About the Project
The Documentation Project
The “Documentation of Children’s Traditional Games in the Asia-Pacific Region” project is undertaken in the spirit of the 2003 Convention, which requires the States Parties to take effective actions in fostering “scientific, technical and artistic studies, as well as research methodologies” to ensure the safeguarding, development and promotion of intangible cultural heritage.
The main objectives of the project are as follows:
- To encourage experts, scholars and educators to document and revitalize children’s traditional games;
- To reinforce the awareness of the significance of safeguarding children’s traditional games through the documentation processes to be undertaken by the country partners; and
- To promote information sharing and permit future comparative studies among experts, scholars and educators on the basis of the documentation work of the project.
The project undertook documentation of traditional children’s games of 14 different ethnic groups in five locations in four different countries in Southeast Asia as follows:
- Greater Phnom Penh area, Cambodia
- Greater Luang Prabang area, Lao PDR
- Greater Penang area, Malaysia
- Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son Provinces, northern Thailand
- Greater Bangkok area, Thailand
The selected research sites encompassed a range of diversity in terms of cultures, ethnic groups, socio-economic statuses, and development settings (urban vs rural). At the same time, given their proximity, these sites also provide the possibility for exchanges of cultural influence to be manifested through the games.
