Laos and ethnic minority cultures
Subtitle: promoting heritage
By: edited by Yves Goudineau.
Contributors: Goudineau, Yves.
Series: Memory of peoples
Publisher: UNESCO
Published: 2003
Place of publication: Paris
Language: eng
Number of pages: 295
Subjects: Indigenous peoples -- Laos -- Congresses.; Minorities -- Laos -- Congresses.; Laos -- Social life and customs -- Congresses.
Genres: Congresses.
Description: It is thought that Laos is home to 47 ethnic groups. The Lao, or Gelo, form half the country's population and predominant culture. Laos is also home to many mountain minorities who live with their own languages, beliefs and aesthetic traditions. A large number of these local cultures, some of them of great antiquity, have managed to survive in spite of the ups and downs of regional history. This cultural diversity is currently under threat - in particular the intangible heritage of the oral, gestural, musical and ritual kind that relies entirely on memory.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Papers addressed to the International Expert Meeting for the Safeguarding and Promotion of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Ethnic Minority Groups of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, held in Vientiane Oct. 7-12, 1996.