Search Results (679)

This study examines the kalif structure, a unique and increasingly invisible component of the rural architecture in the Eastern Black Sea region that is currently under threat of extinction, along with the tradition of kalif-guarding integrated with this structure. Historically constructed to protect agricultural production from wildlife, kalifs are not merely functional shelters but also multi-layered memory objects where collective solidarity and social interaction are reproduced. A qualitative research method was adopted for the study, utilizing literature review, on-site physical documentation, and technical analysis centered on Yücehisar village in the Pazar district of Rize. Within the scope of the research, the material use and construction techniques of kalifs are detailed from an architectural perspective, and these practices are evaluated through the lens of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The findings indicate that the loss of the physical presence of kalifs due to the transition from corn to tea cultivation and rural migration signifies the dissolution of a production-based culture of living. Consequently, the study reveals the critical importance of incorporating the kalif and the act of kalif-guarding into academic literature and cultural memory within the framework of Intangible Cultural Heritage standards to preserve local identity and rural memory. Full article

This study investigates women’s textile knowledge in Portugal as a fundamental element of cultural heritage, situating it within domestic, social, and industrial contexts, with a particular focus on Guimarães. Drawing on a multidisciplinary approach grounded in historical and documentary evidence, it analyses how female expertise in spinning, weaving, embroidery, and lacemaking contributed to the evolution of textile practices from the fifteenth century to the present day. The findings indicate that this knowledge was pivotal to the transformation of domestic textile activities into an emerging industrial sector, shaping both production methods and cultural identity. The study concludes that recognising the historical importance of women’s textile labour is essential for understanding the development of the Portuguese industry. Furthermore, this research underscores the urgency of preserving, transmitting, and legitimising the intangible cultural heritage associated with women’s textile knowledge. It argues that integrating this legacy into contemporary creative and industrial practices can foster cultural sustainability and unlock new possibilities for future innovation, ensuring that this ancestral expertise remains a living pillar of regional identity. Full article

Contemporary studies of religious modernity tend to view faith systems as static traditions that resist secularization. Although it has recently been acknowledged that local religions may be resilient, scholars often overlook the internal creativity of action that enables such faiths to actively navigate secular constraints. To address this gap, this study investigates a shamanistic folk religion, the Moed faith, to answer a critical question: How can a marginalized religious system innovate to survive within a strict secular order without compromising its spiritual principles? This paper proposes Performative Adaptation as a mechanism of religious creativity by combining historical analysis and ethnographic data through the lens of Actor-Network Theory. It argues that the Moed faith reassembles itself as a dynamic ritual-art continuum rather than remaining a fixed entity. The findings reveal that practitioners actively separate ritual form from function, transforming sacred exorcism chants into the secular performing art of Modlaenz to secure Intangible Cultural Heritage status. Furthermore, this adaptation fosters a transnational Pan-Tai spiritual community, turning rigid geopolitical borders into zones of cultural contact. Ultimately, this research challenges the view of religion as merely a repository of tradition, demonstrating that faith systems can actively engage in institutional innovation and identity construction. Full article

Traditional Peruvian cuisine has become a globally recognized experience, but its impact on visitors to the Caral Supe archaeological site—one of the oldest centers of civilization in South America and a UNESCO World Heritage Site—has not been studied. The main objective was to explain the constructs of the perceived authenticity of traditional food, loyalty to traditional food, service quality at traditional restaurants, and tourist satisfaction with visits to archaeological sites, based on the experience economy theory. An explanatory study was conducted using a structural equation modeling approach (PLS-SEM), applied to a sample of 381 tourists who visited the archaeological site and consumed local cuisine at restaurants in the destination of Barranca. The findings confirmed significant relationships among the model’s constructs (p < 0.01). It is suggested that the perception of authenticity of traditional food is a determining factor for loyalty (R² = 0.743) and a driver of satisfaction with the visit to the archaeological site (R² = 0.617), which constitutes the study’s contribution. However, the R² value for the construction of the tourist experience at the destination (R² = 0.301), the model does not fully capture the complexity of experiential processes at this particular heritage destination, which may depend on emotional, cultural, or contextual variables not included in this study. Satisfaction with the visit to the archaeological site is primarily related to staff attentiveness, the quality of guide explanations, and safety. It is concluded that the interplay between satisfaction with the visit to the archaeological site, the perceived authenticity of traditional food, and the quality of service in restaurants is fundamental to enhancing the experience at the heritage destination, thereby positioning traditional food and archaeotourism. It is recommended that the public and private sectors design strategies aimed at generating authentic and sustainable experiences for visitors, strengthening factors such as the destination’s reputation, the positive image of the site, satisfaction with the trip at the destination, and the positive experience. Full article

