No want for blows in martial arts row

Khmer conventional martial arts, or “Kun Lbokator”, was amongst this yr’s 22 new inscriptions to Unesco’s Consultant Checklist of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (ICH), as introduced on the seventeenth session of the Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage, which was convened from Nov 28 to Dec 3 2022, in Rabat, Morocco.

Different 2022 inscriptions to the Checklist embody artisanal know-how and the tradition of baguette bread from France; conventional tea processing methods and related social practices in China; Furyu-odori ritual dances from Japan; and practices of Holy Week in Guatemala.

Whereas this information has been acquired by the worldwide public with enthusiasm, new inscriptions don’t at all times escape regional controversy. Certainly, cultural practices from carefully neighbouring nations can share fascinating, cross-border histories, main some impassioned observers on one aspect of the fence to query the historic and up to date standing of one other nation’s intangible cultural practices.

To evaluate by a lot current Thai social media commentary, such was the case with Cambodia’s profitable Unesco inscription this yr of Khmer martial arts, or “Kun Lbokator”.

Relatively than evoking a way of regional satisfaction and transnational appreciation, the truth that a cultural apply from a neighbouring nation had been included this yr within the record provoked a maelstrom on Thai social media. Netizens stated Kun Lbokator imitated Thailand’s wai kru ritual, and yang sam khum footwork, as practised in Muay Thai, as heroically portrayed within the 2003 Thai hit movie, Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior.

Some Thai netizens remarked that the Unesco inscription distorted the reality relating to the antecedence or supposed superiority of 1 martial artwork apply over one other. Others complained that the inscription represented a deliberate assault by one nation on its neighbour, utilizing the worldwide stage as leverage to wage psychological warfare.

That any side of cultural heritage ought to evoke such passions warrants a measure of appreciation, and in that regard, Unesco heartily welcomes all public responses. However allow us to contemplate the context and the aim of being included on the Unesco Consultant Checklist of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity earlier than arriving at such acrimonious conclusions.

Yearly, round November to December, Unesco headquarters in Paris convenes a session of its Intergovernmental Committee (IGC) to carry out its duties based on the 2003 Conference for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

The IGC includes delegates from 24 out of the 175 state events that ratified this conference. Members to the committee are elected each 4 years on a rotational foundation, such that every state get together can perform its work based on authorized obligations to the 2003 conference and focus on programmes for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, in addition to overview varied worldwide cooperation initiatives.

As a state get together to the conference, Thailand adopted its personal Promotion and Conservation of Intangible Cultural Heritage Act in 2016.

The merchandise on the IGC assembly agenda that usually receives probably the most consideration is the committee’s examination of nominations from totally different nations for inscription to one in all three potential Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists: the Consultant Checklist of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity; the Checklist of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Want of Pressing Safeguarding; and the Register of Good Safeguarding Practices.

The general public is commonly most captivated by the Consultant Checklist of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, generally mistaken for the Unesco World Heritage Checklist.

The vast majority of nominations from varied nations are directed for attainable inclusion on the Consultant Checklist, as Unesco’s goal is to foster appreciation for the lasting significance of every intangible cultural heritage to the local people that inherits it, quite than that neighborhood’s benefiting by elevated tourism or by boosting the nationwide picture for political functions.

Notably, among the many numerous opinions expressed on-line relating to this specific inscription, there have been makes an attempt by many Thai commentators to clarify to those that had been upset by the achievement that the aim of the inscription to Unesco’s record was to allow a nation to share its success story in selling its cultural heritage, and to foster larger appreciation and curiosity amongst different nations in order to make sure the survival of the treasured cultural heritage by elevated international recognition.

What some folks could overlook is the truth that, within the historic timeline, many sorts of cultural heritage got here into existence and flourished nicely earlier than the rise of nation-states on this area, the latter which occurred in comparatively current occasions. On this regard, the official description of “Kun Lbokator” on the Unesco web site characterises it as a martial artwork that shares similarities with Muay Thai and Muay Laos, which is neither uncommon nor inaccurate.

Such artwork varieties have, in any case, been bequeathed to us from historical kingdoms that intermingled totally different ethnicities and nurtured cultural exchanges all through the area for hundreds of years, resulting in the various “syncretic” beliefs and practices we observe in up to date South-East Asia. Is it not attainable for us to collectively take satisfaction in how numerous peoples within the land of Suvarnabhumi share shut cultural ties that modern-day geo-political borders can not sever?

It’s equally notable that the title of this inscription to Unesco’s record is “Kun Lbokator, conventional martial arts in Cambodia.” Cambodia opted to make use of the phrase “in” quite than “of” to be able to convey that the sort of conventional martial arts could also be practised by folks of any nation, and due to this fact it might seem throughout the borders of any nation.

The inscription doesn’t deprive folks belonging to different nations or communities of the suitable to determine with, study, share, or transmit this heritage. Furthermore, being added to Unesco’s Consultant Checklist shouldn’t be equal to making use of for mental property rights (IPR) or “geographical indication” (GI).

If it’d make those that are nonetheless in a combative temper really feel any higher, the Division of Cultural Promotion, below the Ministry of Tradition, intends to appoint Muay Thai for inscription to Unesco’s record in coming years.

The essential step within the nomination course of is to show that the nation has a transparent plan in place to advertise and propagate any nominated inscription extensively, such that everybody will be capable of take part within the apply with out its being appropriated by or exploited for the good thing about any specific group.

Thailand has already made it to the identical Unesco record a number of occasions, most lately with Nora simply final yr, in addition to Nuad Thai (2019) and Khon (2018). As for the long run, Thailand’s Songkran Competition is slated for Unesco’s overview as quickly as 2023, together with mango sticky rice, which Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha urged for inclusion on the record after 20 year-old Thai rapper “Milli” (Danupha Khanatheerakul) created a sensation by consuming mango sticky rice throughout her efficiency at Coachella 2022 in California. Could all of us take consolation in that there’s little cause for Thais to really feel slighted by one other folks’s achievement!