from this ''alka'' or...
Les savoir-faire des couvreurs-zingueurs parisiens et des ornemanistes
Parisian zinc roofing encompasses the knowledge and skills required to restore the roofs of Haussmann-style buildings constructed in Paris during the nineteenth century. These roofs are characterized by the shape of the attic space and the use of zinc as roofing material. Zinc is a lightweight metal that reduces the size of the roof...
Les savoir-faire liés à la fabrication de l'attiéké en Côte d'Ivoire
Attiéké is a dish made from steamed cassava tubers. Produced by the lagoon peoples of Côte d’Ivoire, the dish involves growing and harvesting the cassava tubers, grinding and mixing them with fermented cassava to prepare the semolina, and steaming the semolina to prepare the dish. After cooking, the attiéké is removed from the heat and...
La représentation de la Passion à Škofja Loka
In Škofja Loka, Slovenia, a folk play performed as a procession takes place in the streets of the town’s medieval centre during Lent and Easter involving more than 900 local performers. The Škofja Loka Passion Play, based on the ancient works of a Capuchin monk, demonstrates 20 scenes of the stations of the cross and others from the Old...
Slovácko Verbuňk, la danse des recrues
The Slovácko verbŭnk is an improvised dance performed by boys and men living in the South Moravia and Zlín districts of the Czech Republic. The name of the dance is derived from the German term Werbung (changed into verbŭnk), meaning “recruitment”, reflecting its historical origins in the recruitment of dancers and soldiers for the...
La tradition du sauna à fumée en Võromaa
The smoke sauna tradition is an important part of everyday life in the Võro community of Estonia. It comprises a rich set of traditions including the actual bathing customs, the skills of making bath whisks, building and repairing saunas, and smoking meat in the sauna. The sauna is a building or room heated by a stove covered with...
Les pratiques sociales et les connaissances liées à la préparation et à l’utilisation de l’eau-de-vie traditionnelle de prunes (šljivovica)
Šljivovica is a traditional plum spirit. The element includes the complex knowledge and skills to prepare the drink in a home environment as well as its use in everyday and ritual practices. The preparation has multiple stages involving families and communities. Plums are usually grown on family farms and harvested in the fall. They are...
Le chant de Sana’a
The Song of Sana’a, also known as al-Ghina al-San’ani, designates a group of songs that belongs to a rich musical tradition practised throughout Yemen. Derived from various poetic traditions dating from the fourteenth century, this genre constitutes an integral part of social events, such as the samra marriage evenings and the magyal,...
Le songket
Songket is a traditional Malaysian handwoven fabric created by women in the Malay Peninsula and Sarawak. The term songket refers to the decorative weaving technique used to make the fabric, which entails inserting gold or silver thread in between the base threads. As a result, the extra threads seem to float over a colourful woven...
Songkran en Thaïlande, la fête du Nouvel An thaïlandais traditionnel
In Thailand, Songkran refers to the sun’s annual passing into the Aries constellation, the first sign of the Zodiac, which marks the traditional start of the new year. Occurring in mid-April after the rice harvest, it is a time when people reunite with their families and pay their respects to older adults, ancestors and sacred Buddha...
L’espace de la culture des Gongs
The cultural space of the gongs in the central highlands of Vietnam covers several provinces and seventeen Austro-Asian and Austronesian ethno-linguistic communities. Closely linked to daily life and the cycle of the seasons, their belief systems form a mystical world where the gongs produce a privileged language between men, divinities...
L'Hıdrellez, fête du printemps
The Spring Celebration ‘Hidrellez’ takes place annually on 6 May, which is recognized as Spring Day, or the awakening of nature. ‘Hidrellez’ is a compound noun derived from ‘Hidir’ and ‘Ilyas’, which are believed to be the protectors of earth and water and the helpers of individuals, families and communities in need of them. To mark...
La procession de printemps des Ljelje/Kraljice (ou reines) de Gorjani
The Procession of Queens is performed by the young girls of the village of Gorjani in the Slavonia region of north-east Croatia every spring. The girls in a group are divided into ten ''kraljevi'' (kings), who wear sabres and men’s hats, and about five ''kraljice'' (queens), who wear white garlands on their heads like brides. On...
Le rite du printemps de Juraǔski Karahod
The spring rite of Juraǔski Karahod is performed by residents of the village of Pahost on St. George’s Day. For Belarusians, St. George safeguards livestock and agriculture. In Pahost, the holiday is observed through a specific ceremonial rite that encompasses various ceremonial activities, songs, games, omens and beliefs....
Stratégie pour la sauvegarde de l'artisanat traditionnel : Le Programme des détenteurs de la tradition des arts populaires
In 1997, the National Institute of Folk Culture (NIFC) began to implement the project ‘Folk Trades and Handicrafts in the Czech Republic’. The project focused on the film documentation of traditional crafts. The fieldwork to identify producers revealed that most workshops were struggling financially and had difficulty selling and...
La stratégie de formation des futures générations de marionnettistes du Fujian
Fujian puppetry is a Chinese performing art consisting mainly of string and hand puppetry. Puppetry in Fujian Province in south-eastern China has developed a set of characteristic techniques of performance and crafting puppets, as well as a repertoire of plays and music. Since the 1980s, however, the number of young people learning...
Le tressage de la paille au Bélarus : art, artisanat et savoir-faire
Belarusian straw weaving emphasizes the spiritual value and symbolism of the material and the products. Various utensils (such as boxes and baskets), headgear, toys and accessories are made from straw. Some products have special meaning, such as the harvest wreaths or pawuks, complex diamond-shaped structures believed to protect the...
L’espace culturel des Suiti
The Suiti are a small Catholic community in the Protestant (Lutheran) western part of Latvia. The Suiti cultural space is characterized by a number of distinct features, including vocal drone singing performed by Suiti women, wedding traditions, colourful traditional costumes, the Suiti language, local cuisine, religious traditions,...
L’estivage dans un fäbod et seter : connaissances, traditions et pratiques liées au pâturage des terres reculées et à la production alimentaire artisanale
In Sweden and Norway, summer farming refers to the practice of moving livestock to outlying lands in late spring. It entails knowledge concerning animal husbandry and herding, dairy production, land management and handicrafts. It also involves herding calls, songs, storytelling and rituals. The practices and expressions of summer...
Le surova, festival populaire dans la région de Pernik
The Surova folk feast in Pernik region takes place each year on 13 and 14 January to celebrate the New Year according to the old calendar. The core of the celebration is a popular masquerade ritual performed in villages throughout the region. On the first night, Survakari masquerade groups, consisting of men, women and children, don...