Background: This research explores the intersection between cultural heritage and mental health, analyzing how heritage mediation acts as a strategic asset in the personal recovery of individuals experiencing mental distress. Methods: A systematic review was conducted across PubMed, PsycINFO (via ProQuest Psychology Collection), Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar for the 2015–2026 period, following PRISMA protocols. The methodological quality of 18 selected studies was evaluated using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). Results: The findings reveal that the efficacy of these practices stems from a symbiotic interaction between tangible and intangible heritage, functioning as an “identity scaffold” that facilitates the transition from a “patient identity” toward a “citizen identity” with biographical authority. Analysis under the CHIME (Conexión—Hope—Identity—Meaning—Empowerment) framework reveals convergent evidence across the Identity dimension, positioning cultural environments as “third spaces” that mitigate self-stigma. Discussion and Conclusions: Recovery is identified as a circular phenomenon requiring the convergence of clinical and cultural scaffolding. This study advocates for a humanized service architecture where therapeutic practices and affective curating coexist, ensuring the right to identity and social justice within community mental health contexts. Full article

Water-related ritual practices constitute a central axis through which many Andean communities articulate cosmology, social organization, and collective identity. This study examines the Fiesta del Agua (Layimama), an ancestral ritual cycle celebrated in the inter-Andean valley of Ticsani (Moquegua, southern Peru), focusing on its symbolic structure, social roles, and implications for water governance and cultural continuity. Using a qualitative, interpretive research design based on documentary analysis of ethnographic, historical, and anthropological sources, the study analyzes how ritual practices surrounding water function as mechanisms of social cohesion, moral regulation, and symbolic management of a shared natural resource. The findings show that the Fiesta del Agua operates as a cyclical system composed of four interrelated stages (preparation, ritual performance, festive redistribution, and communal closure) through which water is sacralized as an axis mundi linking cosmology, agricultural production, and social prestige. Far from being a residual tradition, the festival actively reproduces collective identity, regulates communal access to water, and integrates Andean cosmology with Catholic symbolism through dynamic forms of religious syncretism. The article argues that the ritual management of water in Ticsani represents a culturally embedded governance system whose documentation and protection are essential in contexts of increasing hydrosocial stress and cultural erosion, indicating social, ecological, and political relevance of the findings and contributing to broader debates on human–environment relations, intangible cultural heritage, and the role of ritual in sustaining communal resource management. Full article

This study develops a user-centered decision-support model to facilitate sustainable futures for heritage-based design innovation using Minnan natural incense culture as an empirical case. Minnan natural incense culture faces significant challenges in sustainable transmission due to industrial substitutes, changing lifestyles, and declining engagement among younger generations. Although cultural tourism and creative industries offer revitalization opportunities, existing research lacks a systematic, user-centered framework that translates cognitive mechanisms into actionable design strategies. By integrating the revised theory of planned behavior (RTPB) and the elaboration likelihood model (ELM), a hybrid RTPB–ELM framework is proposed to examine how user cognition, behavioral intention, and contextual design variables influence cultural recognition and decision-making outcomes in sustainability transitions. Based on 179 valid questionnaire responses and structural equation modeling (SmartPLS 3.0), results indicate that both internal perceived behavioral control (β = 0.196, p = 0.019) and external perceived behavioral control (β = 0.195, p = 0.013) significantly affect cultural recognition, with approximately 79–80% of the total effects of incense-related design variables (types, utensils, and usage scenarios) mediated through these control factors. Two distinct user groups—central-route and peripheral-route users—were identified, highlighting differentiated cognitive processing pathways. The findings validate a transferable RTPB–ELM model that links micro-level user cognition to macro-level cultural resilience and heritage innovation. This framework offers practical guidance for adaptive design strategies and supports evidence-based sustainability transitions in intangible cultural heritage contexts. Full article

