Spotlight on diversity and beauty of world heritage

Models parading the Songket fabric at the Living Arts Cultural Festival at Matic, Kuala Lumpur. — Photos: AZMAN GHANI/The Star

THANKS to technology, the intangible heritage of multiple nations were featured during Living Arts Cultural Festival (LACF) 2022 in a three-day event that took place in live, virtual and hybrid formats.

The LACF brought together arts that have been recognised by Unesco.

Twenty forms of intangible cultural heritage from China, Indonesia, Japan, India, Argentina and Malaysia were promoted during the festival from Nov 4 to 6 at Dewan Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia Tourism Centre (Matic), Kuala Lumpur.

It was organised by Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry and the National Culture and Arts Department (JKKN).

Among the interesting performances was by the 19th Pencak Silat world championship winner, Merrywati Manuil of Malaysia.

“There were different implementations in 2018, 2019 and 2021,” said ministry deputy chief secretary of management, Norazman Othman.

“This year’s LACF is being held in a hybrid manner, whereby a part of the programme can be viewed online through the JKKN official Facebook TV fan page.

“The diversity and beauty of local and international traditional arts and cultures gathered at LACF 2022 is a golden opportunity to promote arts that have been recognised by Unesco, some of which are rarely accessible by the public.

“Efforts to preserve this world heritage were made possible with cooperation from embassies and high commissions in Malaysia, which are the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, Republic of Argentina, High Commission of India, Republic of Indonesia and Embassy of Japan.

“The involvement of foreign participants is a starting point in strengthening friendship and strategic cooperation, thus promoting the uniqueness of each country’s culture,” Norazman added.

This year, six Unesco-recognised art forms were showcased, namely Silat, Songket, Tango, Kunqu Chinese Opera, Longquan Celadon (a Chinese ceramic) and Kumiodori (a Japanese music-dance performance).

Under the National Heritage list were Sewang (an Orang Asli ritual dance), Gamelan (percussion), Bhangra (dance), khat calligraphy, Dikir Barat and Wayang Kulit.

Other arts highlighted during the festival were Silat Dalam Talam (Malay traditional martial art), Rejang traditional poetry, Bungkau (a musical instrument from Sabah), Ajat Indai Abau (Iban traditional dance), Pol Kaal Kuthurai (a dance from India), Gambus (a Malay lute), Dikir Laba (a performance art of Kelantan), Terinai Ketam Bawa Anak (a dance from Perlis), Perang Manggung Gamelan (a Malay traditional dance), Kalaripayattu (a traditional martial art from India) and the Javanese classical dance.

In addition to the performances, a special documentary Longquan Celadon was screened in collaboration with China’s Zhejiang provincial department of culture and tourism.

There were also various programmes such as a calligraphy workshop, Chinese opera workshop, classical Javanese dance workshop, documentaries on traditional players and conversational programmes conducted by Persatuan Penggiat Pelancongan Senibudaya Warisan Kraf Negeri Selangor (Pesta), Pusaka and Malaysia Han Culture.

The book The Beauty of Malaysian Songket written by Prof Dr Norwani Md Nawawi was also launched at the event.

Songket was listed under the representative list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2021.

JKKN also held activities such as the original Malay song competition, a traditional Rampaian dance competition and a cooking competition.

Visitors were given the chance to learn about traditional cuisine though a programme by the National Heritage Department.