Laos · Metalwork / Musical Instrument Making
ຄ້ອງ (Khong)
Lao bronze gong making (ຄ້ອງ khong) is the tradition of casting and hand-hammering bronze discs into tuned gongs for the khong vong (ຄ້ອງວົງ — circular gong rack), the defining instrument of Lao classical music (lam). A khong vong set contains 16 gongs of different pitches — each gong tuned to a specific pitch by controlled hammering of the central boss (ນູນ nun — the raised center). The procedural knowledge is concentrated in the tuning stage: the gong maker hammers the central boss outward to sharpen pitch, or inward to flatten pitch — calibrating the exact pitch from the sound produced when the gong is struck. There is no measuring instrument — the gong maker tunes entirely by ear, matching each gong to a reference pitch held in auditory memory.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · Lam Lao music on national ICH list; gong-making tradition separately registered
Lao Buddhist temple mural painting (ຮູບສິນວັດ) is the tradition of painting the interior and exterior walls of Buddhist temples (wat) with scenes from the Jataka tales (the Buddha's previous lives), the Pha Lak Pha Lam (Lao Ramayana), and…
Lao mtmee (ມັດໝີ່ — 'tied thread') is the weft ikat silk weaving tradition of the Lao Loum people of the Mekong Valley — the defining luxury textile of Laos and one of the most technically demanding ikat traditions in Southeast Asia.
The heddle-based supplementary weft and warp pattern-weaving technique used across Lao Loum and Lao-Tai weaving communities to produce the naga (mythical serpent) motif — the specific technique inscribed by UNESCO in 2023 as 'Lao…
The making of the khaen — the free-reed bamboo mouth organ that is the national instrument of Laos and, according to UNESCO's 2017 inscription citation, an integral part of Lao life promoting family and social cohesion.
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Phuan silk weaving is the textile tradition of the Phuan people — a small Tai sub-group historically centered in Xieng Khouang Province, Laos, whose population was dramatically reduced by the Secret War (1964–1973) and subsequent…
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Paraguay's national instrument — a lightweight, leverless diatonic harp of 32 to 46 nylon or gut strings, built from cedar, pine, or tropical hardwood, standing roughly 4.5 to 5 feet tall and weighing 8 to 10 pounds — descends from harps…