A Conversation about Approaches to Intangible Cultural Heritage in Turkey and China

June 14, 2019
19.00–20.30
Event is free, but registration is required through eventbrite

Yunus Emre Institute in London, 10 Maple Street, W1T 5HA, London, UK

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This event is a part of Arts & Culture Lecture Series organised by the Yunus Emre Institute in London.

Olcay Muslu Gardner discusses the interrelated parameters of intangible cultural heritage and the actors which play a role in the sustainability of music in Şanlıurfa, Turkey. This study is based on fieldwork which began in 1998, and a more in-depth analysis which was conducted between 2012–2019 in western Anatolia and south-east Turkey. She focuses on traditional sıra-sohbet meetings, which were accepted by UNESCO as examples of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2010, and illustrates the dynamics which affect both their continuity and discontinuity.

Based on long-term fieldwork in Xinjiang (East Turkestan), and experience as an external evaluator for UNESCO, Rachel Harris discusses the nomination of the Uyghur Meshrep by China in 2009, and the role this item of heritage has played in the recent “anti-religious extremism” campaigns in Xinjiang. She reflects on the possibilities for alternative approaches to revitalising meshrep based on her current collaborative project in Kazakhstan.