Whose ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’?

This article explores the alienating effects of ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ (ICH) (Ch.: fei wuzhi wenhua yichan 非物质文化遗产; Uy.: gheyri maddi medeniyet mirasliri) discourse on Uyghur villagers, particularly Uyghur knowledge-holders. Since China became a signatory to UNESCO’s ICH convention in 2004, the ICH framework has provided opportunities for people in China to protect and profit from their heritage. But it has also been used to further Chinese state nation-building in ways that do not meaningfully include the grassroots knowledge and holistic practices of Indigenous communities. In the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), top-down ICH policies have been implemented in tandem with increasingly repressive security policies and anti-extremism discourse. In this environment, authorised ICH discourse, which defines the nature, value and management of ICH, has marginalised and distanced Uyghur knowledge-holders from the heritage that they embody, contributing to the profound transformation of the Uyghur way of life.