Les Sutartinės, chants lituaniens à plusieurs voix
Sutartinės (from the word ''sutarti ''– to be in concordance) is a form of polyphonic music performed by female singers in north-east Lithuania. The songs have simple melodies, with two to five pitches, and comprise two distinct parts: a meaningful main text and a refrain that may include nonce words. There are almost forty different...
Le tahteeb, jeu du bâton
In ancient Egypt, tahteeb was used as a form of martial arts. Its role has since changed to that of a festive game but some of the symbolism and values associated with the practice remain. Performed in front of an audience, it involves a brief, non-violent interchange between two adversaries, each wielding a long stick while folk music...
Le tais, tissu traditionnel
Tais, the handwoven traditional textile in Timor-Leste, plays an important role in the life of Timorese people. The textile is used for decoration and to create traditional clothing with specific styles for men and women. People use Tais to welcome new-borns as well as for traditional ceremonies and festivals. Tais is also a means of...
Le talchum, danse théâtrale masquée en République de Corée
Talchum is a performing art that encompasses dance, music and theatre. An ensemble of six to ten musicians accompanies masked performers who humorously explore social issues through dramatic combinations of songs, dances, movements and dialogue. The practice uses caricatures of everyday characters to convey its underlying appeal to...
Les tamboradas, rituels de battements de tambour
Tamboradas drum-playing rituals are loud, group rituals based on the simultaneous, intense beating of thousands of drums, played uninterruptedly for days and nights in public spaces in towns and villages. Each year, this creates a captivating landscape of sound and identity in an atmosphere charged with emotion and an intense feeling of...
La méthode Táncház : un modèle hongrois pour la transmission du patrimoine culturel immatériel
The Táncház (‘dance-house’) model of teaching folk dance and music combines traditional forms of acquisition with modern pedagogical and academic methods. Participants acquire dance knowledge from experienced members or tradition bearers by direct observation and imitation, to the accompaniment of live music, while using their own...
L’artisanat du tandir et la cuisson du pain en Azerbaïdjan
Tandirs are traditional pottery ovens used in Azerbaijan to make bread and sometimes meat and poultry. Today, masters mostly craft two types of tandirs: surface and underground ovens. The bread baked in tandirs is considered a key to longevity and is an integral part of the daily diets of the people of Azerbaijan. It can be stored for a...
Le Tango
The Argentinian and Uruguayan tradition of the Tango, now familiar around the world, was developed by the urban lower classes in Buenos Aires and Montevideo in the Rio de la Plata basin. Among this mix of European immigrants to the region, descendents of African slaves and the natives of the region known as ''criollos,'' a wide range of...
Taquile et son art textile
The island of Taquile located in Lake Titicaca on the Peruvian High Andean Plateau, is known for its textile art, which is produced as an everyday activity by both men and women, regardless of their age, and worn by all community members. The people of Taquile were relatively isolated from the mainland until the 1950s, and the notion of...
La Taskiwin, danse martiale du Haut-Atlas occidental
Taskiwin is a martial dance specific to the western High Atlas mountain range in Central Morocco. The dance gets its name from the richly decorated horn each dancer carries – the Tiskt – and involves the art of shaking one’s shoulders to the rhythm of tambourines and flutes. The practice fosters social cohesion and harmony and provides...
La tbourida
Tbourida is a Moroccan equestrian performance dating back to the sixteenth century. It simulates a succession of military parades, reconstructed according to ancestral Arab-Amazigh conventions and rituals. Each tbourida is performed by a troupe made up of an odd number of riders and horses (between 15 and 25). The riders line up side by...
Tchiloli, théâtre vivant de Sao Tomé-et-Principe dans la quête de la justice
Tchiloli is a traditional form of open-air theatre involving actors, musicians and an engaged audience. It is performed in an open space during festivals or public events, typically starting with a ritual led by women. Inspired by a traditional play, the story centres around a murder trial and involves about thirty actors. These actors...
La tchopa, danse sacrificielle des Lomwe du sud du Malawi
Tchopa is a performing art practised among Lhomwe communities in southern Malawi. The dance is usually performed during celebrations after good harvests and successful hunting trips and during offerings to ancestral spirits after calamities such as droughts and outbreaks of disease. Tchopa entails knowledge of particular dancing skills...
La technique de fabrication des cerfs-volants géants de Santiago Sacatepéquez et Sumpango au Guatemala
The tradition of making and flying kites in Santiago Sacatepéquez and Sumpango, Guatemala dates back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The kites are made over several months and exhibited during the fairs of the Day of the Saints and the Dead, with the aim to communicate with the ancestors. There are five steps to...
Le bài chòi, art traditionnel du Centre du Viet Nam
The art of Bài Chòi in Central Viet Nam is a diverse art combining music, poetry, acting, painting and literature. It takes two main forms: ‘Bài Chòi games’ and ‘Bài Chòi performance’. Bài Chòi games involve a card game played in bamboo huts during the Lunar New Year. In Bai Choi performances, male and female Hieu artists perform on a...
L’art de la broderie en Palestine, pratiques, compétences, connaissances et rituels
The art of traditional embroidery is widespread in Palestine. Originally made and worn in rural areas, the practice is now common in all of Palestine and among members of the diaspora. Women’s village clothing usually consists of a long dress, trousers, a jacket, a headdress and a veil. Each of these garments is embroidered with a...
L'art de la perle de verre
The art of glass beads is closely linked to the wealth of knowledge and mastery of a material (glass) and element (fire). The art covers specific knowledge and shared skills, reflects the use of specific traditional tools and processes, and includes various stages. In Italy, technical knowledge related to the production takes two forms:...
L’art de la blouse traditionnelle avec broderie sur l'épaule (altiţă), élément de l’identité culturelle en Roumanie et en République de Moldova
The art of the traditional blouse with embroidery on the shoulder (called altiță) is an essential part of Romanian and Moldovan folk dress for men and women. It juxtaposes a simple cut with rich and colourful ornamentations that are stitched using complex sewing techniques. The blouses are white and made of natural fibres (flax, cotton,...
Le Compas d'Haïti
Compas is a popular music and dance genre that holds deep cultural significance for the practising communities. As strong identifying factor, it brings together people of all ages, genders and backgrounds. The music is characterized by a syncopated rhythm and accompanied by instruments such as guitars, keyboards and drums. Compas...
La Confrérie des fleurs et des palmes
The Confraternity of flowers and palms is a traditional celebration that blends indigenous beliefs with Catholic practices in the community of Panchimalco. The event coincides with the beginning of the rainy and harvest season and is characterized by a procession of palms decorated with wildflowers. This procession, which attracts...
L'épopée Samba Gueladio
The Epic of Samba Gueladio is a legend in which the hero, Samba Gueladio, the legitimate heir to the throne, was cast aside by his uncle. To regain his throne, he forged alliances wherever he went. For instance, he killed a monster that had been preventing the Moors from fetching water from the river and recovered their cattle from a...
