Surviving Traditions

An Archaeology of the Senses

How do traditions survive? We trace what was lost when institutions tried to protect them.

Where would you like to start?

What this archive holds

About

About this project

Why 'Surviving'

Traditions are not frozen heritage — they survive by transforming, sometimes narrowing, sometimes expanding.

Extinction of Experience

Institutions came to protect, but may have eroded living survival methods — bodily senses, reciprocity, intergenerational transmission. We trace this paradox.

Read more →

Case Studies

Case Studies

Jeju, Korea

Jeju — Chilmeoridang Yeongdeunggut

Chilmeoridang Yeongdeung-gut

Yeongdeunggut was inseparable from the lives of those who work at sea. What changed before and after national designation (1980) and UNESCO inscription (2009)?
UNESCO ICH정착형 생존의례단골 공동체

Okinawa, Japan

Okinawa — After National Designation

琉球 Ryukyu

The Ryukyu Kingdom was abolished and incorporated as Okinawa Prefecture (1879). How tradition became a tool of identity.
류큐 처분정체성근대화

Taiwan

Taiwan — Traditions Outside the List

台灣 Bunun

Not a UNESCO member state. Bunun rituals survive outside the list amid colonization, forced relocation, and tourism policy. We document what UNESCO cannot.
부눈족문화적 번역UNESCO 밖원주민 주체성

Team

Each with their own perspective, each witnessing survival.

S

최샘이 SEMI CHOI

Director / Research

Y

박용화 Yonghwa Park

Traditional Arts / Pungmul

K

조계영 Kyeyoung Jo

Actor

W

정윤희 Yunhee Jeong

Photography · Documentation · Criticism

M

김민솔 Minsol Kim

Barrier-Free / Disability Studies

View full team →

Join Us

Are there surviving traditions in your region? Researchers, artists, and documentarians are all welcome.

Join
Say helloSupport