The First International Photography competition ofTehran ICH Centre
Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Context
Introduction
Regional Research Centre for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in West andCentral Asia, Under the Auspices of UNESCO (Tehran ICH Centre) tries to achieve thefollowing goals and fulfilling assigned duties in the region:-to promote the 2003 Convention (for the Safeguarding of the Intangible CulturalHeritage) and its implementation in West and Central Asia,-to promote public awareness and expert capacities in the field of Intangible CulturalHeritage,-to strengthen capacities and cooperation in the region for identifying, inventorying,documenting and studying Intangible Cultural Heritage in order to contribute to its
safeguarding,-to promote peace and friendship, synergy, and sustainable development over theregion,
Geographical area assigned to Tehran ICH Centre includes 24 countries which arealphabetically listed as follow: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Georgia, Iran,Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, the Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan,Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, the United ArabicEmirates, Uzbekistan, Yemen.
Tehran ICH Centre, following the above mentioned objectives, by organizing its FirstInternational Photography Competition titled Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Context,
tries to attract different groups of different communities, specially youth, to the concept ofPage 1 of 5

Intangible Cultural Heritage and its manifestations. We hereby invite every enthusiasts forphotography, including professionals and amateurs, considering of the Centre’s goals andthe regulations listed below, to participate in the Competition and help us to accomplish ourgoals and duties.
What is Intangible Cultural Heritage?
The “Intangible Cultural Heritage” (ICH) means the practices, representations,expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural
spaces associated therewith that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals
recognize as part of their cultural heritage. This Intangible Cultural Heritage, transmitted
from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups inresponse to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides
them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity andhuman creativity.
For the purposes of the 2003 Convention, consideration will be given solely to such
Intangible Cultural Heritage as is compatible with:

existing international human rights instruments,the requirements of mutual respect among communities, groups and individuals,

And sustainable development.

Manifestations
The “Intangible Cultural Heritage”, as defined above, is manifested inter alia in thefollowing domains:-Oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible

cultural heritage (e.g. songs, lullabies, story-telling, communal labor songs, …);

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-Performing arts (e.g. music, dance, traditional theatre, puppet plays, painting,calligraphy, …);-

Social practices, rituals and festive events (e.g. festivals, processions, games,mourning ceremonies, weddings, …);-

Knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe (e.g. traditional

medicine, traditional architecture, traditional navigation systems, traditional methods ofutilizing clean energy, traditional management systems, …);-Traditional craftsmanship (e.g. traditional knowledge and skills of pottery-making,felt-making, textile-making, wood-work, metal-work, jewelry-making, musical instrumentmaking, …).
Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
Safeguarding of ICH, in a brief description, means to provide the necessary groundings
to promote it and make it possible to transmit from one generation to another. Accordingly,
such measures as "identifying", "documentation", "research" and "promotion" can be regarded
as safeguarding measures for ICH. In this connection, activities such as "awareness raising"and "capacity building" in relation to the meaning, status, and functions of the Intangible
Cultural Heritage are the key actions.
The Subject of Competition
The subject of the first international photography competition of Tehran ICH Centre is“Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Context”. The importance of ICH is shown by its
occurrence and expression in the Context. By “context” we mean the situation andsurroundings in which, a local community exists, works, interacts with nature and, to sumup, “lives”. Each of various manifestations of Intangible Cultural Heritage can be genuinelyPage 3 of 5

expressed just in such context. Intangible Cultural Heritage can be treated as vivid when it isrecognized cultural heritage by its bearers and expressed in the context, otherwise it doesn’t
need to be safeguarded, because such heritage begins the process of museumification which
results in to death of the very heritage. If we present an intangible cultural heritage for tourists,
in an exhibition or in a festival, we separate that heritage from its own context. Accordingly,
places such as villages, farms, traditional workshops, traditional places for trading,
performing art or a special social custom are included as instances of context.
Objectives of the Competition-

To promote public awareness about Intangible Cultural Heritage,-

To attract various groups and communities to the expressions of the intangible

cultural heritage and its importance in their everyday lives,-

To attract the participation of enthusiasts for photography to help in identificationand highlighting the expressions of the intangible cultural heritage,-

To create an appropriate groundings for documentations of the expressions of theintangible cultural heritage,-

To identify and emphasize on the great role and the importance of photography insafeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage,
Conditions and Regulations
1- Subject of sent works must be the ICH of 24 countries over the region, disregardingof photographers’ nationality,
2- It is free for all people who are interested in photography, with no age limitation,
3- The secretariat does not consider any limitation regarding photography tools,
4- Size of sent works should be in the range of 500 kb up to 2 Mb in JPEG format,

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5- Sent works must be in accordance with the regulations of the Islamic Republic of
Iran and social norms,
6- Any retouch on sent works that ruins the genuineness of them results in dismissalfrom the competition
7- Judgment will be done on every single photo,
8- Jury, in addition to techniques of photography, will judge the photo subjects,
9- Existence of any signs, signatures, watermarks, dates, logos, … results in dismissal ofworks from competition,
10- Participants should have the raw files of sent works,
11- Secretariat recognize the sender of works as the owner,
12- Secretariat, considering the intellectual properties of owners(spiritual ownership), ispermitted to use the sent works according to its discretion,
13- Women and young people are especially encouraged to participate,14- Sending of works and participation in competition means acceptance of theregulation of the competition.
Calendar Applicants are obliged to send files of their works to photo@tichct.ir E-Mail address,
up to 18 February 2017
 Announcement of primary admitted works is between 19 and 24 February 2017
 Final winners and grant of prizes will be announced until the end of February 2017
Valuable prizes will be granted to winners of competition

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