La festivité de la Santísima Trinidad del Señor Jesús del Gran Poder de la ville de La Paz
The festival of the Santísima Trinidad del Señor Jesús del Gran Poder takes place on the Day of the Holy Trinity in the city of La Paz. The celebration transforms and stimulates the social life of La Paz every year, emanating from a particular way of understanding and living Andean Catholicism. The Parade begins with a procession...
La yole de Martinique, de la construction aux pratiques de navigation, un modèle de sauvegarde du patrimoine
Created several centuries ago, the Martinique yole reflects the importance of traditional boats in the history of the region. A yole is a light, fast, shallow-draught boat with a tapered shape, which can sail with one or two sails. Crew members must perch off the hull on long movable poles to balance the boat, requiring great agility,...
La pratique du son cubain
Son is a traditional music and dance practice that blends singing, instruments, rhythm and movement. It is performed in pairs or groups and combines improvisation with structured patterns. Son includes lyrics drawn from daily life, which are passed down orally, and brings together African and European musical influences. The dance is...
La pratique de fabrication de l’asin tibuok, le sel de mer artisanal des Boholano de l’île de Bohol aux Philippines
Asin tibuok, or whole salt, is a traditional type of sea salt made through a long and careful process amongst the Boholano of Bohol Island. The final product looks like a white egg inside a brown shell. It is handmade using natural materials and traditional techniques that have been passed down through generations. The salt-making...
La pratique du chant lyrique en Italie
Italian opera singing is a physiologically controlled way of singing that enhances the carrying power of the voice in acoustic spaces such as auditoriums, amphitheatres, arenas and churches. Performed by people of all genders, it is associated with specific facial expressions and body gestures and involves a combination of music, drama,...
L'École des traditions vivantes
In 1995, the Sub-commission on Cultural Communities and Traditional Arts of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) – the lead agency mandated to preserve, promote and develop Philippine culture and the arts – affirmed the need to safeguard traditional knowledge and practices from rapid cultural devaluation brought about...
Les savoir-faire liés au parfum en Pays de Grasse : la culture de la plante à parfum, la connaissance des matières premières naturelles et leur transformation, l'art de composer le parfum
The skills related to perfume in Pays de Grasse cover three different aspects: the cultivation of perfume plants; the knowledge and processing of natural raw materials; and the art of perfume composition. The practice involves a wide range of communities and groups, brought together under the Association du Patrimoine Vivant du Pays de...
Les traditions sociales et culturelles associées aux landships à la Barbade
Landships are community-based cultural groups known for their social structure, performances and shared traditions. They are organized like naval ships, with members holding ranks such as Lord High Admiral, Commander and Kit Inspector. Members use nautical terms with localized meanings to reflect life challenges and achievements....
La tradition de la fabrication des tapis à Tchiprovtsi
Kilimi are hand-woven carpets made by the women of Chiprovtsi in north-eastern Bulgaria. Almost every household in the town contains a vertical handloom, which the women use to make two-sided tapestries traditionally utilized as floor coverings. The weaver takes several threads of the warp with her left hand, interlaces the weft yarn...
Le costume féminin de cérémonie dans le Grand Est de l'Algérie : savoir-faire associés à la confection et à la parure de la Gandoura, la Melehfa, le Caftan, le Quat et le Lhef
The Gandoura and Melehfa are traditional attires worn by women in Eastern Algeria for festive occasions such as weddings, ceremonies, and national and religious festivities. The Gandoura is a long, flared robe made of satin or velvet and embroidered with floral and animal motifs using techniques such as gold thread and beadwork....
La zaffa dans le mariage traditionnel
The zaffa is a traditional bridal procession that marks a couple’s transition from single to married life. It involves rituals, music, dance and a festive gathering. The zaffa begins with careful preparations. The bride undergoes cleansing rituals and applies henna, while special clothes, jewellery and other adornments are prepared for...
Trois genres de danse traditionnelle à Bali
There are three genres of traditional Balinese dance – sacred, semi-sacred and that meant for enjoyment by communities at large. Traditional Balinese dances are performed by male and female dancers dressed in traditional costumes consisting of brightly coloured cloth painted with gold floral and faunal motifs, with gold-leafed and...
L’opéra tibétain
Tibetan opera, the most popular traditional opera of minority ethnic groups in China, is a comprehensive art combining folk song, dance, storytelling, chant, acrobatics and religious performance. Most popular in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in western China, the performance begins with a prayer ceremony, including the cleansing of the...
Le radelage
Timber rafting in Austria, Czechia, Germany, Latvia, Poland and Spain originated in the Middle Ages, when rafts were used to transport wood, goods and people using natural water flows. In the past, rafters traveling to remote destinations spent weeks living and working together on their raft. As a result, a community sharing the...
Le savoir-faire artisanal tiniote du marbre
The art of marble-carving is an expression of the cultural identity of Tinos. Marble craftspeople possess empirical knowledge of the composition and structure of marble-bearing rock, the properties of each kind of marble, and the manipulation of its veins. Marble-carving workshops produce a range of traditional motifs, patterns and...
Tocatì, un programme partagé pour la sauvegarde des jeux et sports traditionnels
As part of coordinated efforts to safeguard traditional games and sports in Italy, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus and France, the Associazione Giochi Antichi launched Tocatì (‘it's your turn’), a festival and platform uniting communities, groups and individuals that practice traditional games. Tocatì links traditional games and sports to the...
La tradition de la ferronnerie à Gyumri
Blacksmithing, or the creation and repair of iron objects, has played a central role in the local identity and cultural characteristics of the city of Gyumri, Armenia for centuries. Although the practice nearly disappeared in Armenia in the mid-twentieth century, it has survived in Gyumri, where inhabitants continue to preserve existing...
La tradition des céramiques peintes de Kossiv
The tradition of Kosiv painted ceramics – which include dishes, ceremonial items, toys and tiles – arose in the 18th century, reaching its golden age in the mid-19th century. The products are made using local grey clay, watered with a white clay of creamy texture; when dried, they are painted using a metal stick scratching technique to...
La tradition de la fabrication du savon Nablus en Palestine
Nabulsi is a hand-crafted soap made in Palestine made from three natural, local ingredients: olive oil, water and lye. The practitioners make the soap after the olive harvest, adding their family’s stamp before packaging it and storing it for one year. Most families in Palestine share the tradition, with both men and women taking part...
Le travail traditionnel de la pierre d’Ahlat
Traditional Ahlat stonework refers to the knowledge, methods, skills and aesthetic understanding surrounding the extraction of volcanic Ahlat stones, shaping and ornamenting the stones, and then using them to create structures and artefacts. Ahlat stone is a volcanic stone extracted by miners from the foothills of the Mountain Nemrut in...
