As an important cultural program to commemorate the 14th China Cultural and Natural Heritage Day, the 7th International (Shanghai) Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Forum was held from June 5th to 6th, 2019 successfully in Shanghai.

Guests from all the fields attended the 7th International (Shanghai) Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Forum.

Guided by Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, Shanghai Municipal People's Government Foreign Affairs Office, hosted by Shanghai Creative Industry Association, co-organized by Shanghai Art Collection Museum and Shanghai Art & Design Academy, the 7th International (Shanghai) Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Forum is one of the series events of the 9th International Exhibition of Traditional Fine Arts".

Entitled “Tradition & Innovation: The Inheritance of Intangible Cultural Heritage”, the forum this year focused on the inheritance way of intangible cultural heritage (“ICH” for short in the following text) in the globalized, informationalized and technical times and encouraged participants to share their experience working with ICH and offer insights. 

Many distinguished domestic and overseas leaders, guests, ICH experts, scholars, artists and media agencies took part in the forum, such as Mr. Wang Wei, Inspector of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, Mr. Liu Guangyong, Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government Foreign Affairs Office, Mr. Hao Yong’an, Special Representative, Director of Development Division of Intangible Cultural Heritage Department, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Mohammad Eidi Najafabadi, Head of the Cultural Commission of the Iranian Metropolitan Forum, Ms. Sabah Abdel Razek Saddik, Director General of The Egyptian Museum, Mr. Ebrahim Goshtasbirad, Deputy Mayor of Shiraz of Isfahan, Mr. Radoslav Ragač, General Director - Section of Cultural Heritage in Ministry of Culture, Mr. Ahmed Abdelaziz Mostafa, Consul General of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Shanghai, Ms. Ivana Vala Magátová, Consul General of the Slovak Republic in Shanghai, Mr. Abdelrahman Hassan, Vice Consul General of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Shanghai, Mr. Park Sang Kook, Dean of Korea Cultural Heritage Research Institute, Ms. Petra Hullova, Vice Consul of Consulate General of the Slovak Republic in Shanghai, Mr. Hu Entong, Director of Intangible Cultural Heritage Division of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, Mr. Li Chunping, Director of European and African Affairs Division of Shanghai Municipal People’ s Government Foreign Affairs Office, Mr. Hu Muqing, President of the organizer Shanghai Art Collection Museum, Ms. Li Shuiqing, Executive Director of Museum, Mr. Xu Tao, Party Secretary of Shanghai Art & Design Academy, Ms. Cang Ping, Director of Academy and so on.  

The forum was divided into two sessions, the keynote forum on June 5th and the thematic forum on June 6th.  

Keynote Forum

Site Photo of Keynote Forum

Host: Ms. Cang Ping, Director of Shanghai Art & Design Academy

Introduction of Distinguished Guests by Mr. Hu Muqing, Secretary-General of the Organizing Committee, President of Organizer Shanghai Art Collection Museum

Welcome Speech by Mr. Hao Yong’an, Special Representative, Director of Development Division of Intangible Cultural Heritage Department, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China

Speech by Mr. Wang Wei, Inspector of Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism

Speech by Mr. Mohammad Eidi Najafabadi, Head of the Cultural Commission of the Iranian Metropolitan Forum 

Speech by Mr. Masayuki Imai, Winner of the National Medal of Culture, Member of the Japan Art Academy

Ms. Li Shuiqing, Executive Director of Shanghai Art Collection Museum, Mr. Li Bo, Deputy Director of Shanghai Art & Design Academy and Ms. Xia Ping, Director of Shanghai Municipal Culture & Arts Archives signed the MOU of co-holding “International Tour Exhibition of Chinese Traditional Fine Arts - Bratislava Station”

Ms. Liu Chaoying, President of the Beijing Museums Society

Speech Topic: The Role of Museums in the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage - Taking Some Museums in Beijing as an Example

Ms. Sabah Abdel Razek Saddik, Director of The Egyptian Museum

Speech Topic: The Role of the Egyptian Museum in Inheriting the Egyptian Cultural Heritage

Mr. Park Sang Kook, Dean of Korea Cultural Heritage Research Institute

Speech Topic: The Status Quo of Protection of Korean Intangible Cultural Properties

Mr. Park Sang Kook, Dean of Korea Cultural Heritage Research Institute

Speech Topic: The Status Quo of Protection of Korean Intangible Cultural Properties

Ms. Xia Ping, Director of Shanghai Municipal Culture & Arts Archives

Speech Topic: The Practice of Shanghai Cultural and Art Archives on Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritance 

Mr. Noboru Hata, President of Kyoto Arts and Crafts Artists Association

Speech Topic: Inheritance of Yuzenzome

Ms. Chen Xiumei, Director of Fujian Art Museum and Director of Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center

Speech Topic: Innovation is the Permanent Source of Intangible Cultural Heritage - Innovative Practices of Chinese Peasant Lacquer Painting

Mr. Tahara Gisen, Religious Affairs President of World Cultural Heritage Site, Tenryu-ji

Speech Topic: The Current Situation and Challenges of Japanese Cultural Heritage Protection

Mr. Kyeong Ho Kim, Inheritor of Sutra Transcription Skill, National Intangible Cultural Heritage of South Korea

