Foreword

This year, 2021, has been a pioneering year: with this issue, the National Folk Museum of Korea inaugurates the joint publication of the International Journal of Intangible Heritage (IJIH) with the International Council of Museums. The publication policy, in addition to the editorial and governing boards, has been reorganised in accordance with this new partnership. The journal is on the move to the next level academically and professionally.

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is priceless and should therefore be transmitted to future generations. In this context, the IJIH is a platform to better understand, research, study, exchange and communicate ICH around the world. Indexed by the A&HCI, SCOPUS, MLAIB, BAS and KCI, the IJIH publishes relevant articles and papers written by contributors from various cultural and national backgrounds.

The 16th volume presents eight intriguing articles submitted by scholars from eight different countries, including a fieldwork report on safeguarding ritual practices in the limestone caves in Tanzania by Maximilian Felix Chami and an exploration of the role of gender in the safeguarding of ICH related to Japanese float festivals by Helga Janse. I am very grateful to the contributors and authors who submitted their valuable research, whether published in this issue or not.

Last but not least, I express my special thanks to Dr. Roslyn Russell, our new editor-in-chief, and Danielle N. Carter, our copy editor. I would also like to thank the editorial board and the external peer reviewers, as well as the staff members, for their hard work on the journal’s publication.