La danse traditionnelle Ainu
The Ainu are an indigenous people who today live mostly in Hokkaidō in northern Japan. Traditional Ainu dance is performed at ceremonies and banquets, as part of newly organized cultural festivals and privately in daily life; in its various forms, it is closely connected to the lifestyle and religion of the Ainu. The traditional style...
L’art et le symbolisme traditionnels du kelaghayi, fabrication et port de foulards en soie pour les femmes
Rooted in traditions found along the Great Silk Road, the art of Kelaghayi is concentrated in two locations in the Republic of Azerbaijan: the city of Sheki and the Basgal settlement. Kelaghayi making consists of several stages: fabric weaving, dyeing and woodblock decoration. Weavers choose thin silk threads from sericulture producers...
L’art traditionnel du tissage du tapis azerbaïdjanais en République d’Azerbaïdjan
The Azerbaijani carpet is a traditional handmade textile of various sizes, with dense texture and a pile or pile-less surface, whose patterns are characteristic of Azerbaijan’s many carpet-making regions. Carpet making is a family tradition transferred orally and through practice. Men shear sheep in spring and autumn, while women...
L'art traditionnel du tissage jamdani
Jamdani is a vividly patterned, sheer cotton fabric, traditionally woven on a handloom by craftspeople and apprentices around Dhaka. Jamdani textiles combine intricacy of design with muted or vibrant colours, and the finished garments are highly breathable. Jamdani is a time-consuming and labour-intensive form of weaving because of the...
L’art traditionnel du tissage de shital pati de Sylhet
Shital Pati is the traditional art of making a handcrafted mat by weaving together strips of a green cane known as ‘Murta’. The mat is used by people all over Bangladesh as a sitting mat, bedspread or prayer mat. The main bearers and practitioners are weavers living mostly in the low-lying villages in the greater Sylhet region of...
La fabrication et la pratique de la cornemuse traditionnelle (gayda/tulum)
The traditional bagpipe (Gayda/Tulum) is a traditional woodwind instrument that is made and performed across the area that includes the Republic of North Macedonia, and the Eastern Black Sea and Thrace regions of Türkiye. In North Macedonia, it consists of four parts: a melody pipe, a drone pipe, a blowing pipe and an air reservoir. In...
La fabrication artisanale traditionnelle d’ustensiles en laiton et en cuivre des Thatheras de Jandiala Guru, Penjab, Inde
The craft of the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru constitutes the traditional technique of manufacturing brass and copper utensils in Punjab. The metals used – copper, brass and certain alloys – are believed to be beneficial for health. The process begins with procuring cooled cakes of metal that are flattened into thin plates and then...
Les costumes traditionnels en Norvège, artisanat et pratique sociale
In Norway, traditional costumes are tailored garments, decorated with embroidery, ribbons and fabrics, made of natural materials such as silk, wool and linen. The production process involves a variety of craftspeople to embroider the costumes and make the accessories. Often made by hand, a traditional costume may last a lifetime and be...
L’artisanat traditionnel du tissage du motif naga dans les communautés lao
The Naga is a mythical, serpent-like creature that lives in rivers. Lao people believe that Naga are ancestors that watch over them. To show their respect, they add Naga motifs to different objects, the most common of which is textiles through weaving. Naga motifs are woven by hand using a traditional wooden loom. The motif is created...
L’artisanat et les arts traditionnels de la construction liés au mudhif
Al-Mudhif is a large arched building made of reed and papyrus, both of which grow naturally in the marshes of southern Iraq. The building serves as a gathering place where members of the community can exchange, address conflicts, share experiences, tell stories and practise cultural activities and social rituals such as weddings,...
Les savoir-faire artisanaux et artistiques traditionnels relatifs à l'Al-Naoor
Al-naoor is a wooden wheel that rotates on its axis. It is used on the streams of the Euphrates River in Iraq, where water levels are lower than the adjacent fields. In order to raise the river water to the fields, the communities devised the al-naoor wheel. The wheel is made of twenty-four columns of wooden sticks and twenty-four clay...
L'artisanat traditionnel du çini
Çini are traditional, handmade glazed tiles and ceramics made in Turkey featuring colourful motifs of plants, animals and geometric patterns often found on facades of buildings and in homes throughout the country. Producing çini involves a series of processes. The clay is first shaped, lined, dried and fired in ovens specifically for...
Les savoir-faire traditionnels relatifs à la fabrication de Dumbara Ratā Kalāla
Sri Lankan Dumbara Rata Kalala, or Dumbara mats, are traditional hand-made mats used as wall hangings, tapestries or cushion covers. The mats are made in two villages (Kalasirigama and Alokagama) by a community called kinnara that traditionally supplied ornamental mats to the royal palace as part of obligatory service to the crown and...
L’artisanat traditionnel du ger mongol et les coutumes associées
Craftsmanship of the Mongol Ger is a traditional enterprise involving the labour of a household or group, with men carving the wood and both women and men engaged in painting, sewing and stitching, and felt-making. The Ger is a round structure of walls, poles and a peaked roof covered with canvas and felt, and tightened with ropes. It...
La conception et les pratiques traditionnelles de construction des ponts chinois de bois en arc
Wooden arch bridges are found in Fujian Province and Zhejiang Province, along China’s southeast coast. The traditional design and practices for building these bridges combine the use of wood, traditional architectural tools, craftsmanship, the core technologies of ‘beam-weaving’ and mortise and tenon joints, and an experienced...
La technique de cuisson traditionnelle du céladon de Longquan
The city of Longquan in the coastal Chinese province of Zhejian is known for its celadon pottery and the traditional firing technology that imparts its distinctive glaze. Compounded from violet-golden clay and a mixture of burnt feldspar, limestone, quartz and plant ash, the glaze is prepared from recipes that have often been handed...
Les marionnettes à gaine traditionnelles
Al-Aragoz is an old form of Egyptian theatre using traditional hand puppetry. Performances are highly popular events during which puppeteers remain hidden inside a small portable stage while an assistant interacts with the puppets and crowd. Al-Aragoz takes its name from the main puppet, whose distinctive voice is created with a voice...
Les techniques artisanales traditionnelles de fabrication du papier Xuan
The unique water quality and mild climate of Jing County in Anhui Province in eastern China are two of the key ingredients in the craft of making Xuan paper that thrives there. Handmade from the tough bark of the Tara Wing-Celtis or Blue Sandalwood tree and rice straw, Xuan paper is known for its strong, smooth surface, its ability to...
