SAARC nations need shared database on heritage

New Delhi, Sep 27: SAARC nations should own a shared database on the intangible cultural heritage (ICH) of South Asia so as to locate the region’s cultural components, pool them onto a platform and facilitate their exchange between people and transmission down generations, a seminar noted today.

Community participation is one key to such an initiative, but it would require an atmosphere where the youth is encouraged to carry on hereditary knowledge and skills, speakers at the workshop in the capital on ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Context of SAARC’ pointed out.

Opening Procesion_SAARC Cultural Festival
on Traditional Dances of South Asia

Organised by Colombo-based SAARC Cultural Centre (SCC) in collaboration with Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) here as part of an ongoing SAARC Cultural Festival on Traditional Dances of South Asia which began Friday evening, the day-long deliberations which also saw demonstration of three performing arts, the delegates also called for developing arts and crafts hubs besides heritage tourism spots across South Asia.

Art scholar Dr Sudha Gopalakrishnan, while speaking on ‘Safeguarding ICH’ at SNA’s Rabindra Bhavan complex, emphasized that heritage could not be treated as a static concept, and that its documentation thus merited constant update and linkage to the contemporary world.

“While it is a difficult process to establish normative procedures for tangible heritage, it is much more complex to take action on the intangible because of its ‘living’ and intractable nature, diversity in areas of manifestation and legal ramifications,” she said at the forenoon session that was preceded by a demonstration of eastern India’s Seraikella Chhau (Shashadhar Acharya) and followed by Sri Lankan dances besides Koodiyattam presentation (Sangeeth Chakyar) from Kerala in the afternoon.

SAARC Culture Centre Director Dr Sanjay Garg revealed that the Third Meeting of SAARC Ministers of Culture held earlier this week had decided to establish a SAARC Heritage Committee. The proposed body’s tasks would be to identify monuments and cultural landscapes besides document and share knowledge.

“SAARC agenda on ICH needs to be revisited,” he added, after Dr Gopalakrishnan said the eight-nation initiative needed to give a clearer definition to ICH, identify its domains and muster online inventory besides support individual artistes and organize exchange programmes that also involved experts.

SSC Director GLW Samarasinghe and SNA Secretary Helen Acharya also spoke.

At the interactive session, veteran theatre-person M K Raina cautioned that revitalization of the arts had its flip side if their updating is done without respect for the past.

Former Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Neville Kanakeratne revealed that Colombo and New Delhi signed an accord this week to initiate joint documentation of the Buddhist spot of Kalinga in Orissa.

The three-day festival began on Friday evening with the staging of traditional dances of SAARC nations. The two-hour programmes saw the presentation of Mili Atan and Karsak recitals from Afghanistan, bottle dance and Jhoom from Bangaldesh, welcome songs of Bhutan, Manjushree dance and Bhairav Kali dance of Nepal and Kandyan dance from Sri Lanka besides Chhau dances (Seraikella and Purulia), Dhol Cholam (Manipur) and Kathakali (Kerala), from India.

The festival will conclude on Sunday evening amid cultural programmes after awarding of certificates to the participating 105 artistes.

Traditional Dances of South Asia - Afghanistan - Karsak

Traditional Dances of South Asia - Bhutan - Welcome Song

Traditional Dances of South Asia - Bangladesh - Bottle Dance

Traditional Dances of South Asia - India_Dhol Cholam

Traditional Dances of South Asia - India_Kathakali

Traditional Dances of South Asia - India_Purulia Chhau

Traditional Dances of South Asia - India_Saraikela Chhau

Traditional Dances of South Asia - Nepal_Bhairav Kali 

Traditional Dances of South Asia - Sri Lanka_Ves