Speech Topic: Characteristics of Sutra Transcription Art

Mr. Junichi Kobashigawa, President of Okinawa Prefectural Industrial Cooperative Center

Speech Topic: Protective Measures and Effects of Arts and Crafts in Okinawa Prefecture

Thematic Forum

Site Photo of Thematic Forum 

Host: Mr. Tang Tingqiang, Deputy Director of Shanghai Art & Design Academy

Speech by Mr. Hu Muqing, President of the organizer Shanghai Art Collection Museum

Speech by Mr. Xu Tao, Party Secretary of Shanghai Art & Design Academy

Following guests stated their opinions on ICH protection as well: Mr. Wang Hailong, Member of American Anthropological Association, Anthropologist of Columbia University, Mr. Zhong Liansheng, Master of Chinese Arts and Crafts, Mr. Pan Youlong, Director and Professor of Research Center of Intangible Culture, Fuzhou University, Mr. Satoshi Hara, Professor of Arts and Crafts, Kanazawa College of Art, Mr. Chen Anying, Dean and Associate Professor of Art History, Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University, Mr. Lou Zhuangdong, Director of the Capital Beijing Opera fiddle Art Research Association, Beijing Opera Fiddle Collector, Mr. Sung Jae Choi, Director of the Graduate School of Korea University of Cultural Heritage, Ms. Hyun Sook Chang, Associate professor of Traditional Arts and Crafts, Korea University of Traditional Culture, Ms. Zhang Fan, Teacher of Central Academy of Fine Arts, jewelry designer, Mr. Zhao Picheng, Leader and Professor of Jade Carving in Shanghai Art & Design Academy, Shanghai Master of Arts and Crafts and Inheritor of Intangible Cultural Heritage Shanghai-Style Jade Carving, etc.  

Experts from different countries stated their opinions.

The forum culminated in two panel discussions brought by Iranian and Japanese guests. The first discussion entitled “The Everlasting Persian Civilization - Iran's Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Experience” was hosted by Mr. Hossein Bordbar, CEO of Bordbar Art Foundation and joined by Mr. Mahdi Tamizi, Director of the Isfahan Museum of Contemporary Art and Mr. Ali Asghar Tajvidi, remarkable miniature artist from Iran, while the second discussion entitled “The Millennium Capital: The Inheritance Experience of Kyoto's Intangible Cultural Heritage” was hosted by Mr. Makimasa Imai, Vice President of the Kyoto Arts and Crafts Artists Association, Guest Lecturer of the Arts Department of Hiroshima Municipal University, joined by Zengoro Eiraku, Vice President of the Kyoto Arts and Crafts Artists Association, the 10th Generation of Japanese Ceramics Family, Mr. Hiroyuki Imai, Member of Kyoto Arts and Crafts Artists Association, Metal Artist, Ms. Toki Hata, Member of Kyoto Arts and Crafts Artists Association, Dyeing Artist, Mr. Masao Kusakabe, Director of Kyoto Arts and Crafts Artists Association, Professor of Kyoto City University of Arts, Mr. Masaru Nishikawa and Mr. Naoyuki Takeda, Members of Kyoto Arts and Crafts Artists Association, Ceramics Artists.

Panel discussion entitled “The Everlasting Persian Civilization - Iran's Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Experience”

Panel discussion entitled “The Millennium Capital: The Inheritance Experience of Kyoto's Intangible Cultural Heritage”

More than 200 guests such as Mr. Oleg Pinchuk, National Artist of Ukraine, Senior Adviser of Ministry of Culture, Ms. Leshchova Valeriia, Creative Director of Ukranian Silk Art, Mr. Daniel Wang, the USA Jewelry designer, Ms. Niu Jinjin, Deputy Director of Shanghai Art Collection Museum, Mr. Zhang Liyong and Mr. Jiang Ming, Senior Advisers of Shanghai Art Collection Museum, Mr. Yang Bo, Mr. Tang Tingqiang and Mr. Li Bo, Deputy Directors of Shanghai Art & Design Academy, Ms. Zhang Huali, Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Culture & Arts Archives, representatives of district ICH divisions of Culture and Tourism Bureaus, ICH organizations and individual experts from more than 10 countries attended the forum as well. 

According to the introduction of Mr. Hu Muqing, Secretary General of the Organizing Committee, the 7th International (Shanghai) Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Forum involved by a lot of distinguished leaders and guests is an upgrade and improvement on the basic of the experience of the 1st to 6th session. The participants covered 4 continents and 16 countries. By cultural communications along “The Belt & Road”,  especially by the experience exchanges in the ICH protection field, the Organizing Committee hopes to vigorously promote and inherit the outstanding cultural tradition and human values from all around the world, to enhance the ICH protection cooperation of the sister cities of Shanghai and lay a foundation for building “The Network of ICH Protection Organizations from the Sister Cities of Shanghai along the ‘Belt and Road’” in the near future.  

Participating experts from different countries spoke highly of the forum. According to the opinions of experts from China, Japan, South Korea, Iran, Slovak Republic, Egypt, the United States, etc., they have learned a lot from the forum. They also quite look forward to the establishment of the network.