S’wak to look at centre to preserve intangible cultural heritage

0

Abdul Karim (centre) speaks to reporters after officiating at the event. With him are Mesran (left) and Park. — Photo by Chimon Upon

KUCHING: The setting-up of an Intangible Cultural Heritage Centre in Sarawak is the best step towards safeguarding and properly documenting the state’s rich cultural heritage, says Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah.

He says with its multicultural diversity, Sarawak is rich in intangible cultural heritage such as oral traditions and expressions, performing arts, rituals, social practices, festive events, traditional craftsmanship and practices concerning nature; hence the need for preservation.

“Arts and culture form the core of identity for our communities and signify the essence of their existence. These are things that we regard as important for our future generations,” he said when officiating at the opening of 2019 Experts Workshop for Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) Video Production Project in Southeast Asia, at Sarawak Cultural Village here Monday night.

ICH is an initiative under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) aimed at video-recording intangible cultural heritage in Southeast Asian countries.

The workshop, which began Monday and ends tomorrow, is being held in Sarawak for the first time.

Abdul Karim praised the efforts by ICH in helping to properly document Sarawak’s rich cultural heritage and contributing information and materials, saying that the government fully supports the initiative as it helps promote the state’s cultural ties by gathering experts in their respective fields and providing a platform for exchanges of information and ideas.

“We should always treasure our cultural heritage because it keeps our memories alive of how heritage domains have contributed to the development of communities in the world and therefore, we thank ICH for their support and efforts in contributing documented information in the form of videos,” he added.

Abdul Karim also expressed his gratitude to the Department of National Heritage and Persatuan Penggiat Seni dan Kebudayaan Malaysia in helping Sarawak preserve its intangible cultural heritage assets.

Among those present were National Heritage Department commissioner (heritage) Mesran Mohd Yusop; International Information and Networking Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region information and research section chief Park Weon-Mo, and Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry permanent secretary Hii Chang Kee.