This article examines how the Ecuadorian national digital press has represented the relationship between criminal violence, declining mobility, tourism contraction, and the erosion of intangible cultural access in Machala, Puerto Bolívar, and the route to Jambelí during 2025. This study aims to explain how mediated representations of insecurity can contribute to the symbolic narrowing of culturally meaningful urban–coastal spaces, even when those spaces remain materially present and formally open. The article responds to a gap in the literature at the intersection of critical heritage studies, media framing, urban fear, and Latin American security studies. The existing research has examined heritage as social practice, media representation of crime, and urban securitization, but has rarely connected these fields to explain how criminal violence erodes lived access to intangible cultural environments in secondary port cities of the Global South. Methodologically, this study applies qualitative content analysis to a purposive corpus of eight focal journalistic texts published in Ecuadorian digital outlets, such as El Universo, El Comercio, Expreso, El Mercurio, Extra, Primicias, GK, and La Hora. Deductive–inductive coding was complemented by descriptive article-level indicators of themes, keyword clusters, and temporal distribution. The findings show that the press did not merely report violent events; it progressively reorganized the symbolic meaning of Machala by re-signifying Puerto Bolívar, the marine environment, the cabotage pier, and the maritime route to Jambelí as spaces of risk, interruption, and conditional access. This study contributes conceptually by defining intangible cultural access and symbolic enclosure, empirically by documenting the mediated erosion of coastal public–cultural life, and practically by proposing integrated policy actions for security governance, cultural reactivation, local commerce, maritime mobility, and responsible public communication. Full article

This research addresses the latent disconnect between citizens and World Heritage sites, analysing how intensive tourism and declarations focused on monuments (1980s–1990s) have created a distance that makes managing these heritage sites very difficult. The main objective is to propose and validate participatory methodologies that restore social bonds and strengthen urban governance. The identified knowledge gap lies in the lack of operational tools that allow the theory of participation to be put into actual practice, overcoming the current methodological void in assessing social and economic impacts. Under the methodology of the WHATS-UP project, an action-research approach is employed that combines ethnographic work, mapping of key actors, and participatory workshops with shared walking tours in the Alhambra and the Alcázar. This data is integrated into Participatory Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) to map social perceptions of values and risks. The results show that, although tourism has led to alienation and gentrification, the participatory process succeeds in rescuing “invisible values”, such as memories and traditional trades, that are absent from official narratives. In conclusion, the study proposes a consensus-based co-management model between institutions and the community, transforming heritage into a resource for urban cohesion and resilience. This integration of methodologies, which combines collective mapping with safeguarding plans, enables progress toward protection strategies that are more effective and better reflect contemporary social realities. Full article

With the ratification of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the safeguarding of intangible cultural practices has been established as a normatively binding framework of international cultural policy. This development has placed the field at the core of contemporary discourses on cultural diversity, sustainable development, and identity revitalization. In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the processes of institutionalizing the protection of intangible heritage unfold under complex conditions of asymmetric constitutional division of competences, normative fragmentation, and functional dispersion of responsibilities, resulting in the absence of a coherent and coordinated cultural policy system. The paper focuses on assessing the potential of integrated and strategically structured management of intangible cultural assets to generate synergistic effects between cultural valorization, local sustainability, and transnational recognition. Methodologically, this study applies a critical, comparative-analytical interpretation of the institutional and legal framework of BiH, with special reference to the position of intangible cultural heritage within strategic policy documents. The analysis of the national register, including elements inscribed on the UNESCO lists, underscores the urgent need for intersectoral and transdisciplinary mechanisms to safeguard and valorize cultural heritage as instruments of cultural policy aimed at strengthening collective identity, fostering cultural tourism, and positioning BiH within the global cultural landscape. Full article

To address the challenge of efficiently and cost-effectively generating images of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) furniture that can adapt to diverse modern spatial contexts for visual communication, this paper proposes and constructs an Generative Artificial Intelligence (AIGC) virtual studio system based on ComfyUI. The system is designed for ICH furniture designers, cultural communicators, and digital preservation practitioners, aiming to overcome the bottlenecks of scene switching encountered in traditional photography and 3D modeling. First, furniture images and user scene descriptions are collected, and a dual lexicon consisting of AI prompts and user prompts is constructed. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is then applied to weight and filter prompt combinations, forming a quantifiable and integrated prompt system. Second, a visual workflow incorporating ControlNet and IPAdapter nodes is built in ComfyUI to enable the transfer of ICH furniture images to various preset spatial scenes. Finally, a Likert-scale comparison is conducted between the experimental group (using AHP-weighted prompts) and the control group (using unweighted prompts). The results show that the experimental group achieves significant improvements in image realism, style consistency, and cultural communication effectiveness. The images generated by this system can be directly used for digital display, e-commerce product pages, design proposals, and cultural archives of ICH furniture. The method is applicable to the context-aware AIGC generation of traditional furniture and home products, provided that a certain amount of image data and a ComfyUI environment are available. This study provides a reusable technical pathway for the modern visual presentation of ICH furniture and offers methodological support and empirical evidence for the integration of AIGC into environmental design. Full article