Le jeu traditionnel d’intelligence et de stratégie: Togyzqumalaq, Toguz Korgool, Mangala/Göçürme
Traditional intelligence and strategy game: Togyzqumalaq, Toguz Korgool, Mangala/Göçürme is a traditional game which can be played on special boards or improvised ones such as pits on the ground. The game can be played with pellets made of stone, wood, metal and bone, nuts, or seeds, which are distributed across the pits; the player who...
L'irrigation traditionnelle : connaissance, technique et organisation
Traditional irrigation uses gravity and hand-made constructions such as channels and ditches to distribute water from naturally-occurring water catchment points (such as springs, streams and glaciers) to the fields. Practitioners choose specific days and periods to manually divert the water, and the beginning or end of the watering...
Connaissances et savoir-faire traditionnels de la fabrication des yourtes kirghizes, kazakhes et karakalpak (habitat nomade des peuples turciques)
The yurt is a nomadic dwelling with a collapsible wooden circular frame covered with felt and braided with ropes. It can be easily assembled and dismantled within a short period of time. Yurts are made from natural and renewable raw materials. Men and their apprentices make the wooden frames by hand, along with wooden, leather, bone and...
Les connaissances et savoir-faire traditionnels liés à la fabrication des tissus atlas et adras
Atlas and adras are two kinds of traditional woven fabrics produced in Tajikistan. Atlas is made from silk threads, and adras is woven with silk and cotton threads, but the technique of creating both cloths is similar. There are many steps in the process, from gathering cocoons and collecting cotton, to spinning, wrapping, dyeing and...
Les connaissances et savoir-faire traditionnels relatifs à la fabrication de saké à base de koji au Japon
Sake is an alcoholic beverage made from grains and water that is deeply rooted in Japanese culture. Craftspeople use koji mould to convert the starch in the ingredients into sugar. They oversee the process to make sure the mould grows in optimal conditions, adjusting the temperature and humidity as needed. Their work determines the...
Les connaissances et techniques traditionnelles associées au vernis de Pasto mopa-mopa de Putumayo et Nariño
The traditional knowledge and techniques associated with Pasto Varnish mopa-mopa of Putumayo and Nariño encompass three traditional trades: harvesting, woodwork and decorative varnishing. The practice involves harvesting the buds of the mopa-mopa tree in the jungles of Putumayo, the wood processing carried out by carpenters, lathe...
Les connaissances et technologies traditionnelles liées à la culture et à la transformation de la curagua
The traditional knowledge and technologies related to the growing and processing of curagua encompass a complex set of practices concerning the cultivation of the plant and the extraction of white fibres, which are characterized by their strength, durability and softness. The fibres are woven into thread and used to produce a range of...
Le savoir traditionnel des chamanes jaguars de Yuruparí
The mythical and cosmological structures that make up the traditional knowledge of the jaguar shamans of Yuruparí represent the cultural heritage of the many ethnic groups that live along the Pirá Paraná River in south-eastern Colombia, in the department of Vaupés. According to ancestral wisdom, the Pirá Paraná forms the heart of a...
Les techniques textiles traditionnelles des Li : filage, teinture, tissage et broderie
The traditional Li textile techniques of spinning, dyeing, weaving and embroidering are employed by women of the Li ethnic group of Hainan Province, China, to make clothing and other daily necessities out of cotton, hemp and other fibres. In the absence of a written language, the patterns used on the textiles record the history and...
La fabrication traditionnelle de jouets en bois pour enfants à Hrvatsko Zagorje
Villagers along the pilgrimage route to the Marian shrine of Our Lady of the Snow in Marija Bistrica in Hrvatsko Zagorje in northern Croatia developed a technique for traditional manufacturing of children’s wooden toys that has now been handed down for generations. The men in a family take soft willow, lime, beech and maple wood from...
Le séga mauricien traditionnel
Traditional Mauritian Sega Tipik is a vibrant performing art, emblematic of the Creole community and performed at informal private family events or in public spaces. Songs sung in a minor key gradually increase in tempo, as dancers move their hips and hands to a percussive beat, using short steps to manoeuvre around each other in a...
La musique traditionnelle du Morin Khuur
The two-stringed fiddle morin khuur has figured prominently in Mongolia’s nomad culture. String instruments adorned with horse heads are attested to by written sources dating from the Mongol empire of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The fiddle’s significance extends beyond its function as a musical instrument, for it was...
La musique traditionnelle pour flûte tsuur
Tsuur music is based on a combination of instrumental and vocal performance – a blending of sounds created simultaneously by both the musical instrument and the human throat. Tsuur music has an inseparable connection to the Uriankhai Mongolians of the Altai Region, and remains an integral part of their daily life. Its origins lie in an...
L’art traditionnel du tissage de sari de Tangail
The saree is a traditional handwoven fabric, characteristic of the Basak and Jhola communities, respectively composed by Hindus and Muslims. It is made from cotton, silk or jute using a special weaving technique. Tangail sarees are characterized by their fine texture, detailed designs and local patterns, making each piece a work of art...
Les compétences traditionnelles de construction et de navigation des bateaux iraniens Lenj dans le golfe Persique
Iranian Lenj vessels are traditionally hand-built and are used by inhabitants of the northern coast of the Persian Gulf for sea journeys, trading, fishing and pearl diving. The traditional knowledge surrounding Lenjes includes oral literature, performing arts and festivals, in addition to the sailing and navigation techniques and...
Les savoir-faire traditionnels du tissage des tapis du Fars
Iranians enjoy a global reputation in carpet weaving, and the carpet weavers of Fars, located in the south-west of Iran, are among the most prominent. Wool for the carpets is shorn by local men in spring or autumn. The men then construct the carpet loom – a horizontal frame placed on the ground – while the women convert the wool into...
Les savoir-faire traditionnels du tissage des tapis à Kashan
Long a centre for fine carpets, Kashan has almost one in three residents employed in carpet-making, with more than two-thirds of the carpet-makers being women. The carpet-weaving process starts with a design, elaborated from among a series of established styles, including motifs such as flowers, leaves, branches, animals and scenes...
Les savoir-faire traditionnels liés à la fabrication et à la pratique du dotâr
The traditional skills of crafting and playing the Dotār are one of the most prominent social and cultural components of the folkloric music among the ethnic groups and communities of the Dotār regions. Bearers and practitioners are mostly farmers, including male crafters and players and female players. The Dotār is a folkloric plucked...
Les savoir-faire traditionnels liés au tissage du pagne en Côte d'Ivoire
In Côte d’Ivoire, the traditional skills of loincloth weaving are characterised by the specific weaving techniques and raw materials used. The fabrics woven by the Gouro, Baoule, Malinke, Senufo, Koulango, Nafana and Abron communities are made from dyed cotton threads of various colours. They are woven in narrow strips on a hand loom...
