This document defines intangible cultural heritage and outlines its main characteristics and components. It discusses five main art forms of intangible cultural heritage: 1) oral traditions and expressions like myths, folktales, languages and chants; 2) performing arts such as music, dance and theater; 3) social practices, rituals and festive events that structure community life; 4) knowledge and practices concerning nature; and 5) traditional craftsmanship. Examples are provided for each category, such as folk dances, healing systems, and textile weaving. Mappers are told to document intangible heritage with videos, photos, and other materials.

1. Cultural Mapping:
INTANGIBLE Art Forms
Lesson 5: WHAT ARE THE ART FORMS OF MY COMMUNITY?

2. Intangible Cultural Heritage
UNESCO defines Intangible Cultural Heritage as the practices, representations,
expressions, as well as the knowledge and skills (including instruments, objects,
artefacts, cultural spaces), that most of the communities, groups, and , in some
cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage.

3. Characteristics of Intangible Cultural Heritage
The main component concept of the ICH is its being INTANGIBLE.
- Incapable of being perceived by the sense of touch, as in
corporeal or immaterial; impalpable;
- Not made of physical substance; not able to be touched;
- Inanimate concpets that cannot be touched, such as language,
thoughts, beliefs, processes, values, systems, patterns, and the likes.

4. 01
Oral Traditions
and
Expressions
02
Performing Arts
ART FORMS
03
Social
Practices,
Rituals, and
Festive Events
Knowledge and
Practices
concerning
Nature and
Universe
Traditional
Craftsmanship
04 05

5. 01
-the cultural knowledge and
information that has been
passed down through speech
from one generation to the next.
Tradition means something that is
handed down from generation to
generation.
Oral Traditions and
Expressions

6. Examples of Oral Traditions and Expressions
Origin Myths and Epics
Folktales, legends, riddles
Poetic Jousts or debates
(Balagtasan/balak)
Languages
Chants

7. Example of Oral Traditions and Expressions

8. Cultural Mapping:
INTANGIBLE Art Forms
Lesson 5: WHAT ARE THE ART FORMS OF MY COMMUNITY?

9. 02
- range from vocal and instrumental
music, dance and theatre to pantomime,
sung verse and beyond.
- They include numerous cultural
expressions that reflect human
creativity and that are also found, to
some extent, in many other intangible
cultural heritage domains.
Performing Arts

10. Examples of Performing Arts
Instrumental Music
Vocal Music
Folk and Ethic Dances
Traditional Drama

11. Example of Performing Arts Sagayan
Philippine war dance performed by
both the Maguindanao and
Maranao depicting in dramatic
fashion the steps their hero, Prince
Bantugan, took upon wearing his
armaments, the war he fought in
and his subsequent victory
afterwards. Performers, depicting
fierce warriors would carry shield
with shell noisemakers in one hand
and double-bladed sword in the
other attempting rolling
movements to defend their master.

12. 03
- are habitual activities that structure the lives of
communities and groups and that are shared by
and relevant to many of their members. They are
significant because they reaffirm the identity of
those who practice them as a group or a society
and, whether performed in public or private, are
closely linked to important events.
Social Practices,
Rituals, and Festive
Events

13. Examples of Social Practices, Rituals, and
Festive Events
• Fiestas
• Holy Week Paraliturgical rites
• Folk Customs in the Catholic Regions
• Life Cycle Rituals
• Subanen Wedding

14. Example of Festive Event

15. Cultural Mapping:
INTANGIBLE Art Forms
Lesson 5: WHAT ARE THE ART FORMS OF MY COMMUNITY?

16. 04
- includes knowledge, knowhow, skills, practices and
representations developed by communities by interacting
with the natural environment
- these ways of thinking about the universe are expressed
through language, oral traditions, feelings of attachment
towards a place, memories, spirituality and worldview
- they also strongly influence values and beliefs and
underlie many social practices and cultural traditions
- they, in turn, are shaped by the natural environment and
the community’s wider world
Knowledge and Practices
concerning Nature and
the Universe

17. Examples of Knowledge and practices
concerning nature and the universe
• traditional ecological wisdom
• indigenous knowledge
• knowledge about local fauna and flora
• traditional healing systems
• rituals, beliefs, initiatory rites
• cosmologies
• Shamanism
• possession rites

18. Example of Traditional Healing System

19. 05
- the most tangible manifestation of intangible
cultural heritage
- mainly concerned with the skills and knowledge
involved in craftsmanship rather than the craft
products themselves
- rather than focusing on preserving craft objects,
safeguarding attempts should instead
concentrate on encouraging artisans to continue
to produce craft and to pass their skills and
knowledge onto others, particularly within their
own communities
Traditional Craftmanship

20. Examples of Traditional Craftmanship
• Basket Weaving
• Mat Weaving
• Textile Weaving
• Sculptures, Jewelry and Carvings
on Silver, Bronze, Brass, wood

21. Example of Textile Weaving

22. NOTE:
When documenting an intangible cultural heritage, the
mapper must provide all or any of the following supporting
documentation:
• Video and audio recordings
• Photographs and sketches
• Others