Community Engagement as a Site of Struggle: UNESCO Conventions, Intangible Cultural Heritage, and State Agendas in Malaysia

Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) and community engagement are sites of contestation. This chapter discusses the complex intersections between the international UNESCO inscriptions and conventions, top-down national policies over the representation of art forms, strategies of local state governments, banning of forms by religious authorities, and the engagement of local cultural bearers in sustaining their ICH. It looks at the development and destinies of the Mak Yong dance theatre of Kelantan (inscribed as a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” in 2005) and the multicultural ICH of George Town (inscribed as a World UNESCO Site together with Malacca in 2008) as case studies.