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Curated category

Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity

  • XylophoneThe instrument has obscure ancient origins. Nettl proposed that it originated in southeast Asia and came to Africa c. AD 500 when a group of Austronesian…
  • BunrakuOsaka in the 1680s marked a turning point for Japanese puppet theatre. The Takemoto Gidayu established his theater there in 1684, creating a new form of…
  • KabukiIn 1603, a former shrine maiden named Izumo no Okuni stood in the dry bed of the Kamo River in Kyoto. She formed a troupe of young female dancers to perform…