One hundred and twenty professionals engaging in intangible cultural asset protection gathered on Nov.10th in Lhasa to go through a week of specialty training. The training targets improvement of their level of work as well as their general ability to perform duties.

The Tibet Autonomous Region Culture Department indicates that this round of training is mainly being executed in a manner that integrates theory and practical investigation methods. The training course is being taught by experts in the field of Tibetan intangible cultural asset preservation as well as by other professionals with rich theoretical skills and practical experience.

The training content encompasses related legislations and projects as well as inheritor preservation and management methods all related to intangible cultural asset protection. The training course also focuses on intangible cultural asset usage management methods, general intangible cultural asset projects and financing as well as inheritor declaration requirements etc.

Ever since the Tibet Autonomous Region began intangible cultural asset survey work in 2006, more than 3,000 people have been involved, with more than 100,000 documentations and 2,000 tapes and discs filled with video recordings and more than 450,000 photographs. The collection of these resources all helped to take a first step to get a clear picture of more than 1,000 intangible cultural asset projects encompassing traditional dance and music, traditional crafts, traditional medicine and folklore etc. The materials include intangible cultural assets from all of the ten major categories.

At present, Tibet has two projects that enter the United Nations Human Intangible Cultural Asset list, that is the Tibetan Opera (Zangxi) and King Gesaer Song.

Li Fangxi, deputy director of Tibet Autonomous Region Culture Department, said that in recent years although Tibet has put a lot of effort into intangible cultural asset projects and has achieved good results, there are still many areas in which there is lacking.

“Although all districts are starting productive protection, meanwhile, the problem of homogenization has arisen. For example, wooden bowl factories can be seen everywhere, and on the contrary the products of other projects can hardly be found anywhere, this has brought about wasteful spending in both the aspects of finance and policy making."

He also said that “Kongpo clothing production in Nyingchi has been doing very well, through use of financial support from aid Tibet program, very good results have been achieved encompassing local manufacture paired with online selling.”

Li Fangxi hoped that the workers from the Intangible Cultural Heritage Preservation Program were able to be innovative and really contribute in the process of preserving the local ethnic culture.