The contemporary Mencius Shidian Ritual (shidian li, 释奠礼) in Zoucheng City is a recognized Shandong Provincial Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), mainly manifested through the Annual Commemorative Ceremony for the Mother of Mencius and Mencius (jinian mengmu mengzi dadian, 纪念孟母孟子大典). Drawing on participant observation and interviews conducted in Zoucheng area between 2023 and 2025, this research argues that the current ICH practice exemplify contemporary Belief-Folklorism (xinsu zhuyi, 信俗主义). Within this framework, the local pursuit of embodied specialization is constructed through the orthoprax performance for the construction of localism. Specifically, the construction of local heritage memory serves as the organic institutional core of Belief-Folklorism, consisting of two primary mechanisms: the reproduction of historical evidence and ritual performance. Full article

Education in intangible cultural heritage (ICH) skills plays a vital role in cultural transmission and innovation, yet it faces persistent structural tension between the authenticity of regional culture and the standardization of modern educational systems. Drawing on Bourdieu’s field theory, this study examines the dynamic interaction of field, capital, and habitus within intangible cultural heritage skills education in Chinese higher education. Employing an exploratory qualitative single-case study design, the research investigates the ethnic arts curriculum at Southwest Minzu University, with data drawn from documentary evidence, teaching artifacts, and participant observation. The findings reveal a composite educational field structured by the intersection of native cultural, educational institutional, and cultural reproduction fields, within which cultural capital in its embodied, objectified, and institutionalized forms is transformed into symbolic and social capital through teaching practices, creative production, and institutional certification. The study further identifies a practical pathway extending from cultural capital accumulation to symbolic capital acquisition and ultimately to social capital expansion. Notably, the analysis empirically identifies the role of emotional persons—actors whose habitus is shaped by institutionally mandated affective cultivation, as articulated in the university’s formal talent training program—in mediating capital reproduction and habitus formation. This study offers a systematic theoretical framework for understanding the internal operational mechanisms of intangible cultural heritage skills education and provides practical insights for balancing cultural authenticity with educational standardization in the context of globalization. Full article

Against the backdrop of accelerating globalization and industrialization, traditional handicrafts embedded in specific socio-cultural contexts are facing critical challenges, including a decline in inheritors, shrinking market demand, and increasing disconnection from modern lifestyles. Promoting their integration into contemporary society while preserving cultural authenticity and ensuring their sustainable transmission and development has become a key issue in Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) revitalization. This study takes woodcarving in Qianjiang, Hubei Province, China, as a case study to explore transformation pathways for traditional handicrafts in the context of modern consumption. Questionnaire surveys were conducted to examine tourists’ preferences for cultural and creative products, and a user demand framework was constructed based on the three-level emotional model. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) methods were employed to identify key influencing factors and their interrelationships. The results reveal significant differences among target groups in terms of cultural identity, emotional experience, and purchase intention. Based on these findings, a systematic framework of “demand identification–design concept–implementation strategy” is proposed to guide the sustainable design and development of traditional handicraft products. Furthermore, this study explores the integration of traditional craftsmanship with digital production to balance production efficiency and cultural expression. This research contributes to the theoretical development of ICH revitalization and provides practical insights for the cultivation of sustainable cultural and creative industries. Full article

The Real Maestranza de Caballería in Seville features one of the most prominent Spanish bullrings, characterized by a notable architectural design. Its distinctive ovoid geometry resulted from a protracted construction history (1761–1881), during which the floor plan adapted to pre-existing urban structures. Beyond its architectural significance, the sounds perceived within such venues constitute traces of collective memory and form part of an intangible cultural heritage relevant for understanding the sociocultural context of such spaces. This work provides an acoustic characterisation of the bullring through field measurements. Reverberation time and other monaural and binaural descriptors were determined using 3D impulse responses obtained from strategically placed sources and receivers. This analysis is complemented by examining the sound energy distribution of early reflections in the time–frequency domain to define the acoustic signature of the venue, namely the characteristic pattern of early reflections that unequivocally determines its sound response, and identify the provenance of reflections. In the Maestranza, music and silence are hallmarks of its identity, contributing to a complex auditory environment. The results highlight how its geometry and tiered seating create a differentiated sound field, potentially contributing to the preservation of the site as a cultural landmark. Full article