Les savoir-faire, les techniques et les connaissances traditionnels liés à la conservation et à la transmission de l’architecture en bois au Japon
The conservation and transmission of wooden architecture consists in a set of traditional skills, techniques and knowledge to build new wooden structures and restore existing ones. This includes skills such as plastering, the cultivation and harvesting of raw materials, lacquer painting of traditional structures, and many more....
Les rencontres traditionnelles Sohbet
Traditional Sohbet meetings play a crucial role in transmitting Turkish folk literature, folk dances and music, village plays as well as societal values. Turkish men meet regularly indoors, especially in winter, to discuss local social and cultural issues, safeguard traditions, and encourage solidarity, mutual respect and a sense of...
Les rites festifs traditionnels printaniers des éleveurs de chevaux kazakhs
Traditional spring festive rites of the Kazakh horse breeders – taking place in Terisakkan Village in the Ulytau District of Karaganda Oblast – mark the end of the old and the beginning of the new yearly horse-breeding cycle. Rooted in traditional knowledge about nature and the age-old relations between man and horse, the rites involve...
Le soufflage du verre traditionnel syrien
Traditional glassblowing in Damascus is the artisanal craft of creating glass objects using pieces of waste glass. To create an object, pieces of glass are placed inside a handmade brick oven to melt. The craftsman twists the molten glass around a hollow metal rod. He then blows into the rod to inflate the glass, using metal tongs to...
Le procédé traditionnel de préparation de l’aïrag dans un khokhuur et les coutumes associées
Traditional technique of making Airag in Khokhuur and its associated customs includes the traditional method of making airag – a fermented beverage made from mare’s milk – and the related equipment, such as the khokhuur (cowhide vessel), buluur (paddle) and khovoo (kibble), associated with the social customs and rituals. The basic...
Le tir à l’arc traditionnel turc
Traditional Turkish archery encompasses principles, rituals and social practices, the craftsmanship of traditional equipment, archery disciplines and shooting techniques that have evolved over the centuries. In traditional Turkish archery, there are different types of disciplines practised on foot and horseback. Bearers and...
L’art traditionnel de la fabrication des tapis turkmènes au Turkménistan
Traditional turkmen carpet making art in Turkmenistan relates to the production of traditional Turkmen carpets and carpet products: hand-woven woolen textile products decorated with ornamental art. The carpets feature a dense texture ornamented with characteristic coloured patterns pertaining to one of the five main Turkmen tribes. They...
La musique traditionnelle vallenato de la région du Magdalena Grande
Traditional Vallenato music fuses cultural expressions from northern Colombia, the songs of cow-herders of the Greater Magdalena region and the chants of African slaves with the traditional dance rhythms of the indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. These expressions are also blended with Spanish poetry and musical...
Le savoir-faire traditionnel du violon à Crémone
Cremonese violin craftsmanship is highly renowned for its traditional process of fashioning and restoring violins, violas, cellos and contrabasses. Violin-makers attend a specialized school, based on a close teacher-pupil relationship, before being apprenticed in a local workshop, where they continue to master and perfect their...
L’artisanat traditionnel du tapis mural en Roumanie et en République de Moldova
In the past, wall carpets produced by weavers in communities of Romania and the Republic of Moldova were used not only as decorative features and sources of insulation but also as part of a bride’s dowry. A variety of techniques were needed to produce the pieces with impressive motifs. Certain patterns also indicated where the weaver...
Le tissage traditionnel Al Sadu
Traditional weaving of Al Sadu refers to a woven textile made by Bedouin women using a ground loom. The weavers use natural fibres found in their environment to make a tightly woven, durable textile. The patterns found in Al Sadu weaving reflect the desert environment in its simple, pure form, featuring geometric designs combined to...
Le tissage traditionnel du chapeau de paille toquilla équatorien
The toquilla straw hat is woven from fibres from a palm tree characteristic of the Ecuadorian coast. Coastal farmers cultivate the toquillales and harvest the stems before separating the fibre from the green outer skin. This is boiled to remove chlorophyll and dried for subsequent bleaching with sulfur over a wood fire. Weavers take...
La construction traditionnelle de bateaux en bois à Carriacou et à la Petite Martinique
Traditional wooden boatbuilding is a centuries-old tradition practised in Carriacou and Petite Martinique in Grenada. The men, women and children in the boat-building communities each have specific roles and functions during each stage of the process. Established shipwrights build the boats, felling trees that have been hand-selected...
Les traditions et pratiques associées aux Kayas dans les forêts sacrées des Mijikenda
The Mijikenda include nine Bantu-speaking ethnic groups in the Kaya forests of coastal Kenya. The identity of the Mijikenda is expressed through oral traditions and performing arts related to the sacred forests, which are also sources of valuable medicinal plants. These traditions and practices constitute their codes of ethics and...
Les traditions du pencak silat
In addition to their sporting element, Traditions of Pencak Silat also encompass mental-spiritual, self-defence and artistic aspects. The moves and styles of Pencak Silat are strongly influenced by various elements of art, involving a unity of body and movement fitting the accompanying music. The term ‘pencak’ is better known in Java,...
La Transhumance, déplacement saisonnier de troupeaux
Transhumance refers to the seasonal movement of people with their livestock between geographical or climatic regions. Each year, in spring and autumn, men and women herders organise the movement of thousands of animals along traditional pastoral paths. They move on foot or horseback, leading with their dogs and sometimes accompanied by...
Tsapiky, rythme et style musical caractéristique de la région Sud-ouest de Madagascar
Tsapiky is a fast-paced musical genre that combines modern and traditional sounds and is deeply rooted in the social life of the inhabitants of southwestern Madagascar. It features electric guitars, drums, accordions and local instruments such as the ‘kabosy’ (a small guitar) and the ‘marovany’ (a string instrument). Although initially...
Les Tsiattista, joutes poétiques
The lively, impromptu oral poetry known as Tsiattista is often performed to the accompaniment of violin or lute in ‘jousts’ in which one poet-singer attempts to outdo another with clever verses made up of rhyming couplets. It has long been a popular component of wedding feasts, fairs and other public celebrations, where eager crowds...
La culture et la tradition du café turc
Turkish coffee combines special preparation and brewing techniques with a rich communal traditional culture. The freshly roasted beans are ground to a fine powder; then the ground coffee, cold water and sugar are added to a coffee pot and brewed slowly on a stove to produce the desired foam. The beverage is served in small cups,...
L’art des travaux d’aiguille de style turkmène
Turkmen-style needlework is a decorative applied art used on the national dress of people of all genders and ages in Turkmenistan and Iran. In both countries, Turkmen-style needlework begins with the preparation of thin silk threads that are intertwined in three layers and twisted into a single thread, then straightened with a large...
