World Forum for intangible Cultural Heritage

Dr. Richard Kurin is the Smithsonian’s Distinguished Scholar and Ambassador-at-Large, having previously served as Under Secretary overseeing all its national museums and research and educational centers and before that as Director of its Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. He worked with UNE..

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H.E. Ms. Sang Mee BAK is an Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea to UNESCO. She holds a doctor’s and master’s degrees in Anthropology from Harvard University. Having dedicated more than two decades to teaching Cultural Anthropology at Hankuk University of Foreign S..

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Hahm Hanhee is director of the Center for Intangible Culture Studies which is a consulting body of NGO accredited by UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage section. She is professor emeritus at Jeonbuk National University. She is now involved in several research projects regarding the safeguarding of i..

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Cristina Amescua Chávez is a social anthropologist and member of the faculty of the National University of Mexico’s as a professor and researcher. In 2019 she coordinated for UNESCO the International Survey and Report on Alternate, Lighter ways of Sharing Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding E..

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Vanessa Achilles is an independent researcher. She has been an advisor on several projects related to integrating ICH in schools in Europe and Asia and has authored several publications. Her research interests focus on the linkages between ICH and education, ICH and development, and ICH in cities. S..

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Benedetta Ubertazzi is a partner at the law firm Studio Ubertazzi and a full-tenured associate professor of European Union Law and International Law at Milano-Bicocca University. Since 2010, Benedetta has been a legal expert and program/policy evaluator for major national, international, and regiona..

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Tamara Richardson is Vice-Chair of the Art & Cultural Heritage Crimes Subcommittee of the EU Centre of Excellence, ‘EPPO and EU Law’ at the University of Milan-Bicocca, and is one of UNESCO Germany’s Young Experts for Fair Culture. Prior to qualifying in law, Tamara founded youth organisation, PA..

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Tomo Ishimura is the Director of the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties. He completed a doctoral course at the Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, and earned a PhD as a specialist in archaeology. He engaged in international..

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Mr. Hyeong Bin Park has worked in various positions in CHA since 1998, including division of Archaeology, division of Research Planning, National Intangible Cultural Heritage Centre. In 2015, he was transferred to the newly established department of World Heritage. He was in charge of project relate..

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Amareswar Galla, an alumnus of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, was formerly a professor in museum studies at the University of Queensland and prior to that in sustainable heritage development at the Australian National University. He taught full courses on Intangible Heritage using Web CT and Black..

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Moe Chiba has been the Chief of the Culture Unit at the UNESCO Jakarta Office for Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Timor Leste since 2018. She joined UNESCO Headquarters in 2000 and began her career in the Division of two of Creative Industry and in the Division of Cultural P..

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Frank Proschan is an anthropologist and folklorist who has worked for decades with colleagues in throughout Southeast Asia in collaborative research on languages, folklore, and ethnology and building capacities for safeguarding intangible cultural heritage and for museum development. He began his pr..

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Alexandra Denes (Ph.D. Cornell 2006) is a cultural anthropologist interested in ethnic identity, visual culture, gender, ritual practice, and critical heritage studies, with a focus on mainland Southeast Asia. For the past two decades, her research has focused on how the concepts and instruments of ..

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Jorijn Neyrinck is a comparative anthropologist. She’s the coordinator of the UNESCO-accredited NGO ‘Workshop Intangible Heritage’ in Belgium. Working for the living heritage field across the Flemish region, Jorijn’s vocation consists of developing contemporary and participatory living heritage ..

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Geon Soo Han studied anthropology at Seoul National University (BA) and the University of California at Berkeley (MA and PhD). He is a professor in the Department of Cultural Anthropology, at Kangwon National University. He served as the president of the Korean Family Studies Association, the Korean..

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Duong Bich Hanh joined the UNESCO Office in Beijing in August 2022 to manage the UNESCO culture program in East Asian cluster countries. Prior to this, she spent thirteen years at the UNESCO Ha Noi and Bangkok Offices, supporting the Mekong cluster countries to implement UNESCO’s six cultural conve..

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Melissa Tan joined the National Heritage Board in December 2022. Her team partners with a wide range of public and non-government organizations to promote, develop, research and document Singapore’s built heritage, intangible cultural heritage, and archaeology. Prior to the NHB, she was with the Re..

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Kim Yonggu graduated from the Department of Sociology at Sungkyunkwan University, obtained a master’s degree in Buddhist Art and Culture from Dongguk University, and received a PhD in Archaeology and Anthropology from Jeonbuk National University. He currently works as the Director of Promotion and ..

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Montakarn Suvanatap Kittipaisalsilp is an associate project officer of the Culture Unit at the UNESCO Bangkok Office. She is educated in linguistics, museology, and cultural project development. At UNESCO Bangkok, she is responsible for implementing national and regional capacity-building projects o..

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Noy Phanthanith graduated from a technical and vocational school in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR, and trained in local hospitality and tourism business. He is an heir to a pottery shop in Ban Chan Nuea Village, where he gained firsthand skills in traditional pottery making. He took part in pivoting their ..

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Nawarat Welployngam (Nammon) is a Thai artist, project director, community leader and networker, cook, and collector. She is interested in how art and culture can be used as tools for community mobilization and development. She is the founder of E-Lerng Artists Collective, a non-profit organization ..

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Nutdanai Trakansuphakon is an indigenous youth in Thailand (Pgakenyaw Tribe). Now, he actively runs social enterprises and uses Pgakenyaw traditional knowledge to adapt into his work. He is also the co-founder and owner of Little Farm in Big Forest (Pgakenyaw Community Brand in NTFPs) and the Head o..

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NAHYEON KIM is currently on the course of intangible heritage in the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage and takes responsibility of ICH Youth Network launched in 2020. Since September 2022, she has organized and conducted a project to interview ICH majors and non-majors and produce video..

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Dr. Rustam Muzafarov, the Vice Chairman of Kazakhstan ICH Committee, joined the National Committee in 2012 upon its launching. He convened the Technical Experts Group and played an important role in the ICH National Committee to strengthen and implement its initial activities. He has led the design ..

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Augusto Salsinha works at the Timor-Leste National Commission for UNESCO in the culture coordinator division. Prior to this he led the culture department and worked on an education project led by the Ministry of Education Timor-Leste from 2013 to 2018. He has been the culture coordinator for the Tim..

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Yeshi Lhendup, Senior Research Librarian, works at the National Library & Archives of Bhutan (NLAB) and is a graduate of the College of Language of Cultural Studies, Simtokha, Thimphu, Bhutan. He joined the NLAB in 2007. In his sixteen years of service, he has undergone various trainings in library ..

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Changhyun Oh is a professor of the department of archaeology and cultural anthropology in Mokpo National University and has been researching folklife of rural communities in Korea and Japan as a cultural anthropologist and folkorist. Having worked in the National Folk Museum of Korea, he organized t..

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Ms. Kamila Kenzhetaeva is a Culture Programme Specialist at the National Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic for UNESCO. She is responsible for implementing UNESCO culture conventions and programs, including the 2003 Convention. Established in 1992, the National Commission works in the field of educat..

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Anasa Kubu Tawake is currently the Acting Manager for the iTaukei Institute of Language and Culture, under the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs (iTaukei refers to the indigenous people of the Fiji Islands). Anasa Tawake graduated from the University of the South Pacific with the Bachelor of Arts in Pacif..

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Kim Sam-Ki has served at institutions including the National Folk Museum of Korea, the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, and the Cultural Heritage Administration, conducting cultural heritage research and studies, alongside administrative tasks. At present, as a member of the Intangi..

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