SEAMEO Cultural Week 2015 (in celebration of SEAMEO’s 50th Golden Anniversary)

With the upcoming launch of the 2015 ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community and the 50th anniversary celebration of regional cooperation through the work of SEAMEO, the need to share and understand one another’s culture throughout the region has become increasingly clear. Shedding light on shared culture and developing appreciation for diversity through the active participation of youths across Southeast Asia is a key to developing a sense of community and to promote mutual knowledge and understanding, in the aim of fostering regional cooperation and peace for the future.

As part of the SEAMEO 50th anniversary celebrations, SEAMEO SPAFA proposes to put together “SEAMEO Cultural Week 2015”, an online video and comment-sharing platform via Youtube (www.youtube.com/SEAMEOSPAFA). The project would consist of requesting participating schools to create video documentation of a local cultural heritage practice – dance, song, traditional craft-making, cooking a traditional dish, storytelling through drawing/painting, playing a traditional game – and would require the active participation of SEAMEO Centres and Ministries/Department of Education across the region to publicize the project and collect the videos in schools across Southeast Asia. In so doing, each participating country and school will have the opportunity to share their cultural heritage with viewers across the region and beyond.

In order to carry out this project, SEAMEO SPAFA asks for the active participation of SEAMEO Centres to approach local schools (2 schools minimum) to ask them to prepare videos presenting a local form of cultural heritage that falls within the following categories:

1. dance,
2. song,
3. traditional craft-making,
4. cooking a traditional dish,
5. storytelling through drawing/painting, and
6. playing a traditional game.

An open call for video submissions will also be posted across SEAMEO communication networks and to the Ministries of Education/Departments of Education of SEAMEO Member Countries. Each video would have to be representative and reflective of local cultural heritage and should be 2 to 5 minutes in duration. SEAMEO Centres will be responsible for collecting the videos and must submit at least two (2) videos in order to ensure a solid and varied database of video resources.

During SEAMEO Cultural Week on 2-6 November 2015, videos from two (2) to three (3) countries will be published over five (5) days. SEAMEO Centres and Ministries/Department of Education are to promote having these videos screened in schools during that time. School heads/principals will be asked to call an assembly of students and to play the uploaded videos each day of SEAMEO Cultural Week. Alternatively, the videos may be screened during any classroom time (homeroom, cultural studies, history, geography, arts, physical education, etc.). After viewing the videos, educators and students will be asked to engage in a discussion in answer to the mini-essay questions posted by SEAMEO/SEAMEO SPAFA. Ten prizes of US$200 will be disbursed to the school that publishes a winning ‘comment’.

• Deadline for Submission of VIDEO ENTRY FORM: 31 August 2015
• Deadline for Submission of VIDEO: 30 September 2015
• Public launch of SEAMEO CULTURAL WEEK YouTube media platform: 2-6 November 2015

2 November 2015 – Videos from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Lao PDR;

3 November 2015 – Videos from Malaysia (Part 1/2);

4 November 2015 – Videos from Malaysia (Part 2/2);

5 November 2015 – Videos from Myanmar and Philippines;

6 November 2015 – Videos from Thailand and Vietnam.

• Mini-Essay Competition: 2 – 20 November 2015

1. Enhance the understanding of Southeast Asia’s cultural diversity and traditions.

2. Strengthen collaborations between schools, education ministries, and SEAMEO centres across the region in promoting interactive platforms for the youths of Southeast Asia to appreciate the region’s cultures.

3. Create an interactive media platform for the youths of Southeast Asia to exchange knowledge and information on each other’s respective cultures.

4. To engage schools in the development of video documentation on their respective cultural heritage, which can be utilized as resource materials in the future.

• Schools across Southeast Asian Countries (Primary, Secondary and Higher Secondary)
• SEAMEO Centres
• Education Ministries/Departments of Education of SEAMEO member countries

*SEAMEO Cultural Week Videos via SEAMEO SPAFA YouTube Channel (watch over 150 videos showcasing intangible cultural heritage practices from over 70 schools across Southeast Asia)

** To view and/or download the Project Guidelines, click the following SEAMEO Cultural Week – Project Guidelines