Le chant et la musique à deux voix dans la gamme istrienne
On the Istrian peninsula in western Croatia, several varieties of two-part singing and playing in the Istrian scale are preserved by Croatian, Istro-Romanian and Italian communities. The style is characterized by vigorous, partly nasal singing. It involves a degree of variation and improvisation in both vocal parts but always ends with...
L'uilleann piping
Uilleann piping is a musical practice which uses a particular type of bagpipe (known as the ‘uilleann’, ‘Irish’ or ‘union’ pipes) to play Irish music. It is a highly developed instrument with strong roots in tradition dating back many generations. Bearers and practitioners are dispersed throughout the world, but the greatest...
L’Urtiin Duu, chants longs traditionnels populaires
The Urtiin duu or “long song” is one of the two major forms of Mongolian songs, the other being the short song” (bogino duu). As a ritual form of expression associated with important celebrations and festivities, Urtiin duu plays a distinct and honoured role in Mongolian society. It is performed at weddings, the inauguration of a new...
Le muqam ouïgour du Xinjiang
The Xinjiang Uyghur Muqam is the general term for a variety of Muqam practices widespread among the Uyghur communities, which form one of the largest ethnic minorities of the People’s Republic of China. Throughout its history, the Xinjiang region has been marked by a high degree of cultural exchange between East and West, due in...
La fête des Fallas valenciennes
The main feature of the Fallas Festivity, a tradition of communities in Valencia and its diaspora celebrating the coming of spring, is the giant falla. The falla is a monument made up of ninots (caricature pieces) created by local artists and craftspeople that provides a commentary on current social issues. Erected in the town square,...
Les diables danseurs de Corpus Christi du Venezuela
The small communities along the central coastal region of Venezuela have a special way to celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi, an annual Roman Catholic holiday commemorating the presence of Christ in the Sacrament. Groups of adults, young men and children disguised as masked devils dance backwards in penitence as an official of the...
Les chants populaires ví et giặm de Nghệ Tĩnh
Ví and Giặm songs are sung by a wide range of communities in Nghệ An and Hà Tĩnh Provinces of north-central Viet Nam. Specific songs are sung without instrumental accompaniment while people cultivate rice in the fields, row boats, make conical hats or lull children to sleep. Ví and Giặm lyrics use the specific dialect and linguistic...
Le Vimbuza, danse de guérison
Vimbuza is a healing dance popular among the Tumbuka people living in northern Malawi. It is an important manifestation of the ng’oma, a healing tradition found throughout Bantu-speaking Africa. Ng’oma, meaning “drums of affliction”, carries considerable historical depth and, despite various attempts over the years to suppress it,...
La vytsinanka, art traditionnel du découpage de papier au Bélarus
Vytsinanka is a traditional art of paper cutting that is practised in Belarus. Initially used for church interiors and icons, it is now used to decorate homes, cafés and offices, for the design of printed products (such as calendars and postcards) and in theatre sets and public spaces. Most artisans adhere to traditional techniques and...
Le washi, savoir-faire du papier artisanal traditionnel japonais
Washi craftsmanship refers to the traditional practice of making paper by hand using the fibres of the paper mulberry plant. The fibres are first separated, then soaked in clear river water to thicken before being filtered through a bamboo screen. This traditional, hand-made paper is used not only for letter writing, books and...
La technique des cloisons étanches des jonques chinoises
Developed in South China’s Fujian Province, the watertight-bulkhead technology of Chinese junks permits the construction of ocean-going vessels with watertight compartments. If one or two cabins are accidentally damaged in the course of navigation, seawater will not flood the other cabins and the vessel will remain afloat. The junks are...
Le théâtre de marionnettes wayang
Renowned for its elaborate puppets and complex musical styles, this ancient form of storytelling originated on the Indonesian island of Java. For ten centuries wayang flourished at the royal courts of Java and Bali as well as in rural areas. Wayang has spread to other islands (Lombok, Madura, Sumatra and Borneo) where various local...
Le tissage du Mosi (ramie fine) dans la région de Hansan
Weaving of Mosi in Hansan is transmitted by middle-aged women in the township located in South Chungcheong Province, Republic of Korea. The region boasts fertile land and sea winds that allow ramie plants to thrive. Weaving ramie cloth involves a number of processes, including harvesting, boiling and bleaching ramie plants, spinning...
Les chevaux du vin
Los Caballos del Vino (Wine Horses) takes place each year from 1-3 May in Caravaca de la Cruz and forms part of the fiestas held in honour of the Santísima y Vera Cruz in Caravaca. The equestrian ritual consists of a series of events in which the horse is the protagonist. The process of enjaezamiento involves dressing the horses in...
La Fête des vignerons de Vevey
In Vevey, Switzerland there is a tradition that recognizes the community’s winegrowers involving not only those in the industry but also members of the public and local artists. Originally a single pageant, The Winegrowers’ Festival now features 15 events over three weeks and 5,000 contributors. Every festival is based on the recreation...
Les fêtes de l'hiver, le carnaval de Podence
Winter festivities, Carnival of Podence is a social practice which initially functioned as a rite of passage for men. Now extended to women and children, it has been readjusted to its contemporary context. The festivity is associated with the celebration of the end of winter and the arrival of spring and takes place over three days in...
La danse Wititi de la vallée du Colca
The Wititi dance of the Colca Valley is a traditional folk dance associated with the beginning of adult life. It takes the form of a courtship ritual and is typically performed by young people during religious festivities celebrated throughout the rainy season. It is danced in troupes with rows of male and female couples performing a...
Le savoir-faire du travail du bois des Zafimaniry
The Zafimaniry community is the sole remaining repository of a unique woodcraft culture previously widespread on the island. In the eighteenth century, the Zafimaniry settled in the remote wooded region of south-east Madagascar, seeking refuge from the deforestation that was ravaging much of Madagascar at that time. Today, approximately...
L’imprimerie chinoise à caractères mobiles en bois
One of the world’s oldest printing techniques, wooden movable-type printing is maintained in Rui’an County, Zhejiang Province, where it is used in compiling and printing clan genealogies. Men are trained to draw and engrave Chinese characters, which are then set into a type-page and printed. This requires abundant historical knowledge...
Le culte des rois Hùng à Phú Thọ
Annually, millions of people converge on the Hùng temple at Nghĩa Lĩnh mountain in Phú Thọ province to commemorate their ancestors and pray for good weather, abundant harvests, good luck and good health. The largest ceremony, the Ancestral Anniversary festival of the Hùng Kings, is celebrated for about one week at the beginning of the...
Le rituel wosana et les pratiques associées
Wosana is a rainmaking ritual that is observed by the Bakalanga community in the Northeast and Central Districts of Botswana and in certain Zimbabwean villages along the Botswana border. The ancestral practice is characterized by rituals, prayer, feasts, song and dance. It is a collaborative practice involving traditional leadership,...
