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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...
PacificSamoaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Al-Mansaf en Jordanie, un banquet festif et ses significations sociales et culturelles
Al-Mansaf is a festive dish that is central to Jordan’s socio-cultural events. An important and well-known symbol that evokes a deep sense of identity and social cohesion, it is associated with the agro-pastoral lifestyle in which meat and dairy are readily available. Large chunks of sheep or goat meat are boiled with spices in a yogurt...
Middle EastJordanNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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L’isopolyphonie populaire albanaise
Traditional Albanian polyphonic music can be divided into two major stylistic groups as performed by the Ghegs of northern Albania and the Tosks and Labs living in the southern part of the country. The term iso is related to the ison of Byzantine church music and refers to the drone accompanying polyphonic singing. The drone is...
EuropeAlbaniaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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,...
Middle EastArmeniaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
AfricaMalawi / ZimbabweNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
Southeast AsiaViet NamNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
AfricaUgandaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
AfricaUgandaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
AfricaZambiaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
East AsiaChinaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
Global DiasporasIran, Islamic Republic of / Syrian Arab RepublicNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
AfricaMaliNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
Central AsiaUzbekistanNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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....
Latin America and CaribbeanColombiaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
AfricaGuineaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
Latin America and CaribbeanDominican RepublicNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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La culture de la préparation du bortsch ukrainien
__Case of extreme urgency__ Ukrainian borscht is a traditional dish that is cooked with broth combined with beetroot, sugar beet or fermented beet juice. There are many versions, and the practice entails the recipe, cooking method and occasion, according to which a certain variety is prepared. Borscht is cooked in a large pan or pot and...
EuropeUkraineNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Le dikopelo, musique traditionnelle des Bakgatla ba Kgafela dans le district de Kgatleng
The Dikopelo music practice involves vocal singing and dancing in a patterned choreography without musical instruments in which people from a particular area join together to sing as a choir. The element is practised by men, women and children but is mostly dominated by Elders who, forming an informal Council of Advisors, transmit their...
AfricaBotswanaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
EuropeRomaniaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
Middle EastArmeniaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
Central AsiaTajikistanNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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La culture de la fabrication et du partage de pain plat Lavash, Katyrma, Jupka, Yufka
The culture of making and sharing flatbread in communities of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey carries social functions that have enabled it to continue as a widely-practised tradition. Making the bread (lavash, katyrma, jupka or yufka) involves at least three people, often family members, with each having a role in...
Global DiasporasAzerbaijan / Iran, Islamic Republic ofNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
AfricaMalawi / MozambiqueNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
Southeast AsiaPhilippinesNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
AfricaNigeriaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
Southeast AsiaIndonesiaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
EuropeDenmarkNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
EuropeIrelandNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
AfricaKenyaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
EuropeFinlandNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
EuropeNorth MacedoniaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
AfricaUgandaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Le Kabary malagasy, art oratoire malagasy
Malagasy kabary is a poeticized speech performed in front of an audience. It is highly structured and consists of proverbs, maxims, rhetorical figures and wordplay. The ritualistic style of speech was originally used by leaders to inform the community about social life and administration. Over time, communities started using it to...
AfricaMadagascarNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
East AsiaChinaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
Latin America and CaribbeanColombia / EcuadorNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
EuropeSpainNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
East AsiaChinaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
Southeast AsiaViet NamNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
AfricaCentral African RepublicNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Les rituels Qālišuyān de Mašhad-e Ardehāl à Kāšān
Qālišuyān rituals are practised in Iran to honour the memory of Soltān Ali, a holy figure among the people of Kāšān and Fin. According to legend, he was martyred, and his body found and carried in a carpet to a stream, where it was washed and buried by the people of Fin and Xāve. Today, Soltān Ali mausoleum is the site of a ritual where...
South AsiaIran, Islamic Republic ofNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
Southeast AsiaCambodiaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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Le seperu, danse populaire et pratiques associées
The Seperu folkdance and associated practices involve singing, dancing and sacred rituals that are highly significant in the lives of Veekuhane community members. Seperu is a celebratory practice performed during ceremonies that mark important milestones in the community members’ lives. In the dance the women form a horseshoe, while...
AfricaBotswanaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
EuropeEstoniaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
EuropeSerbiaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
Southeast AsiaViet NamNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
Southeast AsiaTimor-LesteNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
Middle EastTürkiyeNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
EuropeRomania / Moldova, Republic ofNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
AfricaKenyaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
EuropeIrelandNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
East AsiaKorea, Republic ofNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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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...
East AsiaChinaNot specified in UNESCO dataset
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