Symposium on Intangible Heritage in Multicultural Urban Cities

The second edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Symposium organised by the National Heritage Board of Singapore will take place on 30-31 October 2019 at the Asian Civilisations Museum, an ASEMUS member. Entitled “Intangible Cultural Heritage in Cities: Multiculturalism, Social Cohesion and Sustainability”, the symposium explores the roles of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in multicultural cosmopolitan societies especially in terms of promoting community identity and fostering inter-cultural understanding and appreciation amongst diverse communities. Coupled with the increased globalisation and movement of people, cities are sites of rich and diverse ICH. In such dense urban environments, ICH can be a resource to foster social cohesion and facilitate dialogue among communities. At the same time, the rapid rate of urbanisation and development observed in cities around the world poses challenges to the safeguarding of ICH. In this context, the objectives of the ICH symposium are to promote the sharing of international best practices in safeguarding and promoting ICH in cities, to facilitate networking and relationship building among ICH experts from different parts of the world, and to contribute to capacity building in the field of ICH in Singapore and the wider region. The symposium will feature international and local speakers, including ICH experts, academics, researchers and cultural practitioners. It will explore the themes of ICH in cities, including the issues and challenges relating to research and documentation of ICH in multicultural and/or urban context; the role of ICH in sustainable development; as well as the ICH frameworks, policies and initiatives that can encourage and empower communities to play a role in the safeguarding and transmission of ICH. Among those who will be attending the symposium are ICH experts and researchers from UNESCO, ICHCAP, Slovakia, Jamaica, Italy, Malaysia, France, Thailand, the Netherlands, and Singapore. For additional information about the 2019 Intangible Cultural Heritage Symposium, please visit https://www.ichsymposium2019.sg/