Hong Kong Traditional Handicraft: Piu Sik Parade

The proposed project will constitute hypermedia anthropological research into an indigenous Hong Kong cultural tradition: the Piu Sik Parade (飄色巡遊) on Cheung Chau Island. Due to urban regeneration, the preservation of local traditions and handicrafts is now in the hands of voluntary organisations within local communities. There is no government-led project or policy related to long-term research on the conservation and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) and traditional handicrafts. The proposed project will seek answers to the following questions. Is it possible to preserve a form of ICH such as the Hong Kong Piu Sik Parade and, if so, how can it be preserved? Is there a difference between cultural heritage inheritance and preservation? If so, what is the cause, process and morphology of its inheritance? If the development of an intangible cultural tradition is sustainable, how can it be sustained?

Through this project, I wish to generate a research platform for study of the Hong Kong Piu Sik Parade as a form of ICH that includes both material and immaterial cultural ‘living realties’. Moving beyond the parade’s aesthetic qualities, I will seek out links to such important social issues as the island’s identity and memory and cultural preservation. This platform will provide the foundation for wider research on ICH within a Hong Kong-specific academic and intellectual framework. A long-term study will be carried out to observe the ecological environment and developmental trends of Hong Kong’s ICH, with the results serving as an important reference for the preservation and development of ICH and traditional handicrafts and the implementation of related policies and/or advocacy work. Furthermore, an appropriate standard will be established to measure the ecology and value of local traditional industries. The research outcomes will be an academic paper and conference presentation and the online publication of the research results for public access.