Bangkok, 16 December, 2021 – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is pleased to report that the ‘Nora’ form of dance theatre and improvisational singing of Southern Thailand has been inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The decision made at the 16th Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, which is being held online from 13-18 December, 2021, sees Nora become Thailand’s second inscription on the list after the ‘Khon’ masked dance drama was inscribed in November 2018. Thailand joined the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO in September 2016.
Nora and Khon are among Thailand’s most significant performing arts. The Department of Cultural Promotion under the Ministry of Culture in 2009 declared Khon as the national Intangible Cultural Heritage.
UNESCO’s inscription of Nora on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity reads:
“Nora is a lively and acrobatic form of dance theatre and improvisational singing from Southern Thailand. Performances normally include a long oral invocation, followed by a presentation by a lead character who dances with vigorous and elaborate movements of the legs, arms, and fingers.
The performances are…
