Working Group Case Studies

In addition to classroom lectures and discussions, an important part of the ICH and Museums Field School was the field practicum. The practicum gave participants an opportunity to engage directly with four communities in Lamphun province: Camadevi Monastery Museum, Ton Kaew Monastery Museum, Pratupa Monastery, and Luk Village Senior Association.

Starting on the 4^th day of the Field School, participants were assigned to one of four working groups comprised of 4-5 participants. The working groups had a total of seven fieldwork sessions with their assigned sites. For each fieldwork session, the participants met with community members to apply tools and concepts from morning lectures.

• Day 1: Meet with members of the community to learn history and general background of the community
• Day 2: Meet with community members to undertake an inventory of ICH and select an element of ICH for the final projectDay 3: Meet with community members to undertake research and documentation of selected element of ICH
• Day 4: Meet with community members to discuss cultural rights issues and develop plan for preservation and protection of element of ICH
• Day 5: Meet with community members, including schools and local media, to discuss plan for promotion, transmission and revitalization of element of ICH through education and outreach
• Day 6: Meet with community members to discuss further plans for promotion, transmission and revitalization of selected element of ICH
• Day 7: Final group work

The objective of the working group practicum was to develop a recommended plan for activities (exhibit, educational activities, research & documentation, digital archives) aimed at safeguarding one element of local intangible cultural heritage. In addition, each of the groups had to produce and English and Thai language brochure featuring the element of ICH for distribution to the participating communities.