Le Xeedho
Xeedho is a dish given by a mother-in-law to her son-in-law to celebrate the first week of her daughter’s marriage. It consists of a container carved from a tree trunk, made to hold small pieces of dried dromedary meat that is fried in butter and preserved in ghee. The container is placed inside a basket, wrapped in aluminium foil and...
Le xeer ciise, droit coutumier oral des communautés somali-issa en Éthiopie, à Djibouti et en Somalie
The Xeer Ciise refers to the oral customary laws of the Somali-Issa communities in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia. A highly structured and rigorously codified system of democratic governance, it has three main components: (a) a political constitution, which defines the distribution of power and decision-making processes; (b) a penal...
La xhubleta, savoir-faire, artisanat et formes d’utilisation
Xhubleta is a handcrafted garment worn by highland women and girls in Northern Albania, characterised by its undulating bell form. Predominantly black with colourful embroidered motifs, the crafting process entails preparing the shajak (woven felt), cutting, sewing and embroidering symbolic figures. Xhubleta was once used in everyday...
L’ensemble d’instruments à vent et à percussion de Xi’an
Xi’an wind and percussion ensemble, which has been played for more than a millennium in China’s ancient capital of Xi’an, in Shaanxi Province, is a type of music integrating drums and wind instruments, sometimes with a male chorus. The content of the verses is mostly related to local life and religious belief and the music is mainly...
Le chant Xoan de la Province de Phú Thọ (Viet Nam)
As a performing art, Xoan singing of Pho Tho province includes singing, dancing, drumming and clapper beating. It is closely linked to the worship of the Hung Kings, a belief rooted in the ancestor worship practice of the Viet people. Bearers and practitioners form four guilds, in which the male and female Trum play the most important...
Le xooy, une cérémonie divinatoire chez les Serer du Sénégal
The Xooy divination ceremony is organized in village squares among the Serer community in west-central Senegal prior to the rainy season. During this long nocturnal gathering, master seers known as Saltigues each in turn step into a designated circle, where they deliver predictions before a rapturous audience accompanied by the rhythm...
Xtaxkgakget Makgkaxtlawana : le Centre des arts autochtones et sa contribution à la sauvegarde du patrimoine culturel immatériel du peuple totonaque de Veracruz, Mexique
The Center for Indigenous Arts was designed as a response to a long-term desire of the Totonac people to create an educational institution to transmit their teachings, art, values and culture, while also providing favourable conditions for indigenous creators to develop their art. The structure of the centre represents a traditional...
Yaldā/Chella
Yaldā/Chella refers to a traditional celebration of the sun and the warmth of life. Practiced in Iran and Afghanistan, the event takes place on the last night of autumn, when families gather at the houses of elders and sit around a table adorned with a series of symbolic objects and foods: a lamp to symbolize light, water to represent...
Le yalli (kochari, tenzere), danses collectives traditionnelles du Nakhtchivan
Yalli, traditional group dances, are dance expressions based exclusively on collective performances. Typically, yalli are performed in a circle, chain or line, and involve elements of games, pantomime (bird or other animal imitations), physical exercises and movements. The community of the yalli dances consists of practising dancers,...
Yama, Hoko, Yatai, festivals de chars au Japon
Yama, Hoko and Yatai float festivals are held annually in various regions to pray to the gods for peace and protection from natural disasters. A traditional practice that showcases the diversity of local cultures, the festivals involve the collaborative efforts of the practising communities and are a key aspect of their cultural...
Le Yaokwa, rituel du peuple Enawene Nawe pour le maintien de l’ordre social et cosmique
The Enawene Nawe people live in the basin of the Juruena River in the southern Amazon rainforest. They perform the Yaokwa ritual every year during the drought period to honour the Yakairiti spirits, thereby ensuring cosmic and social order for the different clans. The ritual links local biodiversity to a complex, symbolic cosmology that...
Le Yeondeunghoe, fête des lanternes en République de Corée
Yeondeunghoe, lantern lighting festival, takes place throughout the Republic of Korea. As the eighth day of the fourth lunar month (Buddha’s birthday) approaches, the entire country lights up with colourful lanterns. Originally a religious ritual to celebrate Shakyamuni’s birth, Yeondeunghoe has now become a national spring festival...
Le Yeongsanjae
A central element of Korean Buddhist culture, Yeongsanjae is a re-enactment of Buddha’s delivery of the Lotus Sutra on the Vulture Peak in India, through which philosophical and spiritual messages of Buddhism are expressed and people in attendance develop self-discipline. Yeongsanjae begins with a ritual reception for all the saints and...
Yodel
Yodelling is a vocal technique involving the use of different vocal registers, such as chest and head voices, to create melodies with meaningless syllables instead of words. The syllables chosen are often determined by the local dialect. There are two types of yodelling: natural and sung. Natural yodelling consists of wordless melodies...
L’opéra Yueju
The Chinese tradition of Yueju opera combines Mandarin operatic traditions and Cantonese dialect. Rooted in the Cantonese-speaking provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi in south-eastern China, Yueju opera is characterized by a combination of string and percussion instruments, with elaborate costumes and face painting. It also incorporates...
Le Yuki-tsumugi, technique de production de soierie
Yuki-tsumugi is a Japanese silk-weaving technique found principally in Yuki City and Oyama City, along the Kinu River, north of Tokyo. The region boasts a warm climate and fertile lands, which are ideal for the growth of mulberry trees and sericulture. The Yuki-tsumugi technique is employed to produce pongee silk (also called raw silk)...
Le Zaouli, musique et danse populaires des communautés gouro de Côte d'Ivoire
Zaouli is a popular music and dance practised by the Guro communities of the Bouaflé and Zuénoula departments of Côte d’Ivoire. A homage to feminine beauty, Zaouli is inspired by two masks: the Blou and the Djela. Its other name, Djela lou Zaouli means Zaouli, the daughter of Djela. In a single event, the practice brings together...
La fabrication de la poterie de Zlakusa, poterie au tour manuel dans le village de Zlakusa
Zlakusa pottery making, hand-wheel pottery making in the village of Zlakusa relates to the knowledge and skills involved in making unglazed vessels for thermic food processing. Used in households and restaurants across Serbia, Zlakusa pottery is made of clay and calcite and the wheel is run exclusively by hand. The process takes seven...
La broderie de Zmijanje
Zmijanje embroidery is a specific technique practised by the women of Zmijanje villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Traditionally, Zmijanje embroidery is used to decorate female costumes and household items, including wedding dresses, scarves, garments and bed linen. The main characteristic is the use of a deep blue thread, handmade with...
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