By Ling Hui
KUCHING, May 25: Sarawak will be hosting the first ever shamanism conference in Malaysia from Aug 25 to 28 at the Borneo Cultures Museum (BSM).
Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah said the Sarawak Museum Department was given the honour of hosting the 2022 Conference of the International Society for Academic Research on Shamanism (ISARS).
“The conference will make history for being the first conference on shamanism to be held in Malaysia.
“The objective of the conference is to increase community awareness, especially on the legal impact of preserving the traditional knowledge and intangible cultural heritage of Sarawak on traditional arts of healing from extinction due to social and religious changes,” he said.
Another much-anticipated international conference, Abdul Karim said, will be on Niah National Park for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) World Heritage Site Nomination, which will be held at Pullman Hotel Waterfront, Miri from Sept 5 to 8.
He said Sarawak is in the process of nominating Niah National Park as its second World Heritage Site under the mixed category for natural and cultural heritage.
“Various efforts and tasks had been undertaken by all stakeholders to complete the ‘Draft Dossier’ for voluntary submission to Unesco, targeted for September 2022.
“The final dossier would be submitted by February 2023, which will be followed with evaluation by advisory bodies for the final decision by the Unesco World Heritage Committee, in July the same year,” he said.
Abdul Karim revealed this when delivering his ministerial winding-up speech at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting here today.
The Gunung Mulu National Park in Miri was the first in Sarawak to attain Unesco World Heritage Site status in 2000. — DayakDaily
